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Rally-goers in Albany call for an additional $256M in funding for SUNY

UUP President Fred Kowal addresses advocates gathered at the University at Albany, March 3, 2022.
Dave Lucas
/
WAMC
UUP President Fred Kowal addresses advocates gathered at the University at Albany, March 3, 2022.

Local officials, students and advocates joined a SUNY faculty union to call for increased investment in the state university system.

The advocates who gathered at the University at Albany want Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to commit an additional $255.8 million to SUNY campuses and public teaching hospitals in the state budget due at the end of the month. UUP Albany Chapter President Aaron Major.

"What we've had for the last decade, 15 years, is not a public higher education system," Major said. "It's been a private system with a little bit of public money, and that is not right."

UUP President Fred Kowal, a WAMC commentator, says SUNY has lost more than $7 billion in state financial support over the last 15 years, money he says could have gone to collegiate teaching hospitals while the coronavirus pandemic raged on.

UAlbany Pride Alliance President and UAlbany Chapter of Minorities and Philosophy President Ivan Daquial, who hails from the Philippines, says the system should provide International students with a better funding stream for education.

"My aunts and uncles are all paying thousands and thousands of dollars into the state, just for their offspring, my cousins and I, to take on loans?" Daquial said "To face the dilemma of not being able to afford college, towards jobs while we are imposed? The expectations imposed on us are way too high and not proportional to the support that we are receiving."

First-term Democratic state Assemblymember Kenny Burgos represents the Bronx and is a UAlbany grad,

“New York State is flush with cash. We have a balanced budget for the next five years. We have never done that in decades," said Burgos. "So today I'm standing with you asking for $250 million out of a $213 billion budget. It's not I mean, it's peanuts in comparison to what we pass. I wouldn't be standing before you today if it were not for this university. I wouldn't be standing before you today if it we're not for all of you, the faculty and staff who work here day in and day out who work throughout the pandemic, who put so many students at a higher platform, put so many students from inner cities, from New York City, from my community, myself included, a first generation college grad. We know higher education is the pathway out of poverty. We know higher education transforms communities, families and lives and yet right now we're talking about ‘can we afford 250 million more?’ We can do it.”

Albany Common Councilor Owusu Anane is also a Democrat and a UAlbany alumnus.

"This university in the SUNY system offered me so much opportunity," Anane said. "That would not be possible without tuition assistance, and also EOP. [State University of New York's Educational Opportunity Program] I stand here with you calling a real investment to ensure that students are receiving the funds that it need to achieve their goal. The time is now the time is now to fund SUNYs all across our state. I can tell you firsthand if it wasn't for this university, I wouldn't have landed an internship at the state capitol. I wouldn't have landed a job after graduating. I wouldn't have been elected as a common council member in the city of Albany. SUNY Albany did that, and it's all because of EOP and tuition assistance."

The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment. SUNY responded by emailing a January statement by Interim Chancellor Deborah Stanley which says in part, "Governor Hochul continues to mitigate barriers to a college education through expanded investments in our Educational Opportunity Program, child care programs, TAP for part-time students, and other financial aid and resources to ensure their success."

The Albany rally was part of UUP’s statewide Week of Action rallies at SUNY campuses across the state.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.