Whittier students Brownie Sibrian '10 and Kourtney Zilbert '11 traveled to Sacramento with Dave Carnevale '97, director of financial aid, as part of the 2010 Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) Cal Grant Student Lobby Day. The students met with state legislators to stress the the importance of maintaining funding for Cal Grants.
"The overall message of the day was that we were there to say 'thank you' to our legislators and to give them an opportunity to connect with students directly impacted by Cal Grant funding," said Carnevale. "The students did an amazing job of engaging the policy makers with their stories and asking intelligent, well-thought questions."
The Whittier contingent met with Senator Carol Liu, Assemblyman Charles Calderon, as well as staffers from the offices of Senator Tony Strickland '91, Senator Alex Padilla, and Senator Ron Calderon.
"I told them that had I not been given a Cal Grant I would not be attending Whittier College," said Zilbert. "Coming from a family of five kids there is no way I could afford it otherwise."
Whittier was joined by more than 30 AICCU member schools.
