Cassie Wade
MANAGING EDITOR
University of Nebraska at Omaha Student Body President Carlo Eby will be one of the University of Nebraska representatives speaking at the Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Eby said he received a call on behalf of NU President Hank Bounds on Thursday and was asked to represent NU. He said several other university officials will be speaking at the hearing, including Bounds and Vice Chairman of the Board of Regents Robert Schafer
The Appropriations Committee is responsible for making budget recommendations to the Nebraska Legislature. Governor Pete Ricketts proposed to cut NU’s budget by $11 million this year and $23 million next year, according to an email sent by Bounds in January.
Eby said it was his understanding that Wednesday’s hearing will provide NU with a chance to speak to the Appropriations Committee about the proposed budget cuts “and ideally sway them” to make less cuts or to find the cuts somewhere else.
Eby said he only has five minutes to speak during the hearing. He plans to speak on the behalf of all the students at the University of Nebraska and “convey their concerns and their fears.”
“Really, it will be my job to tell the story of all 53,000 students here,” Eby said. “We’re the ones who are going to be shouldering and are ultimately impacted by all these decisions here. I think it’s imperative that you have a student speaking on behalf of all those who are going to be impacted by these cuts.”
