By Sergio Guzman News Editor A group of 26 NEIU students traveled to Springfield, Ill. on Oct. 15 to join over 2,000 students from other Illinois colleges and universities to meet with state legislators in an effort to restore MAP funding.
The funding for the Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant, which about 2,000 NEIU students receive annually, was cut earlier this year in July. The 26 students, along with President Sharon Hahs and six staff members, lobbied legislators to approve Senate Bill 1180, which would approve the allocation of over $200 million for the restoration of the MAP grant for the spring semester.
NEIU students and staff members divided into four groups to meet with different legislators to inform them about how the loss of MAP grant funding will negatively impact Illinois students. State senators and representatives were handed letters collectively signed by the NEIU group.
“Lost tuition revenue to NEIU due to MAP cuts could be as much as $4 million, which is nearly 5 percent of the University’s budget, which in turn might mean fewer funds for academic programs and fewer resources,” read one of the letter’s sentences.
Many of the legislators did not need convincing that MAP funding is important to not only students, but Illinois as a whole. The problem was not that the legislators did not want to approve the bill, but that the state lacked the proper funds to fully implement the MAP grant effectively.
“The bottom line is, there’s not enough money right now for the state to sustain the operations that we have,” said Patty Schuh, Spokeswoman for the Minority Leader Deputy Chief of Staff.
Either way, that did not stop both houses from unanimously passing Bill 1180. Hundreds of students and staff that were crowded in the capital building began to cheer enthusiastically at around 3:25 p.m. when they heard that the bill was passed.
“It just shows you the power that you have as individuals to make a difference,” said State Senator Martin A. Sandoval, who represents Illinois’ 12th District. “Today you nudged the whole general assembly and got one step closer to restoring the MAP funding for all of you and all other students in the Illinois state. What just happened in the Illinois Senate Chamber was a response to your rallies, to your cries, to your letters.”
As mentioned by Sandoval, student involvement was crucial in the reinstatement of the MAP grant for the Spring semester. NEIU students that attended the lobby day also shared this similar view.
“Even if we are all not MAP recipients, it is important for all of us to fight this,” said elementary education major Misty Dawn Moore. “When one person says that one voice doesn’t make a difference, then nobody shows up.”
Unfortunately, Bill 1180 only approved the allocation of MAP funds for the spring 2009 semester. It is still unknown what will happen to MAP funding for the next academic year.
“So is it going to be a battle again next year? Absolutely,” said State Representative Timothy L. Schmitz when asked about MAP funding sources for the fall 2010 semester. “We’re still in a recession, our revenues are down.”
There is currently a planned lobby day for next year pertaining to NEIU’s budget as a whole. According to President Hahs, not many students attend this lobby day since it mostly involves staff and faculty.
“We’ll have to think about whether we are going to do it like last year or not, because MAP is a bigger question we may want a bigger representation of students,” said Hahs when she was asked if the school planned to lobby for the MAP grant for next year’s academic year.
The October lobby day was the last step in the effort to ensure the reinstatement of the MAP grant. Several weeks prior to the lobby day, professors around campus had been encouraging students to send postcards to state legislators to show how important the grant was for NEIU students. Petitions in support of MAP grant restoration were also passed around the student body, and 500 signatures were collected and sent to Governor Pat Quinn.
Quinn signed the MAP grant reinstatement bill on Oct. 19 and students who receive MAP grants will be covered for the spring semester. However, it is not yet clear where Quinn will get the funding to pay for the grants.
Staff writers Sadaf Syed and Sean Lynch and Managing Editor Michelle Jacobson contributed to this story.