By going barefoot, they want to stress the message of this rally’s slogan: “Education Cuts: Kentucky’s attempt to fulfill its own stereotypes.”
The rally is from noon to 2 p.m. and will include remarks from Kentucky student leaders and legislators.
Students intend to remind legislators that an investment in higher education is an investment in the future and that additional cuts will harm students.
“If you continue to cut education, you’re going to fulfill the stereotype that Kentuckians are poor and uneducated,” UofL Student Government Association President Kurtis Frizzell said of the students’ message.
Gov. Steve Beshear proposed in January a 6.4 percent budget cut to higher education, along with an 8.4 percent cut for the rest of state government.
Any budget cut will be the 12th cut UofL has faced in as many years.
Frizzell described this year’s rally as historic for UofL’s group, in part because students have helped author proposed legislation. The major initiative they will support is a bill, co-authored by SGA senior adviser Max Morley, that creates a definition for college affordability. The goal is to ensure that college can remain affordable and accessible for all students in Kentucky.
UofL students will leave campus at about 9:30 a.m. Feb. 7 and return in the late afternoon. Attendance at the rally is considered an excused absence. Students who attend will have a note for professors to explain their absence.