We, the undersigned students, parents, faculty, staff, and supporters of Connecticut’s public higher education institutions, write to deeply oppose Governor Lamont’s decision to severely underfund higher education, resulting in significant adverse impacts on our community colleges, state universities and UConn campuses.

Students across Connecticut, the future leaders of our state, returned to class this fall to find that they’ll be required to pay more while receiving less. Governor Lamont and the state legislature have gutted funding for public higher education by more than $200 million in fiscal year 2025 already resulting in program closures and a reduction in faculty and staff. Cuts include closed cafeterias; reduced library hours and access; reduced vital programs like career, disability, tutoring, veterans and ESOL services; reduced student activities, food pantry availability, and more.

Disproportionally, these cuts impact our most vulnerable students - students of color and non-traditional students trying to further their career aspirations. Almost exclusively, these cuts affect working families, unable to afford the high costs of private education available to the wealthy and privileged. By slashing the services that are necessary for students to succeed, Governor Lamont’s budget has prioritized a rigid adherence to an archaic spending cap over Connecticut’s future workforce.

A strong public higher education system is the cornerstone to combating Connecticut’s extreme levels of wealth inequality across race and class. Students forced to drop out of our public higher ed institutes by and large don’t have other opportunities to further their education. And public higher ed’s positive impact reaches much further beyond student success, lifting up local communities and the state by expanding employment, increasing tax revenues, reducing spending on public services, lowering crime rates, and enhancing civic engagement, political participation, and social harmony.

And these cuts and staff reductions are only the first wave of impacts. Next year will see even more negative effects as deficits are tripled. And at the same time, Connecticut has an overflowing, multi-billion dollar surplus that has remained untouched due to Governor Lamont’s stringent adherence to the archaic spending cap.

We must act now and demand that emergency state funding be provided to avoid further cuts. We unite in this petition to demand immediate action on restoration of funding. It is our shared imperative to ensure the preservation and enhancement of higher education, which is fundamental to our state's future. We urge you to take immediate action and allocate necessary resources to secure a bright and prosperous future for Connecticut.