Higher Education Day brings estimated 1,000 people to Alabama State House
Students from Alabama’s 14 public universities arrive in Montgomery for Higher Education Day, Thursday, February 19, 2026 – Photo from WAKA Action 8 News
Nearly 1,000 advocates from Alabama’s universities were in Montgomery today to show support for higher education at the Alabama State House.
Led by the Alabama State University band and joined by school mascots, representatives of all 14 public universities in Alabama gathered for the annual advocacy day to ensure that these institutions are adequately funded as lawmakers consider next year’s Education Trust Fund budget.
“Governor Ivey and our legislative leaders have been great to our universities, but we also want to remind them that we are the opportunities of tomorrow,” Gordon Stone, the executive director of the Alabama Higher Education Partnership, told Action 8 News.
“We are the dream, the dreams that are becoming a reality. We want to be the solutions to Alabama‘s problems and the opportunities for Alabama‘s future, and that’s why they’re here and it’s great to see over 1,000 students here and all of this energy and enthusiasm,” he said.
SGA leaders from all 14 public universities, representing 180,000 students, signed a statewide pledge as a collective show of strength and delivered their message to Gov. Kay Ivey during lunch on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol.
During lunch, attendees heard from Gov. Ivey, both majority and minority party leadership leaders in the House and Senate, the chairs of the state’s budget committees and other key state and legislative leaders.
