At my local campus of BCC, we have recently experienced budget cuts across departments. This is no fault of BCC, nor is it unique to BCC. Across CUNY, institutions are experiencing cuts. This is a result of the lack of funding from our state government. When the state refuses to support our public institutions, who suffers the most, who is impacted? We, the students. It forces our colleges to recompense for their losses by increasing tuition. At an institution like BCC, and CUNY as a whole, where many of our students require financial assistance such as TAP, when tuition goes up and TAP stays the same, school’s budgets are hurt.

A great example of how students are affected by the lack of support from our state government is what has recently happened at BCC. Amongst the budget cuts, our library hours have been cut. Once again, this is not unique to BCC. Across CUNY, colleges are experiencing short library hours. It’s funny because when I was younger my mother would force my brother and I to go to the library. She would scream, and shout, and force us to go study when all we wanted to do was chill and relax. Yet, here we are today, screaming and shouting for access to the library–to be able to use the library past 5 o’clock on a Friday.

At the core of every academic institution, the library plays a significant role in student success. This wouldn’t fly at an institution such as Harvard or Columbia. How can we encourage a quality education, or 15 credits a semester/30 a year when students don’t have access to the library? This all stems from the lack of support from our state government. We’re not asking for the world, were just asking for access to the world.