Penn Staters traveled to the Capitol Building in Harrisburg Wednesday to advocate for state support of the university. More than 75 students from University Park attended in addition to Penn State faculty, staff, and alumni, and students from across the Commonwealth.

Students spent the day meeting with state senators and representatives from both State College and around the Commonwealth to discuss the university’s legislative goals, including state appropriations funding and a UPUA initiative to expand medical amnesty protections in Pennsylvania.

“We went to each legislator’s office and talked about the budget and also about medial amnesty, trying to gauge their support on both,” UPUA Governmental Affairs Chair Zach Robinson said.

Robinson said the legislators he met with seemed to be open to expanding medical amnesty, a project that was part of the Jordan-Shockley platform when the current UPUA president and vice president ran for office almost a year ago. The university has already updated its own policies to expand medical amnesty within the student conduct process.

“We’re very happy with the meetings we had,” Robinson said. “We thought they were very productive. We had a lot of good discussion.”

Attendees then gathered in the Capitol Building rotunda for a rally featuring speeches from Penn State President Eric Barron, Alumni Association CEO Paul Clifford, Alumni Association President Steve Wagman, and the university’s three student government presidents.

“Penn State would not be where it is today without the support of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” UPUA President Katie Jordan said during the rally. “We’re unapologetically thankful for those who’ve supported us…In order to have this tradition continue, we’ll need continuous support from the Commonwealth.”

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s proposed budget includes flat funding for Penn State at $318 million, but the university still has the second highest in-state tuition rates in the Big Ten conference. State appropriations help keep tuition increases low, keep educational programs strong, and ensure the future success of students and alumni.

“We were very pleased to see university administrators, our alumni association president and CEO, and student leaders come together to advocate as one on behalf of Penn State,” Robinson said.