To the university community:

Although most schools, colleges and universities enjoyed spring break last week, the Texas Legislature remained active in session. Vice President for Legal Affairs Paul Ward and I spent March 15 visiting with legislative leaders and members who are SMU alumni. Our major concerns are the proposed cuts (up to 40 percent) in Texas Equalization Grant (TEG) funds and another proposal that would allow concealed handguns to be brought on campus. With half of the legislative session remaining, there has been some significant progress on both of these concerns.

First, the governor has agreed to cover a part of the state’s current budget shortfall by utilizing approximately $3 billion of the state’s Rainy Day Fund. Continuing discussions on how to ease the shortfall for the next biennium appear to be productive. Hopefully, these discussions will result in the mitigation of the anticipated TEG cuts. Although we anticipate some cuts to occur, the 40 percent proposed reduction would be disastrous to our Texas students receiving this need-based support.

Regarding the concealed handgun proposal, on March 16, HB-750 was passed by committee and will go to the full House for vote. However, through the efforts of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT), the bill, as passed by committee, contains an “Op-Out” provision that will allow private institutions to still prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns on the private property of their campuses. The same language is in the Senate Bill that should be considered this week.

The recent visit to Austin by Jake Torres and other student leaders was very effective because it provided the opportunity for legislative leadership and our alumni in the legislature to meet some of the outstanding students who are receiving TEG funds.

Also effective have been the efforts of these student leaders to have personal letters written by our Texas students to their legislative representatives. I urge all Texas students and other members of the university community residing outside the Park Cities to do the same. Our local legislators, Rep. Dan Branch and state Senator John Carona, are in support of the university’s efforts. The particular information to be included in your letter can be obtained from http://smu.edu/newsinfo/stories/2011/teg-talking-points.asp.

With the future of Texas crucially tied to having an educated citizenry and workforce, it is imperative that need-based financial aid continue to be available to motivated high school graduates who will benefit from attending private colleges and universities such as SMU.

R. Gerald Turner is the President of Southern Methodist University.