Your actions will determine our future.

On March 1, 2013, the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration went into effect.For TRIO, this translates into a $42 million funding cut and a potential loss of 40,000+ students for program year 2013-2014. (These cuts will be piled on top of the cuts received in years past.) For a detailed listing of the potential devastation by state, please click here.  Unless Congress takes action, the first evidence of the sequestration cuts will be seen in the Grant Award Notifications for Upward Bound, which will be released in April or May of 2013. Therefore, TRIO supporters must continue to convey this message to Congress in a loud voice — END SEQUESTRATION NOW! INCREASE FUNDING FOR TRIO!

JOIN THE SAEOPP END SEQUESTRATION CAMPAIGN. The Campaign has three parts to it:

THROWBACK THURSDAY

·         Take time to call your congressional representatives and senators about ENDING SEQUESTRATION NOW! You can utilize the following script during your throwback Thursday call:

• “My name is __________ and I’m a supporter of the TRIO programs in  __________(state). END SEQUESTRATION NOW AND INCREASE FUNDING FOR TRIO. 
•  You can reach any of your legislators’ offices to leave a message like the one above by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 or by looking up phone numbers at:(http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ .

FUTURISTIC FRIDAY

·         EMAIL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT OBAMA BY CLICKING HERE AND SEND THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE:

• “My name is __________ and I’m with the __________, a TRIO program at __________. I know that the President and Members of Congress are working to reduce the federal deficit. But, 70% of all of the deficit reduction so far has come through cuts to TRIO and other programs. In total, discretionary programs have sustained nearly $1.5 billion in cuts already! I need [ Senator/Representative/President Obama ] __________ to fight to protect discretionary programs like TRIO from further cuts!”

AND

·         FACEBOOK OR TWEET CONGRESS — We encourage all TRIO supporters — particularly students, alumni, and program staff, to tweet messages to their legislators, such as the following:

o    Under #Sequestration 40,000 students across the country will lose access to TRIO services this year. #SaveTRIO #TRIOWorks

o    End #Sequestration — or 40,000 low-income students will no longer benefit from the TRIO programs. Tell Congress to reverse the cuts!

o    Invest in education and programs that work. Help us #SaveTRIO [ insert Member Twitter handle ]. Support balance and reverse #Sequestration! #TRIOWorks

o    Remember [ insert Member Twitter handle ] nearly 40,000 low-income students are counting on you to support a balanced approach to reverse #Sequestration! #SaveTRIO

o    #Sequestration means a $42 million cut and 40,000 fewer TRIO students served! [ insert Member Twitter handle ] find a better solution! #SaveTRIO

You can find Twitter handles for your Members of Congress (as well as their full contact information) at (http://www.contactingthecongress.org/).

MANIAC MONDAY

·         LET’S HAVE AN ALL-OUT COMMUNICATION BLITZ. Call, E-mail, Facebook, and Tweet our message to your congressional representatives and senators: