Community Submission

To the Longwood Student Body,

As the President of the Student Government Association, I wish to bring to our community's attention a pressing matter to students from around the Commonwealth. Many of you may know that the Virginia General Assembly is currently meeting to figure out how much money they will give to our institution for the next two years.

What you may not know is that for the first time in Virginia's history, there is a proposal in the General Assembly to take your student dollars and give them to the state to help pay for Virginia's current $4.2 billion budget shortfall. Each year you pay student fees to help provide services on campus such as the dining hall, the campus recreation center or the computer labs. These are all items that are important to our school but cannot be paid for by state funding, which is why we collect student fees. Before Governor Kaine left office, he proposed a budget, and if passed this will be the first time in Virginia's history that the state will reach into our school's bank account and take the money to go towards other purposes here in the Commonwealth.

We paid those students fees to help better our own institution, and I hope you will join me in believing that our money should stay to help our campus. Last week with the help of Virginia21 (Student Higher Ed Lobbying Group), I, along with my fellow student body presidents from each of Virginia's public colleges and universities, sent a letter to Governor McDonnell and members of the General Assembly, asking them to reverse these devastating cuts.

If this legislation does pass, you can almost guarantee that your student fees will go up, or that our campus services will be affected in some manner to account for the $18.8 million that the state is proposing to take from our campuses. Luckily, we have a voice in the process. Even in tough budget times, we can help Longwood keep our money. However, any member of the Student Government or me cannot do it alone. I need each and every one of you to take action.

It doesn't matter if you are love politics or hate politics. It doesn't matter if you have been involved for years or are just hearing about this today: We need you to act NOW!!

As Virginia's economic recession began, our school has taken deep cuts in the amount of funding that we have traditionally received from the Commonwealth of Virginia. In fact, since 2007, the state has cut its share of support for higher education by over 25 percent. As a student of the Virginia higher education system, I am so thankful for the opportunities that it has given me and for the knowledge I have gained. I believe Virginia has the best professors, faculty and institutions, and rivals all other higher education systems in the country. However, the proposed budget threatens the quality of education I receive. Longwood University cannot handle anymore cuts and we certainly cannot handle the state coming onto our campus and taking funding that, we the students gave to the school. If you would like to help us fix this problem in anyway, please visit www.longwoodsga.org to find ways in which you can help. If you have any questions or need any information regarding the Student Government Association then please email longwoodsga@live.longwood.edu or call 434-395-2111. With kind regards I am,


Sincerely Yours,

Cameron D. Patterson
Student Body President