ESU’s Campus Community join the State System in Leading Advocacy Effort in Harrisburg

Posted by: admin on April 7, 2016, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University (ESU) students canvassed the Capitol today, meeting with legislators to discuss the important role the university plays in the Commonwealth. ESU was among the other 13 universities that comprise Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.

The students talked with legislators about their own college experiences and how important the education they are receiving is to them and to their families. About 90 percent of the more than 100,000 students who attend State System universities are Pennsylvania residents, and the vast majority will stay here after graduation, to work, to live and to raise their families.

In all, nearly 150 students, faculty, administrators, trustees and alumni took part in the two-day advocacy effort on behalf of the State System. They began their Capitol visits Tuesday.

“We have a great story to tell – and it’s one that impacts not just our students, but everyone in the Commonwealth,” said Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. “The contributions our universities make all across Pennsylvania are enormous.”

In addition to meeting with legislators, representatives from each of the universities set up displays in the Capitol Rotunda, where they demonstrated some of their top academic programs and research projects and provided information about their schools to Capitol visitors.

The State System will receive about $433 million from the state this year to help support the operation of the 14 universities. That funding represents one of the best investments Pennsylvania makes each year, said Guido Pichini, chairman of the State System’s Board of Governors.

“Not only do these universities provide opportunities to students who otherwise might not be able to attend college, they serve the entire Commonwealth,” Pichini said. “They generate enormous economic activity in their home communities, in their regions and across Pennsylvania—to the tune of nearly $7 billion a year.

The State System universities combined have about 12,000 employees and support about 62,000 additional jobs, many with the hundreds of small businesses that thrive in the campus communities, contributing significantly to Pennsylvania’s economy.