Weeks of preparation paid off as Wichita State’s Student Government Association, along with other students from WSU, traveled to Topeka to lobby for issues in higher education on Monday.

Darren Beckham, legislative director for WSU’s SGA, said that Higher Education Day allows legislators to meet with individuals to discuss higher education issues. He also said students have a unique opportunity to meet with elected leaders in a professional setting and learn how to address important state legislators.

Joining them were SGA members and students from the five other state universities: Kansas University, Kansas State University, Fort Hays State University, Emporia State University and Pittsburg State University.

To meet with the legislators, teams were created consisting of members from all the different Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) institutions. To reach a mutual understanding, participants met Sunday to discuss talking points about the three major issues: conceal and carry on campuses, undocumented students and return on investment in higher education.

Although some members within the six SGA’s may have differing opinions about these issues, they agreed on similar viewpoints through KBOR and the Student Advisory Committee to ensure consistency in their lobbying efforts.

The issue of conceal-and-carry was decidedly against guns on campus. Beckham wrote a resolution passed by Senate at the end of January voicing an opinion against legislation allowing guns into the university arena.

Although SGA was conflicted about the issue of gun control in broad aspects, most everyone agreed that universities should not be coerced by the state into allowing guns onto campuses.

The second issue discussed at Higher Education Day responded to undocumented workers being allowed to receive in-state tuition. Under current state law, illegal aliens are allowed in-state tuition if they meet the other specifications listed in the bill.

However, a proposal has been made to change the bill, making it impossible for undocumented aliens to receive in-state tuition, even if they had lived in the state of Kansas most of their lives. To maintain a consistency of opinion on the issue, SGA Sen. Casey Donnell drafted a resolution at last Wednesday’s meeting declaring SGA’s agreement with KBOR position. However, this resolution failed to pass putting WSU at odds with KBOR during Higher Education Day.