Register Guard
February 18th, 2015
A rowdy crowd of 600 college students, along with the Duck and mascots from a half-dozen other state schools, filled the Oregon Capitol steps Thursday to demand more money for colleges and universities.
“I feel like ‘College Game Day’ came to the Capitol,” said Rep. Mark Johnson, R-Hood River, to hoots and cheers that seeped through windows into hearing rooms where legislative business was progressing.
“It’s ironic,” Johnson said, “that in this state of Oregon we can compete at the highest levels on the football field, but when it comes to funding post-secondary education, we are cellar-dwellers.”
About a dozen Lane Community College students in blue school T-shirts also brought some rowdiness to the crowd, initiating chants such as: “No taxes, no fees; education should be free.”
About 40 University of Oregon students danced, their picket signs bobbing to “Louie, Louie” as played by a small UO pep band on a nearby landing.