Nearly 75 alums, students, staff, board members, and faculty showed up for the "Support Metro State at the Capitol: 2010 Advocacy Training" at St. Cajetan's on the Auraria Campus. Organized by the Alumni Action Task Force and the Student Government Assembly, the Jan. 29 event included welcoming remarks by President Stephen Jordan, a legislative overview by Leanne Arrant of The Capstone Group, "Advocacy & Outreach 101" by Captone's Christine Staberg and College Communications' Cathy Lucas, and an "Insider's View from the Hill" discussion by former State Representative Cheri Jahn.
According to President Jordan, this year’s presentations and ensuing Q&A’s were particularly significant. “I don’t think there has ever been a time when your engagement in the legislative process has been more important to our college,” he stated, later citing the serious budget cuts Colorado’s colleges and universities face in upcoming years.
Jordan’s speech resonated with Metro alum and employee Metza Templeton. “I see a trend in legislature that they are not funding higher education,” she stated. “I find that to be very disconcerting, and I want to be part of the solution.”
Attendee, Gerie Grimes, who is an Alumni Association board member and Metro State Board of Trustees Representative, also wanted to have more tools to effectively communicate with her legislators. She walked away with some ideas for better communicating her needs to the media as well as a renewed desire to facilitate more community involvement. “We need to collectively come together to make our voice be heard,” she said. And that was the message conveyed by all presenters.
“Advocacy just means speaking up,” added Staberg. “You are taking the opportunity to give voice to the things you care about and to help inform our policy makers.”
And, if you can do that along with getting your entire community involved, said Jahn, than it is unlikely that your local legislators are going to ignore you. “If you have a great idea, we want to hear that!” she enthusiastically explained. “How do you think we get ideas? We get them because we talk to people.”
The event also offered audience members the opportunity to ask questions, which ranged from “do we really make a difference?” to questions about specific future legislation, and it created a forum for current students, faculty, staff, and administrators to share their advocacy work related to Metro State College of Denver.
Overall, the event was a big success, said Stefanie Carroll, the Asst. Director of Alumni Programs & Communications. “Advocacy Trainings like this afford participants the opportunity to understand the legislative process. And more importantly, it empowers them to make the changes they desire.”
For more information and clips, see the Metro State College of Denver – Alumni & Friends blog the first week of February.
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