When Gov. Tom Corbett took office in 2011, one of his first orders of business was to propose a 50% cut in funding for the PA State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). By the time the budget was approved, legislators reduced the cut to “only” 20%. In his 2012, budget address Corbett sought new cuts, in the end legislators simply extended his cuts from the previous year – bringing the two-year total close to Corbett’s original mark.
This week, Millersville University, one of the 14 PASSHE universities, announced that it had chosen none other than Tom Corbett to be their commencement speaker. Students, alumni, faculty, parents, and community members flooded the university with phone calls and emails, prompting the university to post to a justification to its official blog. The administration’s response has only made matters worse for them.
On March 8th, Marinna Grasley launched a petition to urge the school to choose another commencement speaker. You can SIGN THE PETITION here.
A Facebook page, Millersville Students and Alumni Against Tom Corbett has been launched to organize against having Corbett give Millersville commencement address and Raging Chicken Press has launched a blog to gather stories of students, parents, alumni, faculty, and community members who see this move by the university as a slap in the face.
When someone tries to hurt you, inviting that person into your home as an honored guest is not an appropriate response. Stopping the abuse of public higher education in Pennsylvania starts with all of us.
Sign the petition, join the Facebook page, tell your stories, share your outrage. Do not be silent.
