Kalia Harris began advocating last year for a financial safety net to help George Mason University students who are at risk of dropping out. The idea began after appeals to not raise tuition rates failed.
Harris lobbied for a freeze on tuition increases for more than a year, talking with Mason’s administration and Board of Visitors, the Virginia General Assembly, and the U.S. Senate. She traveled to Richmond in January to be part of the Virginia Student Power Network (VSPN) Martin Luther King Day of Action Against Student Debt as it lobbied the commonwealth’s General Assembly.
“I definitely did not expect to be an advocate––it was not on my to-do list when I went to college,” the Richmond native said.
As a first-generation college student, Harris was focused on becoming a pediatric cardiac surgeon when she started at George Mason. By the end of her sophomore year, her interest had shifted to social sciences, especially public health. But it was a bumpy transition from one major to another.
“I was falling through the cracks,” the 21-year-old said. “I had to seek out the help that I needed.”
The community health major, who qualified for Pell Grants, was working three to four jobs to help pay her tuition. Coming into her senior year, she learned she no longer qualified for a Pell Grant due to her parents’ income increasing $250 above the threshold. When $1,000 in student fees nearly derailed her, she applied to the Stay Mason fund––the very fund she helped start by working with other students and various campus organizations.
The Stay Mason Student Support Fund was created by University Life and students in spring 2015 and is designed to help the university’s most vulnerable student population: students who are undocumented, homeless, first-generation, and low-income, as well as those who are facing unexpected financial hardships that may force them to drop out of college for a semester, and perhaps for good, according to Rose Pascarell, vice president of University Life.
“I helped create that fund for people like myself, but I didn’t think I would need it,” Harris said.
And it was during this time of switching majors and figuring out how to pay for college when Harris found her voice.
“I want other black students like myself not to be so lost for so long,” she said. “That’s what pulled my voice out of my body and called me to action.”
Harris will graduate with about $38,000 in student loan debt. She was invited to a U.S. Senate breakfast in February to represent Virginia in a dialogue about student loan debt with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). HBO is featuring her story and other students who attend public universities in an upcoming VICE episode on student loan debt.
“The Stay Mason support fund is not a sustainable long-term solution to the student debt crisis,” Harris said. “The defunding of higher education is something that needs to be addressed at the federal and state levels.”
Harris is returning to Mason in the fall for a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in social justice and human rights.
“For me, I’m coming back because I’m committed to making Mason a better place. I’m ready to continue that next chapter.”