Bradley Hardy, NC Federation of College Democrats

A group of UNC-Asheville students challenged on Wednesday Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s hypocrisy while he was on their campus to promote faith-based initiatives and advise local churches on how to receive money from the federal government.

The students took their tuition bills and textbook receipts to Burr to remind him of the financial burden that college students face and ask why he didn’t believe they deserved some relief.

The protest was organized through Facebook, an Internet social networking group, and covered by the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Earlier this year, Burr had an opportunity to help make education more affordable for millions of college students by voting for Senate Bill 1762, “The Higher Education Access Act”.

But once again, Burr chose special interests over the needs of his own constituents.

Not only did Burr oppose the bill, but he tried to derail it with an amendment that would have taken $4.2 billion in grants over the next five years from students and given it to for-profit lenders.

Thankfully, the bill prevailed by a vote of 78 to 18.

On Wednesday, the students were unable to approach Burr directly. But they handed over copies of their most recent tuition bills to his staff and discussed their concerns over Burr’s vote.

The students also demanded to know why Burr valued special interests in Washington more than the students in his own state. With students across North Carolina struggling to afford the bills each semester, they wanted to know why Burr would rather vault banking interests over those of his own constituents.

Burr’s staff assured the students that they would discuss their concerns with Burr and forward the bills and receipts.

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