Students Invade Austin, Washington
March 3, 2009
Students and administrators take Texas Tech’s message to legislators at U.S. and Texas capitals.
Students joined administrators and hundreds of alumni in Austin for Texas Tech University System Day and more than a dozen traveled to Washington D.C. Click to Enlarge.
Texas Tech students invaded Austin and Washington, D.C. in February, all carrying the university’s message to legislators.
About 60 students joined administrators and more than 300 alumni in Austin Feb. 17 for Texas Tech University System Day. The following week, another group that included about a dozen Texas Tech students traveled to Washington, D.C.
The Texas Tech Alumni Association (TTAA) sponsors the trips to give the university higher visibility with elected officials, said Jim Douglass, TTAA associate vice president.
“The message we have is that there should be adequate funding for higher education across the state,” Douglass said.
Making sure students accompany us on the trips adds a special impact to the university’s message as it strives to achieve Tier One status, said Guy Bailey, Texas Tech University president.
“Our students make the very best ambassadors,” Bailey said. “No one can make the point of why we need adequate funding better than the young men and women who are the direct recipients. I think the lawmakers we visited were impressed with how articulate and passionate our students are about Texas Tech.”
TTAA sponsors Austin Days in odd-numbered years when the state legislature is in session and Texas Tech Day on Capitol Hill every year. The events are a three-way partnership with Texas Tech, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Angelo State University.