Hundreds of student protestors from all over the state flooded the inside of Michigan’s Capitol Building in Lansing Thursday for the Lansing Blitz rally – a state-wide effort organized by the Student Association of Michigan to protest higher education funding cuts in Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed budget plan.

Signs that read “Recall Snyder” and “Protect Higher Education, Snyder is Wrong!” dotted the outside of the Capitol Building while students chanted inside to show solidarity in their opposition.

“Some chants and signs told our leaders that Michigan should not fund more finances towards a clearly dysfunctional, un-effective prison system than our education system,” said Vince Panozzo, a junior and political science major at Grand Valley State University who attended the Lansing Blitz rally. “Other signs compared the budget plan to values with de-funding education, head start and Planned Parenthood – which are attacks on kids, non-traditional students and women – while funding went towards big businesses and higher-income earners – a clear support for the rich.”

If Gov. Snyder’s budget plan passes, it would reduce funding by 15 percent if universities can meet tuition incentives and by 22 percent if they cannot.

The reduction would knock GVSU’s current state aid of $62 million down to $52.6 million if tuition incentives are met or $48.4 million if they are not. But with the lowest state funding of any public university, students at GVSU are still feeling anxious with the pending proposal.

“I think people are turning up in general though because students and supports realize the attacks that are being committed against their education and their rights,” said Ponazzo, who plans to run for a GVSU Student Senate seat this week. “Education is the forefront for innovation and the basis of a community. If you take that away, you’re taking away the foundation of our society.”

He added that he thinks the higher education funding cuts are the just the beginning of a larger issue.

“Something important to realize though is that these attacks on our rights are not just against us,” he said. “It’s against every kind of oppressed group – women, racial minorities, the LGBT community, those living in poverty. Attacks on education are an attack on all of these groups and more, and these cuts and attacks we’re facing now are just the beginning.”

Jennie Hlady, a member of the Student Senate political affairs committee, said she thought the powerful message students brought to Lansing Thursday was only made stronger by the positive attitude that came along with it.

“There was a good turnout at the Lansing Blitz,” Hlady said. “I feel that so many people showed up because it is important for us to let legislators know that we are listening and paying attention to what is going on. We as students need to use our voices to express our opinion.”

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