On Jan. 26, I woke up bright and early to catch a flight to Olympia, and the main purpose of this trip wasn’t about attempting to speak to state legislators about restoring financial aid to not-for-profit universities across the state of Washington, but it was about speaking to these legislators on restoring a promise that was made to the students in these institutions.
In the 2025 Washington legislative session, cuts to the Washington College Grant and College Bound Scholarship were introduced and are bound to take effect in the 2026-27 academic school year, which would eliminate up to half of what a student receives in financial aid. The schools that are affected by these cuts are private not-for-profit schools such as Gonzaga, Pacific Lutheran, Seattle Pacific, Whitworth University, and six other schools across Washington state.
These cuts put severe pressure on students like us, where these cuts will be affecting two-thirds of students of color that attend these universities in Washington. For these two-thirds of students, this is removing the opportunities that our community has been waiting on for the many years that we have been pursuing our education for.
This year, Senate Bill 5828 was introduced to reverse these cuts and to restore the funds that were initially stripped from us as students. This bill was introduced by Senator T’wina Nobles of District 28, who has also graduated from a private institution in Washington, the University of Puget Sound.
I met with a total of eight state legislators to share about myself, and what I was destined to be. Not only am I a person of color experiencing these cuts to my financial aid, but I come to these legislators as also a first-generation college student, a student leader within the student government organization at Whitworth, a student who is the Black Student Union President at Whitworth, a student that wants to teach in high schools one day, a student advocate that has spoken up against injustices since high school, and a student that wants to give back to a community that has given me everything. Being in front of people in power to listen to my journey and what I am expecting in my future seems nerve racking, however, motivates me because my story gives them an idea of what this bill would mean to a lot of students across the state like me who would be affected by the cuts.
These funds wouldn’t just help me and thousands of other students at these not-for-profit schools in the state pay for college, but these funds would help us with the opportunities to continue on the path toward our dreams. This experience is something I will never forget, and in the end I hope this is an experience I can look back on and admire if this bill is passed.
To all the legislators, thank you. To Whitworth University, S’go Bucs!