Taking the lead

On July 9, 2019, Alex Jorgensen stood on a stage in front of nearly 4,000 UAA supporters at the student-led "Override the Vetoes" rally. It was an exhilarating moment, one that he says he'll never forget and gives him hope for the future of education in Alaska. 

Jorgensen is a senior political science major and has been an active and engaged student at UAA. He's on track to graduate in spring 2020. Like so many other students across the state in the University of Alaska system, he found his educational world rocked when Governor Mike Dunleavy announced an unprecedented $136 million budget cut to UA. Since the shocking announcement, the governor has rolled back the cut to $70 million spread out over three years. But Jorgensen noted the damage had already been done, leaving many students attending one of the three UA system campuses skittish about returning in the fall, wondering if their programs and classes would still be available.

Springing into action

Never being one to sit on the sidelines and wait, Jorgensen sprang into action, pouring his energy into rallying the university and local Anchorage community into demonstrating their support of the state's one and only higher education system. 

"Ever since I've gotten into political science and politics really, education has been on the chopping block year after year," Jorgensen said, who has long advocated for education, even as a high schooler.

As he's gotten older, Jorgensen feels the weight of responsibility to not only advocate for education for himself and his current classmates, but for those following in his footsteps. "It's not that I've been called to do this, it's just what's needed," he said. "There's a necessity for students to step in and advocate for our future and future students."

"Growing up my mom would say, 'Education is life,'" he said, explaining that his mom was a huge influence on him valuing and pursuing education, and that he often feels frustrated that students are the ones left having to fight for their own universities and education. "We're all lifelong learners and that's kind of why I am here at the university, to learn. Getting a job and having a career is a great benefit, but at the end of the day, it's important for me to understand the world around me."

Grab your rally cap

"It started out as wanting to get university people - faculty, staff and students - connected because we're facing an existential threat and the future of higher education for the next 100 years to come," said Jorgensen. Though the rally is over, he said the battle is still ongoing over the place of higher education in our state and in the country. "It's a serious and grave situation that we're in. And it's us, as stakeholders, especially as leaders in student government, it's our responsibility to make people aware and connect them to people who make the big decisions."

Initially, Jorgensen and a few other USUAA Student Government members thought they could gather a crowd of around 100 in front of the Student Union, make a splash and rally support for the university. But that's not what happened. Jorgensen had no idea how much bigger the rallying cry from the community was.

"We went to the Save our State rally and were inspired," said Jorgensen. He and fellow planners were hoping to channel similar energy from that rally at their own. He said one day he got a cryptic tip, to think bigger and to keep his options open to possibly collaborating with a community partner. "I got a call from Trevor Storrs [president and CEO of Alaska Children's Trust (ACT)], who I've known for years, and he said, 'Hey Alex, what if I told you Portugal. The Man was going to be at your rally?' And maybe your rally goes from a couple hundred to a couple thousand." 

Jorgensen said the ACT partnership shifted the momentum of the rally, and with nationally recognized Alaska-rooted band Portugal. The Man on deck, took what started as a small, grassroots, student-led initiative to a communitywide event. Once ACT jumped on board, the Save Our State campaign followed, and the combined efforts of all three organizations were able to create a much larger and more impactful event. 

"We ended up having a rally where almost 4,000 people attended," Jorgensen said. "And upwards of 1,000 people actually took action at the rally, following this system that we had created and sent an email to the legislator."

Jorgensen said the rally was mind-blowing - he was amazed by the amount of support and action that happened at a single event.

It's not over yet

"Reflecting back on it, I think it's really inspiring," Jorgensen said, adding that Alaskans are at a critical point in shaping the future of the state. "There's no black and white answer to these complicated problems. But it felt so nice to see Alaskans coming together around a central goal of protecting our future."

Jorgensen said that he's hopeful and that the rally showed him that the Alaska community does value education and the university on some level. He said that the governor's budget cuts shed light on some serious and difficult issues in the state, but that, for him, the rally represented the resilience of Alaskans and the drive to live here despite the challenges. He knows some students are feeling defeated by the turmoil within the university and the state and have given up, but he is not one of them - he said if he gives up his hope, then he feels there's no point in going forward.

"I can't imagine my life without education," Jorgensen said of the five years he's spent at UAA. He's made the most of his education by not only taking coursework and pursuing a degree he's passionate about, but also by engaging with the university community through student clubs and leadership roles. He said he feels lucky to have had such a positive higher education experience at UAA and wants to ensure others have that as well. "I know how powerful an agent of change education can be in anyone's life. It's about making sure that everyone has the same opportunities that I've had, because I've been very fortunate."

Written by Catalina Myers, UAA Office of University Advancement