Red. It’s known for being the international color for bloodshed, anger, passion and love. But you can add “solidarity against student debt” to that list. At American University, the new organization Education Not Debt (END) has become the driving force and representative against tuition hikes. While END has only existed for a few months, they have already started a strong campaign and presence on campus in order to fight back against rising student debt.
On March 6th, 80 students gathered in the MGC parking garage to show their support. Many held up squares of red with what they had given up in order to pay their tuition. As board members passed through them to get to their meeting, they were hit with powerful images and reminders of what it was once like to be a college student, worrying about their student loans. END is here to make sure that they don’t forget. Sophia Wirth, our student government president, collected all the red squares, and presented them during the meeting. END member Rachel Ussery says “Wirth emphasized the potentially devastating impact tuition hikes have on students when she officially addressed the board.”
END is such a powerful organization on campus because few student’s have their tuition fully covered by financial aid and/or scholarships. According to member Ian Blum, one of END’s fundamental beliefs is that “our education is a right and not a privilege.” In fact, Hannah Ross, an AU Sophomore, points out that students have decided to leave American University because they couldn’t afford to stay, and they didn’t have enough time to figure out how they could afford their education. Help END put a stop to tuition hikes!
Want to join END? They meet every week on Wednesdays in MGC 247 at 8:30PM.
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