The tailgating area near O’Brien Field filled up with alumni who were open to discuss their experiences with Eastern and the current status of the university during Tent City Saturday.

Robyn Carr, a family advocate at the Children’s Advocacy Center, got her master’s degree at Eastern in 2007 and said everyone in the state is facing tough times.

“I think all of us alumni and friends of the university need to step up and do what we can, whether it’s talking to people in the government or making a gift to Eastern,” Carr said. “We try to support by being present and we need to all support this school we all love.

Carr said the university cannot control the changing economy, but people can work together to make sure everyone can experience higher education.

Tent City was a gathering of alumni and students allowing them to mingle and grab lunch before the football game. There were about 15 tents including one reserved for President David Glassman; Bill Perry, the former Eastern president, was also present for the event.

Jason Spraker, a business manager at Caterpillar, studied accounting while at Eastern and graduated in 2004.

Spraker said students can start lobbying some of the legislatures in Illinois; he said writing letters and making their voice heard will help the budget crisis in the state.

“All those over the age of 18 have the opportunity to vote and making your voice heard and expressing that Eastern is a good institution,” Spraker said. “(It’s) a place where we want to have students come for the future.”

Erin Hopkins, a special education teacher, said she just signed a petition the other day about the budget.

“I got an email about signing it down to the state about how we need our funding, so I signed my name away because that isn’t fair,” Hopkins said. “It was for all higher education not getting their funding.”

Hopkins said students have a right to call their politicians and voice their opinions about the current budget crisis.

Steven Bryan, a retired private investor, got his master’s degree in business in 1972.  Bryan said all of the states are facing hardships; he said when he left Illinois in 1983 the state was in good standing.

“My wife was a teacher and teacher’s pensions were fully funded and now I think it’s 45 percent funded,” Bryan said. “Right now, all of the states are facing one challenge or another.”

Bryan said the rumors of Eastern closing have to be false.

“That would be a drastic step and I don’t know that Eastern has reached that point,” Bryan said. “I am a member of Eastern’s Alumni Association and we have not received any kind of disaster notice and I would think there would be information to the alumni letting us know if something was happening.”

Bryan said it would be helpful for students to take at least a couple of introductory courses in economics and finance so when budget discussions are brought up they have an idea of what the cause and effect might be.

Brian Hajik, a director of photography, majored in communication studies and graduated in 2006.

“It’s a great school and I hope they’ll be able to turn it around and hire people back because it’s tough to lose jobs and lose familiar faces,” Hajik said.

Hajik said the best thing students can do is get more students to come to Eastern; Hajik said he was not sure about the smaller details regarding the budget, but if there is an issue everyone needs to take a step back and evaluate the problem at hand.

“If there is low enrollment we need to figure out what’s causing that and fix it,” Hajik said. “We can’t continue doing things as we always have done them and if there’s a problem you need to look at it and figure it out instead of thinking it’s going to fix itself.”

Liz Gillespie, a special education coordinator, graduated in 2003 and said it is sad to come back to Eastern and see Carman Hall closed.

“The fact that an institution like this had to close a huge dorm because they don’t have the funding or the students, it hits home because we lived there as freshman,” Gillespie said. “That was our first time away from home and it’s sad that others won’t have that experience that made us who we are today.”

T’Nerra Butler can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]