RICHMOND -- A busload of University students and administrators rallied with other schools and state government officials yesterday, encouraging Virginia voters to pass the higher education bond referendums this fall.
The rally marked the beginning of a statewide bipartisan campaign to pass the referenda in the Nov. 5 election.
"A lot of your classmates probably don't vote. A lot of your parents don't vote. We've got to make sure they do," said Gov. Mark R. Warner, addressing a crowd of about 150 students from central Virginia schools, at Virginia Commonwealth University's Siegel Center.
Other rallies will take place throughout the state as the election nears.
A coalition of school administrators, including University President John T. Casteen III, joined Warner, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine and Attorney General Jerry Kilgore along with members of the General Assembly and other interested parties on stage at the rally.
The University stands to gain $68.3 million of the $900.5 million generated from the higher education bond sales.
Casteen called the funds crucial to completing a number of ongoing projects at the University, including the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, as well as others already underway with money from private donations.
"It's not state projects being built. That's one of the core issues here," Casteen said.
Some current University projects have been awaiting the dispersal of government funds since the last time Virginia issued General Education Bonds, in 1992, he said.
"It's very difficult to get private donations to pay for work the state should have done years ago and didn't," he added.
Other projects still in development also will benefit from the bonds, such as the Medical Research building, which hopes to gain $24.2 million, and the South Lawn Project.
About 15 students accompanied Casteen and University Spokeswoman Louise Dudley to represent the University at the rally.
"There were fewer students than I thought there would be," first-year College student Kimberly Baumgart said. "I was kind of disappointed because I thought it would be more of a rally. I hope that we can go back to Grounds and really be all hot diggity about it."
More University students probably did not attend the rally, which included free transportation and a free lunch, because of lack of awareness, said Leanna Blevins, graduate intern in the President's Office, who helped organize the event.
Timing also might have contributed, Dudley said.
"I think for the middle of the day, a weekday, when students have classes and other people have jobs, it was a good turnout," she added.
Referendum supporters at every level will continue trying to build interest and knowledge of the Bond issue among citizens up until Election Day.
"I'll be all over the state for this, trying to get to a lot of campuses -- and Grounds," Kilgore said.
Casteen and Frank Friedman, president of Piedmont Virginia Community College, will host a question and answer session at 8 a.m. today, where they will speak with community members about the upcoming referenda and their possible local impacts.
Additionally, the Office of University Relations will feature different articles in the programs at home football games addressing the bond issue, Dudley said.
Student Council also will target University students to try to gain support for the bonds.
"We will be putting together an education team to speak at meetings of CIO's, Greek organizations and other widely attended meetings," Council President Micah Schwartz said. "This will be an opportunity to educate students on the specifics of the bond bill and why they should vote for it."
Baumgart said she thought the issue would strike a chord with students because of its bipartisan nature and importance to the University.
"This is something I feel like I can tell everyone about," she said. "It's for education and who can be against that?"
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