Advocacy Day will be held from 1:30 to 5 p.m. The hashtag for the event is #NUforNE.
Supporters of the University of Nebraska system have the opportunity to join together at the Nebraska Capitol for “I Love NU” Advocacy Day on March 6.
“I Love NU” Advocacy Day is an event supporting NU in the wake of budget cut proposals that could impact the university. The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. and conclude at 5 p.m.
Event organizer Melissa Lee, director of communications at the University of Nebraska, said there are many members of the NU community who are concerned about the proposed budget cuts and are looking for a way to help. Advocacy Day will provide them with a chance to get involved.
“Advocacy Day is an opportunity for university friends to join together and show their support,” Lee said.
At Advocacy Day, NU supporters will have the chance to speak with state senators and share their NU stories. Lee said students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and community members are welcome to come out and show their support.
“We look forward to the opportunity to visit with senators about how we can work together to strengthen our state,” Lee said. “We are grateful to Nebraskans who have been speaking out in support of the university and our 53,000 students.”
Lee said it’s hard to predict what the turn out of the event will be. Right now, more than 180 people have RSVP’d on the event’s Facebook page and more than 1,000 have marked that they are interested.
Kristy Hoins, an alumna of the University of Nebraska, said she has been following the proposed budget cuts closely. She will be unable to attend Advocacy Day but said she is concerned that the budget cuts will impact NU’s national reputation.
Hoins also has a son in the process of shopping for a college. She said the proposed budget cuts may affect his decision on where to attend school.
“As he is a prospective education major, knowing that the education program will be affected will have a hand in his decision making process,” Hoins said. “The tuition increase is also a big factor. With tuition rising exponentially, it will most certainly be a deciding factor in where he will attend the next four years.”
Besides attending Advocacy Day, Lee said she encourages students concerned about budget cuts to get involved in a number of other ways.
“Their voices are incredibly powerful,” Lee said. “They can attend Advocacy Day or write their senators about the importance of supporting the universities.”
The hashtag being used for the event is #NUforNE, Lee said. Students interested in further advocating for NU can sign up to become an NU Advocate at www.nebraska.edu.
