Every year, the General Assembly is given a certain amount of money in their budget to assign to specific departments in Virginia. This year, I visited the General Assembly with several of my fellow students from J. Sargeant Reynolds to seek support from the delegates and senators to improve the budget for higher education at community colleges.

The importance of advocating for support for higher education is critical if Reynolds is to remain as successful as it has been in previous years. Recently, however, a pattern has emerged that challenges the success of community colleges. Funding for Virginia community colleges is insufficient compared to the steadily increasing student interest. The presence of actual community college students at the General Assembly was vital to remind the elected officials that funding Virginia’s Community Colleges will ensure our futures.

Our attendance at the General Assembly made a huge impact, but more than anything, our personal stories that we shared with the individual delegates and senators impacted them the most.  For instance, I chose J. Sargeant Reynolds because, although I got accepted to Penn State, I am paying for college by myself — and it seemed like the more affordable route to going to an out-of-state college for four years.  I plan to transfer to Penn State and to pursue law.

Primarily, our day consisted of meeting with Delegate Jennifer McClellan, Delegate John O’Bannon, and Senator Donald McEachin. They seemed more than thrilled to meet with us. They were interested in hearing how the availability of J. Sargeant Reynolds has opened doors for us—and of course they were excited to have their picture taken with us! The time they set aside to talk with us demonstrated a willingness to help us meet educational and career goals.

Brittney Lee
JSRCC Student