By elianna novitch
DES MOINES — Students, faculty, and administrators from around campus joined to advocate on behalf of the University of Iowa to Iowa legislators on Tuesday in the annual lobbying trip Hawkeye Caucus Day.
Members of the UI community traveled to the State Capitol, where they met with legislators and discussed policies and issues.
“I think legislators need to hear from students face-to-face and really see that we are students who benefit so much from going to our universities,” UI Student Government Vice President Lauren Freeman said. “I think that dialogue [among legislators and students] can be really influential on how they vote and how they advocate for students in the future.”
Some of the main issues that students attending Hawkeye Caucus lobbied for included affordability, medical amnesty, mental-health resources, support for student veterans, bicycle safety, and sexual-assault policies.
Affordability and appropriations are always big issues, because students are heavily affected by it, said Abigail Dockum, the president of Hawkeye Caucus.
With the state’s tight budget and the cuts that have been made recently, the student lobbyists wanted to emphasize that affordability is a major factor in drawing students to the UI, but it takes the support of the Legislature to keep it that way.
Student lobbyists also wanted to highlight the important ways that the university and its students contribute to the state before and after graduation when talking with legislators.
“I think it’s really important when we talk about the importance of college affordability that we allow our elected officials, who end up making decisions related to appropriations, to get to know us,” UISG President Rachel Zuckerman said. “It really helps them, in my opinion, to make more informed decisions about the importance of education once they’ve met students, and heard our stories, and how we hope to contribute to the state of Iowa.”
UI President Bruce Harreld also attended Hawkeye Caucus Day and met with legislators to let them know what’s happening on campus, what the UI’s needs are, and how the state can help the university.
“At the end of the day, we serve the state, and if the state doesn’t know how we’re serving it, [legislators] have a difficult time figuring out how to help us,” Harreld said. “I’m here today to have some specific conversations about where our salaries are, what our fiscal needs are, how important our entrepreneurial program is, [about] the innovation we are doing on our campus, and at the end of the day saying, ‘Help us help you.’ ”
Another topic strongly advocated by students was medical amnesty. Students recognized that it was a pressing matter in the Legislature at the moment because a bill on medical amnesty has passed the Senate and now needs to pass the House.
“[Medical amnesty] is important because it’s a student-safety issue,” said UISG Vice City Council Liaison Benjamin Nelson. “Ideally, college students don’t drink, but we need to be practical with how we approach laws and regulations.”
Students also discussed mental-health resources and student veteran issues related to the topic of appropriations.
Currently at the UI, the costs of improving mental-health services are being passed on to students through fees, but with larger appropriations, the university could do more without students paying the bill.
Students also noted that starting this spring, the state Board of Regents changed a policy that decreased the number of veterans and dependents who are eligible to receive in-state tuition because of a lack of funding.
Overall, attendees felt that Hawkeye Caucus Day was successful.
“It’s an amazing event that brings together the university community for the purpose of advocating for students and for our programs,” Freeman said.