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St. Olaf student speaks up for Minnesota TRiO funding

By David Gonnerman '90
March 11, 2005

SenatorPappas
Sen. Pappas
A March press conference called by Minnesota State Senator Sandra Pappas (DFL) included testimony by St. Olaf student Lily Moua '06, who spoke in favor of state funding for TRiO programs that help guide underprivileged students and first-generation students though college. St. Olaf is widely considered to host some of the best TRiO programs in the state. The Bush administration has proposed discontinuing federal funding for the programs.

The press conference concerned five bills dealing with state funding for higher education. Included is Senate File 1069 (co-authored by senators Pappas, Moua, Pogemiller, Robling and Neuville), a proposal for giving $10 million in state funds over the next two fiscal years to the federally funded Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search (ETS) TRiO programs, effectively creating the same programs at the state level. Sen. Pappas called the conference after committee hearings that also included testimony by Lily Moua.

Moua@TRiO
St. Olaf student Lily Moua, flanked by fellow TRiO students Melissa Hinderscheit '04 and Jonathon Tischler '05, served as a spokesperson for the many Minnesota students who have benefited from TRiO programs.
"I represent the many students who feel that TRiO has made a difference in our lives," said Moua during the conference. Moua, who grew up with 11 siblings in California, related how, with an older brother incarcerated for gang activity, her parents thought she would never go to college. "I never thought I could go to a school like St. Olaf," she said. But with help from the ETS program and a strong academic performance, Moua received no fewer than 11 scholarships that made it possible for her to attend St. Olaf. Now, she says, she gives back to the program by mentoring students at Humboldt Junior High School in St. Paul. "Many [Humboldt] students have told me that they want to go to college because they see that if someone like me can make it, so can they."

Also speaking at the press conference was Senator Mee Moua (DFL), who has also benefited from TRiO and whose husband, Yee Chang '93, worked as a mentor to TRiO students while he attended St. Olaf. "As an active member of Minnesota's vibrant and growing Asian-American community, I've seen firsthand the difference a college education can make to first-generation Minnesotans, and their contribution to the state's workforce," she said. "As Minnesota's student population evolves and changes, plans like these will be vital in giving our future workforce the tools it needs to succeed and to keep our state at the forefront of a growing economy."

Visit the Minnesota State Legislature to register for automated e-mail updates on current legislation, including Senate File 1069.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.