Recent announcements concerning budget cuts to Illinois colleges have caused many students and citizens to be in uproar. Many well-known colleges are at risk, including Chicago State University, Eastern Illinois University, University of Illinois, and many more. Community colleges are also suffering like the rest.

Many institutions have not received money since last July. Eastern Illinois University has laid off 198 of its staff members, and Chicago State University sent out layoff notices to its employees two weeks ago. The school ran out of money on March 1. According to Gov. Bruce Rauner, the 2016 budget has been spent. Ninety-percent of the state government was funded by the 2015 taxes, which leaves ten percent unaccounted for. Sadly, that ten percent is devoted to non-for-profit agencies as well as those who work in higher education.

However, some students have held rallies to protest the recent decisions of the state. On February 17, students gathered at the state capitol, some with signs and some with only their voices. A Chicago State University senior, Charles Preston, spoke to the crowd, saying, “We’re not here to play with (lawmakers) like they play us. They’ve been playing political chess with us.” Preston’s school was projected to run out of funds on March 1, and he was unsure of what would happen afterwards. “We might close, we might not; it’s uncertain… My mother works at this school, and I’m a senior trying to graduate. I can’t fathom it,” Preston told Colby Bermel, a USA Today correspondent.

Many students have been disillusioned over the issue, such as a Harper College sophomore Joe Haynes. “Whatever issues you have with the budget, you all figure that stuff out, but don’t put our futures at stake because of politics,” says Haynes. I think he is absolutely right.