Nelson Perez knew he had to do something.

His dream of being one of the first in his family to earn a college degree hung in the balance.

Perez, a college-bound senior at New York City’s Food and Finance High School, was well aware of the deep midyear cuts to SUNY and the City University of New

York (CUNY)—$90 million and a targeted $53 million, respectively—ordered Oct. 6 by Gov. David Paterson.

That’s why he was at a podium at the corner of E. 68th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan on a rainy October evening, looking out over hundreds of sign-waving CUNY students and higher ed unionists—including more than 100 UUP members—gathered to protest the latest wave of state cuts.

“For me,” Perez said, “being the first generation in my family to go to college, I need as many doors open as I can get.”

Too many doors have already slammed shut for Perez and thousands of New York’s college-bound high school and community college transfer students, due to ever-deeper state aid cuts to SUNY. And more will close unless UUPers, legislators, parents and the students themselves step up and start speaking out, said UUP President Phillip Smith.

“We cannot sit still as SUNY is systematically dismantled,” Smith said. “We must unite and fight to keep SUNY strong.”

Students, legislators sign on

SUNY students have certainly gotten the message. Less than a month after Paterson announced his midyear cuts, SUNY students mobilized to protest SUNY cuts at nearly two dozen rallies statewide.

Legislators have also chimed in, including the chairs of the Legislature’s Higher Education committees, Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky and Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, and Sen. Ken LaValle, ranking minority member of the Senate Higher Education Committee. LaValle, Stavisky and Glick are on record in opposition to the cuts.

So are Sens. Darrel J. Aubertine, Neil D. Breslin, Brian X. Foley, Suzi Oppenheimer, William Stachowski and David. J. Valesky. They joined Stavisky in decrying the cuts in an Oct. 8 statement on Stavisky’s Senate Web site (http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/governors-proposed-cuts-higher-education).

“We believe this is an unfair burden on New York’s students and the state’s economy,” the statement said.

Students and UUPers echoed that message in rallies at Plattsburgh, Albany, Oneonta, Buffalo, Oswego, New Paltz and more than 15 other two- and four-year SUNY schools in late October and early November. Staged by the SUNY Student Assembly, the University’s statewide student government organization, the events drew hundreds of students and UUP members to rally against SUNY cuts.

“Students are concerned with being able to afford school and there’s fear that another tuition increase could still be on the table,” said SUNY Student Assembly President Melody Mercedes, a Buffalo University senior. “Class sizes are larger, fewer services are available and all at a higher price. There is genuine fear.”

At Plattsburgh, UUPers joined with students to decry the cuts; at the end of the rally, dozens of students symbolically burned fake $100 bills with Paterson’s face on them.

“It is unwise and unfair to balance the state budget on the backs of students,” said Plattsburgh UUPer James Armstrong. “Why should students and parents be the ones to suffer?”

“I’m the student that no one wanted,” said Plattsburgh senior Lisa Rinaldi. “Those like me who have been told to ‘sit down, shut up and be quiet’ now need to speak up, be heard and be listened to. This is a violent act against us.”

It’s easy to understand the students’ ire over cuts to SUNY; they are the ones feeling the sting of more than $410 million in cuts to SUNY over the last 18 months. They’ve seen fewer courses, increased class sizes and a reduction in the number of instructors through hiring freezes.

After absorbing an unexpected spring tuition increase, students receiving funds from the state’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) could lose as much as $120 per TAP grant with Paterson’s plan to cut $26 million from the program in 2009-10.

Meanwhile, it’s become increasingly difficult to gain admission to SUNY schools, as campuses deal with record enrollment and applications. And thousands of students will likely be turned away from SUNY campuses this year because schools won’t have the funds to offer enough courses to handle the enrollment growth.

“We need to educate students about what’s going on because it affects all of us,” Mercedes said. “Our purpose is to educate students to reach out to legislators. We’re fighting for our education.”

Plattsburgh Chapter President David Curry lauded students for lashing out against the cuts to SUNY.

“The students clearly recognize the challenge to public higher education that this budget cut represents,” he said. “They understand the value of investing in higher education.”

Smith, who in October urged chapter leaders to form “crisis outreach committees” to spread the word locally about the impact of cuts to SUNY, said he hoped members will work with students to protest the cuts and to stress how a properly funded SUNY can do much to extricate New York from its financial situation.

“There is great power when we all unite for positive change,” said Smith. “Together, we can keep the University whole.”

— Michael Lisi