The Senate branch of the Student Government Association is endorsing student attendance at Higher Education Day in Montgomery on Feb. 27.

Higher Education Day gives college students from Alabama’s public universities the opportunity to gather together and rally for funding for secondary education institutions, said Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Kyle Enloe.

Senate has set a goal of getting at least 100 UNA students to attend the event, he said.

“I’m pretty sure we can get 100 students that want to go and make their voices heard,” Enloe said. “This is our opportunity to make our case with the elected officials about educational funding.”

The money could affect scholarships, tuition costs and other college expenses, he said.

The one-day event is a statewide rally of college students aiming to get the attention of Alabama legislators, said Karli Creech, director of campus membership and student activities at Higher Education Partnership and a guest speaker at Senate’s Jan. 9 meeting.

The message is to get funding divided between the higher education sector and the primary education sectors more fairly, she said.

“We are asking for two-thirds of the education budget to be granted to Pre-K through 12th grade and for one-third of the budget to go to higher education at public universities,” Creech said.

Freshman Jeffrey Hodge, Jr. wants to see tuition lowered as a result of Higher Education Day, he said.

“It would be really cool if we actually got more funding for higher education out of this event,” Hodge said. “Tuition is very high, and I’d really be excited if it was lowered because of college students making their voices heard.”

SGA President Laura Giles sees Higher Education Day as the chance to fight for the students, she said.

“This is our chance to fight for our right to money that is collected from taxpayers — us,” Giles said. “We pay taxes and are able to vote, so we’re showing them what we as voters expect from them (elected officials).”

Higher Education Day is an opportunity to make sure government leaders know their services have a purpose, said Zach Young, a freshman.

“Our leaders need to know what we want them to do, and it’s our responsibility to let our leaders know what we want,” Young said. “If we don’t, then it defeats the purpose of electing them to represent us.”

The funding issue affects everyone, not just campus leaders, Giles said.

“This affects every single student, not just SGA members or other leaders, Giles said. “That’s why we want to get the student body engaged and help put faces with the voices, instead of just letting the (Higher Education Partnership) do the talking for us.”

Students can make the issue matter to the legislators, Creech said.

“We can make the funding issue matter to the legislators very easily right now because they are going to be running for re-election and we can vote,” she said. “What better way is there to get their attention than to parade and rally outside of their offices?”

Senate is working to spread the word about the event to students around campus, Enloe said.

“To get the word out and get the student body involved, Senate is hosting Hype for Higher Ed Day in the Guilliot Student Center, passing out informational flyers that list the top five reasons to attend the event, sending out campus announcements and going to speak to registered student organizations,” Enloe said.