“People just don’t seem to think that students are all that grateful [for financial aid] anymore because we don’t tell them,” junior Kate Pringle said when discussing Governor Christine Gregoire’s recent decision to cut financial aid funding for Washington college students. “But that’s what [my project] was really about.”

Pringle, a student worker in Whitman’s Office of Financial Aid, spent the final weeks of February conducting a series of video interviews with Whitman students as part of an effort by the Independent Colleges of Washington to raise awareness about threats to financial aid funding. Earlier this year, Gregoire proposed to suspend a number of financial aid programs available to Washington state college students in an effort to balance the state’s $2.6 billion budget shortfall.

“It’s one thing for us to send a letter or for someone to quote statistics about how many students rely upon financial aid, but it’s an entirely different experience to see a real student telling their story and expressing how much they need the aid they receive,” Pringle said. “I only benefit from some of the programs that were in danger, but I know how many students really are affected by all of them due to my job, so it really made me anxious and a little outraged that the state would consider taking those programs away.”

Thanks in part to the efforts of Pringle and other students from IWC colleges participating in the video project, both the House and the Senate passed individual budgets on Saturday, Feb. 23, which restored all funding to the Need Grant, Washington Scholars and WAVE Programs. However, both budgets proposed to reduce funding for the State Work Study program by 30 percent, translating to an estimated $70,000 loss for Whitman students.

After spreading word about the video project through the student listserv and word of mouth, Pringle was able to conduct two-minute interviews with 11 students in Olin Hall. Sisters junior McKenna and sophomore Rhya Milici, who both receive funding to attend Whitman from the Washington Scholars program, lent their voices to the project during a joint interview.

“Obviously, the idea that the state is cutting our program now will have a huge impact on my family since there are two of us trying to go here,” said McKenna Milici. “I’m not quite sure if our video will be seen by legislators, but we hoped that, by seeing two sisters voicing their pleas that student funding be restored . . . to stress not only how this is affecting students, but to provide a tangible image for how this is affecting families.”

The Independent Colleges of Washington was pleased by the quality of Pringle’s videos and is in the process of incorporating them into the larger project.

“Whitman has really embraced the video project, with over 10 students interviewed by Kate Pringle,” said Chadd Bennett, ICW director of research and  publications. “The videos are in the process of being cut and edited now, and we should have these particular videos up later this week.”

Bennett plans to feature the video series on YouTube and on the IWC’s Facebook and Web pages.

“Long term, we may use this tactic [of interviewing students] to increase the visibility of our other collateral such as our ProjectOpportunity.net college planning tool,” said Greg Scheiderer, vice president of the Independent Colleges of Washington. “The video project is an effort to put real people and their stories into the discussion about student aid so that the aid programs aren’t just treated as cold numbers on a spreadsheet.”

Though happy to have participated in the project, McKenna Milici is skeptical about the extent to which her interview will impact legislators’ decisions.

“The trouble with this debate that’s going on in government, is that it’s not an ideological debate,” she explained. “We’re not doing these interviews or sending letters in the hopes of changing minds.”

McKenna Milici wrote a letter to state legislators expressing her concerns about the budgets cuts. She received a response explaining that the Governor’s decision to cut fundraising was motivated by necessity, not principle.

“I sent a letter to my local representatives, and one responded saying essentially that if they had all the money in the world, they would of course support us,” she said. “I don’t think there are many Democrats or Republicans who wouldn’t. But the money simply isn’t there. So as much as I hope my video interview and letter have an effect on this issue, I recognize that everyone out there is saying ‘Don’t cut the programs I care about, but don’t raise taxes either.'”

Pringle is more optimistic about the influence students can exact on the legislative process and stressed the importance of student advocacy in convincing donors to continue supporting financial aid.

“The biggest problem in financial aid right now is that the people donating all of that money only feel motivated to as long as they know it’s something worthwhile,” said Pringle. “That’s why students are asked to write letters to donors, and why these interviews are so necessary.”

While Pringle is impressed by the number of Whitman students who have dedicated their time and energy to her project, especially those that do not receive financial aid, she believes students can become more involved in advocating for each other’s educations.

“It became a bit disappointing at times to know just how many students of our school that this budget cut does affect just didn’t really think they needed to come,” Pringle said about rates of participation in her video project. “I think that a lot of times Whitman students hear about an issue and think to themselves about how they can get involved, but don’t take the initiative until it’s either super convenient for them or when someone steps up and asks them directly.”