Madison Kwiecinski 

News Editor 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

On March 30, 2022, Advocate Penn State Capital Day took place, a University-wide advocacy event that encourages students to reach out to their elected officials and speak up for the university. Capital Day is the largest single-day advocacy event that takes place at Penn State. 

The event began in 2001, when Penn State students, faculty, and alumni gathered in Pennsylvania’s Capitol Building in Harrisburg in order to show their support of Penn State. According to the Penn State website, “Penn State Capital Day helps us continue to provide an accessible and affordable education while maintaining our status as a top-tier research University. 

Capital Day has been an annual event for over two decades now, but faced interruptions the last few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s event was a hybrid one, with a small group of students, alumni and faculty gathering in Harrisburg, and a larger group being asked to participate virtually and by calling, emailing, and generally reaching out to Pennsylvania legislative officials. 

In past years, PSU Capital Day has been an instrumental tool in securing the University’s annual funding, which supports a tuition break for PA residents as well as several other important PSU programs. Ideally, this year will have encouraged state representatives to support an increase in funding, such as the 5 percent increase Governor Tom Wolf proposed earlier this year. 

“When the entire Penn State community speaks with one voice, legislators stop and listen,” said Penn State Vice President of government and community relations, Zack Moore, “It is more important than ever for Penn Staters to share their stories of how affordable access to a Penn State education has impacted their lives, and how the University’s state funding positively benefits all Pennsylvanians,” continued Moore. 

To see what other PSU advocates wrote on Capitol day you can visit the tag @AdvocatePennState on Facebook, @AdvocateState on Twitter, and @Advocate_PennState on Instagram. Exercise your right as a constituent to reach out to any of your local government officials and talk about the issues that matter to you.