Setting the scene, and an emissary's errand - attending the University of Chicago's education reform panel

I attended the University of Chicago's forum on education reform on behalf of FSLDM supporters and as an alumna of the school (A.M. '02) last night at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium at 1301 Constitution Ave NW in Washington, D.C.  This event, hosted by President Robert Zimmer, was called "Chicago Contributes." A panel of education policy experts, moderated by the well-known broadcast journalist Ray Suarez (who, like me, holds an A.M. in the social sciences from Chicago) , discussed issues relating to urban education and improving things at the k-12 levels. Incidentally, earlier in the afternoon the forum also included a panel that covered health care reform, and the honorary speaker for that talk was Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (she hails from my home state - Kansas. Hoorah!).

As most of you already know, the honorary speaker for the panel on education reform was none other than Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. We need to get his attention, and that was my intent as your emissary. My mission: to introduce myself and to promote our movement! Although the focus was primarily on pre-k and k-12 education reform, Secretary Duncan and the panelists made some passing references to university education. The most notable remark was when Secretary Duncan stated, "President Obama has a goal that by 2020 we have a higher percentage of college graduates than we do now." (Obama is calling on all Americans to attend at least 1 year of college, and that's why they are focused on initiatives to help community colleges retain students, as Duncan mentioned last night). 

Later in the evening, Obama's Senior Advisor David Axelrod gave a talk about policy endeavors for the future, and mentioned the successes he sees they've had thus far as a new administration. During his talk over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, Mr. Axelrod made it clear that these two issues - education reform and health care reform - are top priorities for the Obama administration. Keep this comment in mind folks - their attention to education reform and - I hope - their willingness to listen to our appeal makes it all the more critical for us to begin mobilizing this extraordinary grassroots movement. Therefore Rob and I say: let's turn the FSLDM into an actual lobbying group for the welfare of higher education students! There is no doubt, we have a narrow window of time to succeed, so we must act fast to demand change. 

But before I jump to the details about the end of the evening and to the end point of this fledgling, yet increasingly robust grassroots movement (after all, we're just gettin' started, and we're just gettin' y'all fired up!), I must begin with the first steps of my somewhat comical journey to this event.

Getting to the actual event was a comedy of sorts. Although at the time, I was not finding myself, apparently, as lead clown all that funny. The universe was playing many tricks on me yesterday, and somebody, somewhere, was laughing up a storm. (If I had been on stilts, it would have been even funnier). First, I  struggled to find a parking spot that was (a) actually affordable, (b) not in a tow zone,  and (c) reserved for tourist buses only. I also realized upon my trip to downtown D.C. that my wallet was not in my business bag. Said wallet contained money that would have allowed me to park in obscenely overpriced parking garages near the National Mall. I drove in circles trying to find that perfect space that was (a) free and (b) not located in a tow zone. No such luck. Filled with disappointment and embarrassment, I pulled into yet another unaffordable parking garage. I called my husband and within a few short minutes of brainstorming we solved the problem. Wallet was received from a friend who was commuting from where we live in NOVA to D.C. That friend saved the day!

At the conclusion of the one act play called, The Drama of Cryn's Missing Wallet, I jogged in heels down 13th and Pennsylvania Ave to Constitution Ave (I have Nordstrom to thank for teaching me how to run in heels), and arrived at my destination. With just 2 minutes to spare, I registered and received my name tag. But none of this could have happened without Robert Applebaum's support. In fact, I told Rob about this event a week ago, and considered paying to attend out of my own pocket. Before I made that decision Robert solved the problem.

After I'd sent him an email about my longing to go, he quickly wrote back, "done."

With the small amount of funds he's received, Robert graciously offered to send me to attend this $75 event. That is further evidence of his commitment to this cause and to our professional and personal relationship. *Please make sure to thank Rob for sending me to this event to be a representative of all supporters of the FSLDM.*

Although I wanted to bring up the frustrating fact that recently Sallie Mae and Nelnet won 5-year contracting bids to service all federally guaranteed loans, I realized that wouldn't be doing us any favors . . . I had a strategy, but I had to wait.

President Zimmer introduced all the panelists, Ray Suarez, and finally Secretary Duncan. The large crowd stood up and clapped for several minutes upon his entrance into the grand hall. I sat at the very front of the crowd, just a few feet from the panelists and Mr. Duncan.

Mr. Duncan gave a good speech. Then it was time for question and answer. I raised my hand as soon as they opened the floor for questions, and I almost lost my chance to speak to him directly. That's until . . .