The other day, I had a chat with one of the most memorable of all CoCo members, Lucy Ortiz Perez. If you've been to a recent Leadership Event, you can't forget Lucy-- the story of the time Lucy (for whom English is a second language, mind you) got lost by herself for several hours in New York City is now NNPCW legend. But that is a story for another blogging day.

Lucy is a student at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. Yes, NNPCW's membership includes Puerto Rico. It is a commonwealth of the United States, after all. And when I asked Lucy what she was up to, in this busiest of all school semesters, she informed me that she is currently sitting at home. The next day, I talked to Omayra Gonzalez-Mendez, also an NNPCW member in Puerto Rico. She's been home for the past two weeks, she said!

Why, you ask, are our friends in Puerto Rico not in school in mid-April? They are involved in a mass strike. A few weeks ago, the president and board of trustees of the University of Puerto Rico system (11 schools spread throughout the island) announced a 33% tuition increase for next year-- a rate increase imposed without any student input. So students at Lucy's campus in Rio Piedras voted to start a strike that has continued for two weeks now. Last week, a student assembly voted 773-505 to continue the strike indefinitely. So 21,000 students are now sitting at home. Other campuses in Puerto Rico, like Omayra's in San Sebastian, have begun to join them.

This morning, knowing I was going to blog on the subject, I decided to look up the news reports to find out what was going on. I found exactly one report on this story, in the University of Texas' student paper from about a week ago (you can Google it yourself and see). Interesting, in an era of increasing resentment about college tuition hikes across the United States, that you can barely find any mention of what our fellow American citizens in Puerto Rico are doing about it. Why isn't our media picking this up?

In any case, be praying for Lucy, Omayra, and all the other students in Puerto Rico, that there will be a swift resolution to this situation. And pray that the voices of the students will be heard and valued in that resolution.

Have a great weekend!

"Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks." --Proverbs 1:20-21

Kelsey