Campus Update-January-2019

It might be cold outside, but 2019 is off to a hot start for our campus team! We are moving forward with much of the same work that we were doing in the fall, and we are looking to expand our reach as well. We don’t technically have a New Year’s resolution, but we will definitely show resolve as we work towards a #ZeroDebt future!

This month we welcomed a new team member, Jordan Woodside from UMass-Boston:

“My name is Jordan. I am a college student in Massachusetts and I come from Delaware. Since I was a child living in a rough home environment, it had been my dream to go away to a university far from home. In Delaware, I was an honor roll student, the Chair of the Civic Studies Honor Society at my school, and I graduated with a 3.4 GPA. But I wanted more, I needed to be somewhere new, start fresh, and become the best I could be in our world. Coming here however I found the reality of being a UMass Boston student to be rather dystopian.

I have to work so much to afford the rent at the recommended apartment complex next to the school. To lower my monthly tuition payments, I had to drop courses almost every semester, which resulted in my GPA dropping an entire point. Finding a balance between work and school has been nearly impossible when my tuition payments are equal to my rent. The school has tried it’s best to meet my need but there are just not enough resources for out-of-state students like me.”

Jordan was able to join us, fellow students, and many of our coalition partners for a lobby day at the State House. With the legislative session kicking off this month I’m sure that this won’t be our last trip to Beacon Hill!

We have some pretty big plans for our campus team in 2019, all thanks to the hard work of students like Jordan. Whether it is staging protests, speaking at events, or continuing to lobby legislators — we are ready and excited for the hard work ahead us.

If you are looking to join this effort, click here. If you want to engage with us in other ways, here are some options:
1. If you haven’t already, sign our petition for #ZeroDebt higher education
2. Follow our pages: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Medium
3. Share your story on your experience with student debt