Student Body Presidents Submit Petition to President Obama on Debt Ceiling

Student Body Presidents Speak Out on Debt

116 Student Body Presidents representing nearly 2 million college students from 40 states, have one question for Washington:

Do We Have a Deal Yet?

Washington, DC – A coalition of nearly 120 collegiate student body presidents released a letter today calling on President Obama and Congressional leaders to reach a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and reduce long-term budget deficits.

The letter read, "While you may disagree over which party shoulders more blame for our current situation, one thing is certain – young people will shoulder the consequences of gridlock during a time that requires bold action."

The student-led initiative, called Do We Have a Deal Yet?, began on Georgetown University's campus last week. Mike Meaney, the school's student body president and a co-founder of this initiative, said at a press conference Thursday, "We are not here to tell our leaders what to do. We are simply here to tell them to lead."

Meaney was joined by seven other campus leaders at the event, including Kaveh Sadeghian from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, who said, "Our leaders are used to kicking the can down the

road. Well, we're that can, and we're here to kick back."

The student body presidents, who collectively represent nearly two million students nationwide, wrote that they support the efforts of the Gang of Six in the Senate as a "realistic framework from which to

work."

Kaiyi Xie from University of Maryland-College Park said, "The time has come to craft a solution that is bold, balanced, and bipartisan." Xie intends to personally present the students' letter to President Obama when he visits the University of Maryland for a town hall event.

"We are urging our leaders to think about the next generation, not just the next election," Meaney said.

The students are sending copies of their letter to members of Congress and are encouraging the public to join a conversation about the issue on Twitter using the hashtag, "#dowehaveadealyet."

For media inquiries or further information, please contact Carlos Reyes at dowehaveadealyet@gmail.com or 657-229-3328.

###

Do We a Have Deal Yet? is a non-partisan, grassroots, student-driven initiative founded on the campus of Georgetown University…last week.

www.DoWeHaveADealYet.com

Do We Have a Deal Yet? Coalition

As of July 21, 2011

STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT SCHOOL STATE CAMPUS SIZE

Paula Carolina Cerda Alaska Pacific University AK 722

Tim McBride American University DC 6,000

Saumitra Thakur* Amherst College MA 1,800

Jacob Goulding Arizona State University AZ 50,000

Eric Lenox Bacone College OK 900

Al Carroll Butler University IN 4,500

Johnathan Jianu Cal Poly Pomona CA 21,000

Adam Khan* California Institute of Technology CA 1,000

Justin Garritt* Castleton State College VT 2,000

Leslie M. Martin Catholic University of America DC 3,500

Michael Miller Colgate University NY 2,800

Kaveh Sadeghian College of William & Mary VA 8,000

Benjamin Quam Colorado College CO 2,000

Angela Cobian* Colorado College CO 1,900

Nathan Levick Columbia University NY 7,900

Maritza Diane Essis Connecticut College CT 1,900

Natalie Raps Cornell University NY 14,000

Jordan Leventhal* Cuyahoga Community College OH 30,000

Max Yoeli Dartmouth College NH 4,200

Jeanna Dacey Wilkes Delta State University MS 4,500

Gregory Larson Drake University IA 5,200

Pete Schork Duke University NC 6,400

Josh Martinkovic East Carolina University NC 28,000

Adam McCall Emory University GA 12,000

John Pinel Fairleigh Dickinson University NJ 8,804

Breyon Love Florida A & M University FL 13,500

Lauren Schuetz Florida Gulf Coast University FL 12,000

Patrick O'Keefe Florida International University FL 44,010

Avi Assidon Florida State University FL 42,000

Caitlin Meyer Fordham University NY 7,500

Tyler Thompson Fort Hays State University KS 11,000

John Richardson George Washington University DC 26,000

Mike Meaney Georgetown University DC 7,000

Andrew J. Ferreira Gettysburg College PA 2,600

J. Tyler Hobbs Gonzaga University WA 7,800

Caroline Spruill* Hobart and William Smith Colleges NY 2,200

Brandon Harris Howard University DC 7,147

Justin Kingsolver Indiana University IN 43,500

Corey Ariss

Indiana University-Purdue University,

Indianapolis IN 32,000

Pat Watral James Madison University VA 19,000

Benjamin T. Chaucer* Johnson State College VT 1,800

Cody Allen Wells Louisiana State University LA 27,000

Nicholas Russo Lyndon State College VT 1,500

Kimberly Ehrlich Minnesota State University Moorhead MN 8,000

Matthew Lexcen Minnesota State University, Mankato MN 15,500

Rhett Hobart Mississippi State University MS 20,500

Leander Williams, Jr. Mississippi University for Women MS 2,500

Selin Acar

Missouri University of Science and

Technology MO 7,000

Jeremiah Johnson Murray State University KY 10,416

Krunal Amin NC School of Science and Mathematics NC 650

Michael Long New College of Florida FL 825

Jacob Strickland* North Carolina Wesleyan College NC 1,500

Michael Sabo Northeastern University MA 16,000

Elliot M. Echols Northern Illinois University IL 25,000

Jason Morgan* Northern Michigan University MI 9,500

Nelson N. Pugh Jr Oakwood University AL 2,000

Michael Clegg Occidental College CA 2,000

Nathaniel Goldman* Oglethorpe University GA 900

Ashley Leonard Oklahoma State University OK 23,000

Crystal LaGrone* Oklahoma State University-Tulsa OK 2,400

Peter Khoury Penn State PA 42,000

TJ Bard Pennsylvania State University PA 48,000

Brett Highley Purdue University IN 31,000

Benjamin Cloutier Quinnipiac University CT 5,600

Benjamin Hunt* Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY 6,538

Mark G. Waitkus Saint Ambrose University IA 3,600

Marissa Serafino Saint Anselm College NH 2,300

Cody Barbo San Diego State University CA 30,000

Stephen land* Southern Oregon University OR 6,700

Michael Cruz Stanford University CA 18,000

Olivia Ensign* Swarthmore College PA 1,500

Evan Nicoll Tulane University LA 7,000

Grant Cochran University of Alabama AL 30,000

James Allen University of Arizona AZ 39,000

Vishalli Loomba University of California Berkeley CA 35,000

Emily Resnick University of California Los Angeles CA 28,000

Harrison Weber University of California Santa Barbara CA 18,000

Matthew McCann University of Central Florida FL 56,000

Youssef Kalad University of Chicago IL 16,000

William L. Taylor* University of Colorado at Boulder CO 30,000

Ben Meyers University of Florida FL 53,000

Mallory Louise Davis University of Georgia GA 26,000

Samantha Perez University of Idaho ID 12,300

Elliot Higgins University of Iowa IA 30,000

Libby Johnson University of Kansas KS 28,000

Kaiyi Xie University of Maryland MD 26,000

Brandon Mitchell University of Miami FL 10,000

Lizzy Shay University of Minnesota MN 30,519

Taylor McGraw University of Mississippi MS 17,000

Eric Woods University of Missouri MO 32,000

Jericah Selby University of Missouri-St. Louis MO 16,000

Jenifer Gursky University of Montana MT 15,000

Lane S. Carr University of Nebraska Lincoln NE 25,000

Elizabeth O'Connor University of Nebraska- Omaha NE 15,000

Casey Stiteler University of Nevada-Reno NV 14,000

Matt Brockelman University of North Florida FL 16,500

Franz Zenteno* University of Oklahoma OK 25,000

Ben Eckstein University of Oregon OR 24,000

James M. Strickland* University of South Carolina SC 29,000

Joseph B. Wright University of South Carolina SC 29,000

Collin Michels University of South Dakota SD 10,000

Matthew A. Diaz University of South Florida System FL 48,000

Pablo L. Padilla University of Texas at El Paso TX 22,480

William Vitagliano* University of Vermont VT 10,000

Dan Morrison University of Virginia VA 21,000

Conor McLean University of Washington WA 40,000

Josh Finley University of West Florida FL 12,000

Riley Peterson University of Wisconsin-Green Bay WI 7,100

Allie Gardner University of Wisconsin-Madison WI 42,000

Tanay Tatum Vassar College NY 2,400

Nilam A. Patel Wake Forest University NC 4,800

Zachary Malter Wesleyan University CT 2,800

Jason Bailey West Virginia University WV 30,000

Tucker Copi Western Illinois University IL 13,600

Jonathon Scott Pierce Westminster College UT 3,300

Kaitlyn Gaddis Xavier University of Louisiana LA 3,300

* = outgoing