115 Students and Marching Band to Represent UNA at State Capitol

Mar. 3, 2010

By Cody Wix
Student Writer

FLORENCE, Ala. – The University of North Alabama’s Pride of Dixie Marching Band, along with 115 students, will lead a delegation of more than 2,000 university students, faculty and administrators from across the state at the Higher Education Day opening parade this Friday in Montgomery.

Sponsored by the Higher Education Partnership, Higher Education Day brings students, administrators, faculty and alumni from Alabama’s four-year universities together at the Alabama State House to advocate equity and fairness in state funding for higher education. The Higher Education Partnership is an advocacy group for Alabama’s public universities.

Samuel Thigpen, of Red Bay, president of the UNA Student Government Association, has seen a substantial increase in UNA student interest in the event this year.

“This year, we have taken a more proactive approach on campus,” he said. “We have gotten the word out as well as conducted letter-writing campaigns to our legislators.”

The word got out, and now more than 100 UNA students are traveling to Montgomery Thursday morning.

“We started off worrying if we would fill all the buses rented to take students down there. Now we are having a problem with overfilling the buses,” Thigpen said.

The Pride of Dixie Marching Band was invited by the Higher Education Partnership to lead the parade opening the rally in Montgomery. The parade will march from the Cramton Bowl area to the State House.

Higher Education Day is the largest annual political rally in Montgomery.

Speakers at this year’s rally will include Gov. Bob Riley, Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Speaker Seth Hammett, Sen. Hank Sanders and Rep. Richard Lindsey.