FSU Leads 'Keep N.C. Educated' Drive

The association in January announced the Keep N.C. Educated campaign, designed to rally students to lobby legislators and vote in elections.

ASG President Jonathan Ducote said that many schools' campaign efforts have tapered off but that Fayetteville State has not fallen prey to this trend.

The university's student government officials, who have been active in Fayetteville since the summer, held a voter registration barbecue Wednesday.

"Somebody has to take the lead, and if it has to be Fayetteville State, we have no qualms about that," said Fayetteville State Student Body President Deon Winchester.

He said student leaders primarily are concerned with registering students to vote, not with influencing politicians.

Winchester said the university's student leaders targeted freshmen and sophomores, urging them to register before the Sept. 10 primaries.

"We're not only educating students about the rising costs of tuition but also the importance of voting in North Carolina," Winchester said. "We registered a lot of our local students who might not (have been) able to vote in North Carolina."

Winchester said it is important for students to elect state officials who are dedicated to keeping tuition low at Fayetteville State.

"If you look at tuition across the UNC system, (Fayetteville State) has one of the lowest tuition rates," he said. "This has been one of the strong points."

The 2002-03 tuition for Fayetteville State students is $2,051 for N.C. residents and $10,966 for non-residents.

Ducote said Fayetteville State's ties to the surrounding area play a significant role in student leaders' successful registration attempts. "Fayetteville State has a really strong community relationship," Ducote said. "It's very easy for them to reach out to their outlying community."

But Ducote said the bad timing of the Keep N.C. Educated campaign resulted in other system student governments taking a lax approach.

"(The campaign) was brought out so late in the year," he said. "It was launched about the same time as the tuition campaign."

Although he said other UNC-system schools have been working for the campaign with less zeal, Ducote expressed optimism that the schools will increase their efforts as elections draw near.

Ducote emphasized that it is important to get and keep education-friendly legislators in office and leadership positions.

"I definitely think the key to getting a student vote on the (UNC-system Board of Governors) is to get the right legislators in office," he said.

Ducote named Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland; Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare; and Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, as three key legislators.

"So it's important for students at Elizabeth City (State University) and (UNC-Chapel Hill) to get involved too," he said.

Jen Daum, UNC-CH student body president, said student government's Keep N. C. Educated initiatives "are still in the planning stages."

"Soon we're going to send it to the external relations committee," she said.

Daum added that Cabinet members are writing letters to their hometown newspapers about University-related issues.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.