Students advocating for change.
IVON GUZMAN/ COURTESY
Zendrah Bonnick, Asst. News Editor
Last week, on Feb. 10, numerous Manhattan University (MU) students boarded a bus to the State Capitol in Albany. While in Albany, they participated alongside students from various other schools on student advocacy day. Various discussions were held at the event between students, lawyers, legislators and other government officials. Some of the topics discussed focused on the funding of accessibility and opportunity programs, which included the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) and the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP).
CSTEP is a program created to help underrepresented demographics and people from low-income backgrounds to access undergraduate and graduate education in STEM fields. TAP is a program centered around increasing opportunities by providing tuition assistance.
The Quadrangle spoke to Stephen Philippeau, a junior studying computer science at MU, about participants’ advocacy for CSTEP.
“We advocated basically for increasing the funding and restoring the cuts [to CSTEP]…and also increasing funding for students,” Philippeau said. “Federally, the current Trump administration has already been targeting opportunity programs such as CSTEP and even programs outside of diversity and opportunity programs; and even just general science programs.”
Max Bennett, a senior majoring in English at MU, told the newspaper about his perspective on the event.
“There was a sense of community with all the schools there, because even though I never met any of them [before], we are all essentially fighting the same fight,” Bennett said. “We all just want each other to succeed but also have the possibility to succeed. So, there was a sense of we’re all in this together, even if we just met. Because even the people that I went with, I’ve never met them before.”
Ivon Guzman, a freshman majoring in psychology at the university, gave further depth on this event’s significance, given the federal budget cuts by the Trump administration.
IVON GUZMAN/ COURTESY
“Advocacy day sort of gave me hope, especially with our politics now,” Guzman said. “Many people feel their voices aren’t heard and many politicians say what people like to hear, but don’t actually act upon it. It was a refreshing experience to take matters into your own hands and see all these people who are also [doing the same], trying to make change.”
Later, Philippeau discussed CSTEP as a program that benefits employment.
“We discussed with the legislators in Albany that, given these current changes in the national landscape, CSTEP is unique because it allows New York State to at least maintain a STEM pipeline, and recruit locally,” Philippeau said. “Because the qualifications for CSTEP are also for you to be a resident in the state.”
While speaking with The Quadrangle, Guzman also described firsthand experience with the impact of programs like TAP.
“I’m also a TAP recipient… three of the things that were going to be cut I use and are part of the reason why I am where I am,” Guzman said. “As a first year, I really wanted to just [get] out there. I always wanted to be more involved politically and since these things have such a direct impact on my education, what reason do I have not to make my voice heard?”
During his interview, Bennett told The Quadrangle that while he doesn’t personally use the programs he advocated for, he remains informed rather than ignoring political issues. “I feel like you generally have to turn off the TV whenever the news is about to talk about it. Because there’s no way that you don’t know what’s going on,” Bennett said. “I’m not saying that you need to know everything, but there’s no way that you don’t even know the basic foundation of it.”