Meeting Students at Colorado's Capital Conference and Leaving Inspired 

By Marsha Porter-Norton 

This blog post from the Colorado Capital Conference (CCC) highlights the students who attended, 12 total, with a smidgen of commentary on higher education funding.  By the way, the reason “capital” is with an “a” is because it refers to a city not a building. 

The reason students attend is that the CCC is hosted by CMU (formerly Mesa State and now Colorado Mesa University) and also by CU along with both of Colorado’s Senators.  On the trip, we also had Presidents from both Universities, some members of their governing boards, and several faculty. 

Not having many occasions to be around students these days, this was my favorite aspect of the trip.  For starters, my roommate had just graduated from CMU and was a technological whiz.  She was doing media work for CMU while on the trip:taking pictures, Vlogging (video blogging), writing, and all the while, texting and doing all things Smart Phone.  I was sort of in awe and her incredible media savvy. In fact, my new friend motivated me to write this blog.

Another student took the time to call into question some facts and figures one of our speakers was presenting. The speaker was the former Governor of Maryland and he was citing school failure as a significant contributor to the recent Baltimore riots.  She had done fast research on her phone (of course) and asked him some civil, yet pointed, questions about some of his ideas. Many of us feel intimidated by people in power and we shouldn’t. Elected officials answering questions and explaining or defending the information they share is part of the job. Good for her. 

Finally, another young person I met was not part of the CCC but I sat by her on the plane. She is a Captain in the Marine Corps on her way from Colorado to Quantico for training. She had a lot to say about the polarization in our country and how it’s really not helpful coming from an enlisted person’s viewpoint. At one moment on our flight, she pulled out The Economist magazine. I told her we get the magazine but I often do not find time to read it through and through. I received a nice lecture, veiled as commentary, from her on the importance of keeping up with all sides of an issue in a democracy. I came home and rounded up all our past Economists and am now newly motivated to read them. 

A funny moment was when on a break a student was sitting by me and taught me how to use the swipe function on my Android smart phone, a texting feature. Duh. So simple!  For those of who with whom I text, watch out. No longer will you get misspelled words or single sentence or letter texts. I told him he was my new best friend and later asked if he could come back to Durango and follow me around for a while.  

One issue that affects all these students is higher education funding in Colorado. On day 2 we had a panel on this topic.  It included Tim Foster, President of Colorado Mesa University; Senator Gardner; Senator Bennet; and CU Chancellor Donald Elliman.  All are pictured below.   To sum up a robust discussion and to be blunt: funding levels from the State coffers for higher education would be laughable in Colorado if the consequences were not so sad. We are 49^th in the country in terms of what our State contributes to higher education as a percentage of the General Fund.  Guess which State is 50^th? Mississippi.  How in the world are we rivaling Mississippi for the distinction of being last in the county for our commitment to higher ed?   Well, many blogs, laws and web sites are dedicated to this topic so I’ll be short and just say it’s the infamous fiscal knot created by TABOR, and the Gallagher Amendment and Amendment 23.    The General Fund in Colorado, which is what funds higher education, is so squeezed that our State cannot keep pace and federal cuts to higher education mean back filling from that level, even if agreed to, is not happening.      On the federal level, Pell grants used to make up 75% of students’ funding borrowing portfolio and now make up about 25%. Colleges are scrambling for tuition increases and chasing ever-more private money. President Foster said in his presentation, “….we will do this with or without State support." 

Senator Bennet spoke most eloquently about this and of course, his former position as Superintendent of Denver Schools means he brings a very credible perspective. He gave a dire warning, “We do not begin to pay enough attention to this issue and I encourage all of you to make this your issue." He noted income disparities and gave a staggering figure that kids in poverty enter kindergarten with a multi million word gap in relation to their peers not in poverty.   He went on to say that education is the basis of our governing and if we don’t fix this, “…we will not even begin to recognize our democracy.” I'm afraid this is not a futuristic comment. 

Higher Education Panel. Picture: CCC staff. 

One thing fiscal conservatives will like is the concept that this all has meant cutting fat from many of our campus budgets.   Colorado Mesa University’s President Foster cited the example of their campus going to a building heat exchange system saving a lot of money on energy costs along with congregating summer classes to fewer sites plus reducing the number of department deans. These are laudable moves and ones that might should have happened anyway. However,  in my humble view, cutting our way from 49^th to a reasonable ranking will not alone solve the problem. 

I heard one of the educational dignitaries on this trip say something such as: I always tell students their student debt is a car payment. The implication, at least to my ears,  was that it isn’t that big of a deal. My interest in this topic was so piqued by this comment that I’m formulating a blog post on students' higher education debt in relation to stagnant wages and job opportunity. Look for it soon.

Older generations are often concerned about young people coming up behind. Some fear handing over the keys to the country given their different ways of being, values or mores. This might especially be true now as the next generations have ventured into technology at a faster pace than at any time in history, it seems.   I found each one of these students to be engaging, intelligent and quite interested in politics and the future. And, I came away believing that if America is in the hands of the likes of this gang of 12, America will be just fine.  I only hope we can get our higher education funding scheme fixed so they have the same chances at the American Dream that I did.

CCC attendees. Picture: CCC staff