Elliot Steeves – Staff Writer

The Gustavus Day at the Capitol, hosted by the Minnesota Private College Council, gave students an opportunity to engage in congressional lobbying on behalf of need-based aid for students.

From 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 14, the council trained students from both Gustavus Adolphus College, as well as several other private universities in advocacy and lobbying. They were assigned two sessions with their respective representatives and senators where they were taught how to pitch for the Minnesota State Grant Program in a real session. One specific representative, Jeff Brand, also fielded questions about policy concerns that undergraduate students had outside of the grant.

 The Minnesota State Grant is an initiative that provides direct support to middle and low-income college students with a family income of between $20,000 and $70,000. According to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, it also allows students to pay for additional educational expenses at eligible schools. Gustavus has an extensive relationship with the State Grant, with 38 percent of students involved with the program.

The measure that students lobbied on behalf of would decrease the share of costs that the State Grant expects to cover from 50 to 42 percent overall. Estimates indicate that this would increase the average State Grant Award by over $1,100 per award recipient. 

The event was organized by several groups on campus, as well as the Minnesota Private College Council. Those groups on campus were the Student Senate, the Department of Political Science, the Office of Marketing and Communications, Alumni Relations, and the Career Development office.

Many students gave feedback at a round table discussion recapping how the day went. There was a lot of optimism for the success of the sessions, with several senators and representatives expressing their support for the new resolution of the grant program. There were only a few politicians who had to either reschedule or were uncertain of their decision.

“The opportunity to advocate in person is especially powerful, and to have a whole day set up around it is a really unique experience,” Senior Emma Anderson commented, who visited Representative Liz Olson and Senator Jen McEwan. Sophomore Jenna Bunker, who visited Senator Bruce Anderson and Representative Joe Mcdonald, had a similar resonance with the importance of advocacy. “The best part of it was advocating for students as a whole so that students can have college choices at an affordable price,” Bunker said.

Dr. Kate Knutson, head of the Department of Political Science, took her Public Policy course to the event, and met with her personal representative, Brian Pfarr, to discuss the grant.

“My class has been involved for over a decade,” Knutson commented on taking her students. “It helps for the group from Gustavus to be a lot more knowledgeable about the program and be prepared to be strong advocates.”

For Knutson, the event was an easy way to break nervous students into lobbying who otherwise might hesitate at a similar opportunity.

“This is a really safe and easy way to do it,” Knutson said. She also emphasized how important it was for students to just get a little bit of experience. “Once students have had the experience one time, they can come back and talk with their legislators about any issue…that is important to them.”

Knutson also pointed out the collaboration between areas of the college. “It is a team effort that involves coordination from many college offices,” Knutson said. “We start meeting several months before the event to plan and prepare for a successful day.”

“It’s one of the few events where people come together,” Kelsey Backer ‘18 added. “We often get siloed on campus, so this is one of the few examples where we are working across departments,” Backer emphasized.

Backer, the Assistant Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement, also talked about what it meant that Gustavus students could have an opportunity like this, especially going into a career in politics or political engagement as a civilian.

“Not only is it professional development, it is civic development,” Backer said. “It’s great to know what a Gustavus education can do for a person, as well as learn how to be an engaged citizen.”

In addition to the lobbying training and sessions, Gustavus organized an Alumni networking event. The event connected current Gustavus students with alumni working in government and politics and gave them a chance to ask questions about internships and careers. The roles included Legislative Assistant, Lobbyist, Communications, Policy Attorney, and even the Scheduler for the Governor.

Backer had additional comments about what it meant to have alumni available for discussion.

“[They are] real people working, whether that be lobbyists or assistants,” commented Backer on the alumni. She also noted that it was an especially tricky year to find alumni who had time to do the event, so securing them was especially valuable. “There are fewer alumni this year, [and] things are just really busy,” Backer noted. 

Day At The Capitol was sponsored by the Advocates for Minnesota Student Aid, as well as Minnesota Private Colleges. People interested in opportunities with the group can visit their website and can volunteer as well as learn about opportunities whether they are current college students, parents, alumni, or community leaders.