SUNY students officially endorse rational tuition policy

SUNY Fredonia's Nick Dhimitri is associate director of legislative affairs for the SUNY Student Assembly.

The Student Assembly of the State University of New York officially endorsed a policy of rational tuition recently at its Fall Conference taking place in East Syracuse, NY.

The final vote was 50 to 10 with four abstentions in the affirmative, which was preceded by an extended period of informative discussion and debate.

Supporting rational tuition comes at a critical time in New York State, where economic concerns have spurred across the board cuts at all state agencies, including $210 million at SUNY over the past 18 months.

"This is a milestone decision for the students of New York, who for the first time in the history of the Student Assembly have officially recognized and accepted the need for moderate, annual tuition increases," said director of communications David Belsky, 22 of Hollis Hills.

"Our ability to meet the state halfway on protecting the future funding of SUNY gives us a strong leg to stand on. It says loud and clear that we've agreed to do our part, and we hope the legislature is prepared and willing to do theirs," said Reuben Ingber, director of legislative affairs, 20 of Bayside, during his initial proposal of the endorsement.

Nick Dhimitri, President of the Student Association at SUNY Fredonia and associate director of legislative affairs for the Student Assembly, added that "students should view this decision as locking in a value for their education, rather than locking in a price. When SUNY needs to pay more to provide the same services year after year, students need to pay more as well, or SUNY will have to inevitably provide less."

Jacob Crawford, president and student trustee, 21 of East Syracuse, expressed excitement for what comes next.

"We as students came to an important reality today that tuition was going to increase in our current economic climate. Now when I approach the decision makers of this state, I can say 'we understand where you're coming from, but we need to protect our students and their families, and this is how'," he said.

Attached is the text of the actual resolution passed by the voting body.

The Student Assembly of the State University of New York is an organization created by Article XVII of the guidelines of the SUNY Board of Trustees. Empowering students throughout the state, the SUNY SA is committed to student life and assuring the representation of its members on the state and national level as well as throughout the SUNY system.