Syracuse University was the backdrop for Vice President Joe Biden’s meeting on education Wednesday, literally.

Behind Biden sat 35 SU and community activists and above them hung an orange and blue banner that read, ‘A Strong Middle Class: Syracuse University, Scholarship in Action.’

The meeting, held in Goldstein Auditorium, was a clear joining of two messages – one national and one local, with similar goals for education in the United States.

Biden, who wore an orange and blue striped tie and never stopped flashing his smile, complimented Syracuse’s Say Yes to Education initiative, claiming it addressed just the issues the White House hopes to reform, specifically college access and affordability.

Say Yes is a kindergarten through 12th grade initiative seeking to raise graduation rates in both high schools and colleges.

‘This is not a minor issue,’ Biden said. ‘This is a big deal. I get it. Barack gets it. We would not be where we are today would it not be for those loans and grants and scholarships.’

Biden began his speech by quoting his 92-year-old mother who used to tell him, ‘Children tend to become that which you expect them to be.’

‘We expect, you should expect, all of us should expect a lot more from our children and give them the support that’s needed,’ he said.

Low expectations, on the other hand, could further fuel the ever-increasing dropout rate, which Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said is up to 30 percent of students a year.

Duncan noted that New York loses 77,000 students between ninth and 12th grade each year.

‘We have to ask where they’re all going? We’re losing them to the streets. We have to do something different and we have to do it now,’ Duncan said.

Duncan said he’s here to observe how the Say Yes program is working to remedy the situation by breaking down emotional, academic, social, health and financial barriers to higher education. He said he could see Say Yes becoming a national model for improving education.

‘I’m here to learn, to pay attention,’ he said. ‘You have public, private school systems, unions, management, parents, all coming together saying, ‘Starting in kindergarten, college becomes the norm.”

Logan Tousaw, a senior at Corcoran High School in Syracuse, was among a group of Say Yes students who attended the speech wearing blue ‘Generation Yes’ T-shirts. Tousaw came as a member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet, a collaboration of student representatives from five Syracuse city schools.

‘I was surprised but proud to hear he was coming here,’ Tousaw said. ‘My sister goes to Ithaca, and she has a ton of loans. For the middle class, this is making life that much easier. It’s making it possible to go to a private university.’

Tousaw said he hopes to attend SU or Binghamton University next fall.

‘I was just mesmerized by everything he said and impressed with how much money he’s putting into the education system,’ Tousaw said in regard to the Obama administration’s $100 billion American Recovery Act.

Affordability was a hot topic at the meeting. While Biden commended Syracuse’s financial aid, he also addressed a concern from an audience member on the rising cost of tuition.

Some students in the crowd found it contradictory that a push for more affordable education was being delivered from the stage of a pricey university.

‘I was very surprised SU was chosen as the place for this considering how expensive our tuition is,’ said Aamir Noorani, a junior television, radio and film and marketing major. ‘We’re one of the most expensive private schools in the country.’

Cantor said that the university has given out $167 million in institutional financial aid this year. The incoming class is 27 percent Pell Grant eligible, she said.

‘Keep ’em ‘Cuse is our rallying call,’ she said.

Attia Nasar, a graduate student in the public diplomacy program, attended the meeting, updating her Twitter account with Biden’s jokes and points throughout.

‘I think it’s important for people to realize there are opportunities out there. It may be difficult to find, but they exist,’ she said.

Nasar was also impressed that SU’s Say Yes program has the potential to become a national model.

‘That could put SU on the map,’ she said. ‘It shows you don’t have to be from an Ivy League school or a big city to make a difference.’

jmterrus@syr.edu

Published on September 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm