February 18, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Next month, students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will go to Montgomery with others across the state to encourage lawmakers to provide equitable funding for higher education. The annual Higher Education Day rally is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 4 on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. The event is sponsored by the Higher Education Partnership, an advocacy group for the state's public universities.

This year, students who plan to participate in the rally have been collecting note cards containing personal stories written by fellow classmates on the reasons funding for higher education is important to them.

"We've set a goal to collect 1,000 note cards from students here on campus," said Jason Meier, assistant director of the UAB Office of Student Involvement. Meier says the note cards will be sent to lawmakers several days before the rally.

"We and the other schools want to get at least 10,000 note cards to send to state lawmakers," he said. "We want them to hear the students' stories and know that their decisions in Montgomery affect real people."

Buses will depart at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, March 4 from the UAB Hill University Center at the corner of 15th Street South and University Boulevard. For more details, contact Meier at 205-934-8225 or at jmeier@uab.edu.

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