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“Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
It was Yoda who said those words to Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back” after Luke was convinced that he couldn’t lift his star cruiser from a murky bog on the planet Degobah. Yoda shrugged, extended his hand and lifted the ship into the air.
Luke learned a valuable lesson as part of his Jedi training that day, one that served him well in his fights with Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire.
Yes, I know, it’s only a movie. But there are parallels to our battle to save SUNY that can’t be ignored.
Like Luke, we also must succeed in our quest to save SUNY from systematic dismantling through $148 million in draconian state budget cuts. If the Wall Street crisis continues, SUNY may have to brace for even more cuts. We’ll know more when Gov. Paterson unveils his 2009-10 budget later this month.
But we can’t give up for one moment the fight to restore SUNY and recover the dollars needed to keep the University’s economic engine revved and ready.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: We are in the fight of our lives. New York’s leaders must not only reconsider these cuts, but change the way they consider SUNY. The University must be viewed—and funded—as an investment in the state’s future, not as an anchor on the state’s finances.
Unless the state restores the funds cut from SUNY, campuses will be left to make some very hard decisions. Already, some campuses are considering limiting future enrollments, increasing class sizes and reducing course offerings. They may also start slicing through the ranks of full-time faculty, cutting through attrition.
Without proper funding, students will not get the courses they need to graduate on time. Parents will be forced to pony up for another year of college—possibly paying higher tuition costs—because the courses their kids need to graduate aren’t being offered. It sounds like the end to a very short story, but it’s the kind of reality we’re facing.
These messages need to be sent over and over, and we’re relying on you to send them. The time for standing on the sidelines is over. It is vital that you become involved as an advocate for SUNY.
That’s why UUP held six regional advocacy training sessions in locations across the state in September and October. We trained more than 100 UUP leaders and members in these two-hour seminars, teaching skills and strategies to call on local legislators and make our case that SUNY is the solution during these tough economic times.
The training also taught participants to form coalitions with parents, students and local small-business owners in their communities, together enabling them to bring a strong message to legislators that SUNY is the answer, now more than ever.
We’ve made that argument over and over again, pointing out that in many cases, SUNY is the economic lifeline to its host communities—particularly in smaller towns and cities such as Cortland, Alfred and Binghamton.
Last year, SUNY Cortland generated nearly $278 million in revenue in a five-county area; school purchases account for 11 percent of the economic impact on central New York’s economy. SUNY Alfred leaves a $74 million economic footprint on its community annually, while SUNY Binghamton contributes $673 million to the state’s Southern Tier region; each state dollar invested is returned at least six-fold to the region.
The advocacy work has already begun at Purchase, Oswego and Upstate Medical University. In Purchase, UUPers invited Assemblyman Adam Bradley to campus for a luncheon meeting. Bradley pledged his support for SUNY.
Oswego Chapter President Charles Spector placed “SUNY is the $olution” posters and bumper stickers at a downtown bank, while UMU Chapter President Carol Braund put posters in several businesses near the hospital.
We all need to follow their lead. Join your chapter colleagues and spread the word to local legislators and the community that the threat to SUNY is real—and a threat to their bottom line. Form coalitions with parents, students and small-business owners and remind them just how important SUNY is to the economy.
We must mobilize. We must make it known that SUNY is the solution to New York’s economic troubles. Eighty percent of SUNY graduates stay in New York, paying taxes and stimulating the economy. With a weakened SUNY, students will look elsewhere for their education, and
New York will suffer losses that will take years to reverse.
It is up to us. It is up to you. New York needs to keep SUNY strong. We cannot fail in our quest. As Yoda told Luke, trying to succeed is not an option.
When it comes to strengthening SUNY, there is no try. We must do.