March 8 was a warm sunny day in Boston, a perfect day for a rally, a race, and a march -- all aimed at building awareness and support for A Great State of Mind, the campaign to bring Massachusetts up the national average in funding for public higher education, and down to the national average in student costs. 

See a few well-captioned photos.  Or see what the whole day looked like!

The Public Higher Education Caucus of the Massachusetts House was announced in a historic ceremony attended by 200 PHENOM supporters on March 8.  Rep. Garballey said, "As we all know, the future of our state is heavily dependent on a trained and educated workforce.  Just as more and more of us realize this, our support for Massachusetts public colleges slips further and further behind the rest of the country, and rising fees price college out of reach for many students. 

 The Governor has submitted a budget that comes close to maintaining current funding for public higher education.  In a difficult economic time, many of us breathed a sigh of relief, and we hope the legislature adopts this same approach since we cannot tolerate any further cuts.  But we have to put this in perspective and show how inadequate this really is. 

Nancy Folbre is active with the UMass Amherst PHENOM Council.  Her blog, "College Students, the New Cash Cows" was published in the New York Times on February 15, 2010.  She is also quoted in this important Business Week article that shows how Massachusetts is not alone in cutting support and making higher education less accessible.