Richmond -- At 6:30 a.m. yesterday, while most University students were still asleep, the University's Student Advocacy Day participants boarded a bus to Richmond to interact with legislators and learn more about Virginia's legislative process.
According to Todd Eley, Student Council co-chair of legislative affairs, students were selected for the trip through an open application process.
"The goal for [the day was] to bring students down to the capitol and have them interact with their legislators to both learn about the process and share their views," Eley said.
Some of the main issues students discussed with legislators concerned improving higher education funding, reforming the commonwealth's redistricting process and increasing salaries of faculty at institutes of higher education.
"StudCo picked the agenda in light of how certain bills were going," Eley said, noting that students were also encouraged to bring up any other topics -- including mental health and student privacy -- about which they are personally concerned.
Throughout the day, students had the opportunity to speak to delegates and senators, visit the House gallery and take tours of the newly renovated Virginia State Capitol.
One of the delegates who spoke to students was David Toscano, D-Charlottesville,? who graduated from the University Law School. Toscano gave students an overview of the commonwealth's legislative process and encouraged them to get involved.
"If University students get engaged, it will help me do my job better," Toscano said. "If you see a bill, shoot me an e-mail and tell me what you think about it."
Students also spoke with Steven Jones, deputy director of Virginia 21, a non-profit organization that seeks to get young commonwealth voters involved in the political process.
First-year College student Sipian Wang, who attended Student Advocacy Day, said that she enjoyed learning more about the legislative process.
"It's great to see the process of legislature up close," Wang said.
According to Eley, this year was the second annual centralized University Student Advocacy Day. He noted that although students traveled to Richmond in years past to promote student advocacy, this was only the second year that students traveled together as one large group. The program was funded through a $1,200 grant from the University Parents Committee.
Eley said he hopes to expand the program more in coming years, noting that he wants "to make it a more annual and focused event that could rival those of similar institutions, such as Virginia Tech's Hokie Day"
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