ICYMI: Sununu Ignores UNH Student Body Request For Millennial Dialogue
CONCORD, NH - Last February, John DiStaso reported that UNH students, including the student body president and numerous student senators sent an open letter to Governor Sununu asking for him to come to UNH to discuss their concerns with his budget, including the rising cost of tuition, election law reforms that aim to disenfranchise student voters, and other issues most important to attracting and retaining New Hampshire college students. Sununu and his staff entirely ignored the request. Sununu cannot claim to be interested in hearing about millennial issues while denying repeated requests to meet with them as Governor. Millennials have been asking for Sunun's ear since February and they've heard nothing but crickets in return. Sununu's policies have been squarely at odds with millennial concerns, from failing to freeze our state's record high University System tuition costs, to signing a bill that directly targets student's access to their legal right to vote in the state, to denying transgender Granite Staters protection from discrimination, to vigorously opposing expanding passenger rail service to Manchester. Please see below for the letter sent by UNH senators and students last semester:
Dear Governor Sununu,
When we decided to attend UNH, we chose more than just a campus. We chose a state, a city, and a community to call home. We know New Hampshire to be a welcoming state, but over the course of these past two months, we are increasingly concerned about its future as well as ours. The rising costs of our tuitions, the lack of protections for LGBTQ rights, the numerous threats to our voting rights, and the foreseeable cuts to our access to quality healthcare and services are deeply troubling.
By addressing these concerns, we can retain young people to work in this state after they graduate from our universities and community colleges, and thus strengthen our economy. Earlier this year, in your budget address, you indicated that incentivizing young people to stay in New Hampshire is one of your top priorities as Governor. For this reason, we invite you to an open conversation at UNH Durham to discuss the issues impacting us and our fellow classmates. Your predecessors saw the importance and value of forming relationships with students across the state. We hope that you continue this tradition by accepting our invitation to an open conversation as a first step in strengthening our relationship.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Dean ’17, Student Body President Lincoln Crutchfield, ’17 Elena Ryan, ’18 Emily Cochran, ’19 Alicia Delvento, ’17 Nicholas Robert LaCourse, ’20 Doug Marino, ’18 Daniel O’Leary, ’17 Cameron Kenney, ’18 Silas Richards, ’18 Kaely Horton, ‘18 Alana Davidson, ‘17 Jeremy Kassel, ‘18 Olivia Olbrych, ‘19 Elias Tyrrel-Walker, ‘20 Hannah Machado, ‘20 Lisa Marie Demaine, ‘17 Catherine Mernin, ‘18 Andrew Morin, ‘18 Emily Belisle, ‘19 Connor Phelps, ‘19 Mary Kelliher, ‘17 Sadie Matteson ’17, Tyler Anderson ’18 Peter Bouers ’18 Camden Tachsapaeugh ’19 Jose Calvo ’18
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