By: Raquel Delgado
Every year, students in Southern Adventist University’s social work policy class pick a
social issue to champion and travel to Washington, D.C. to lobby for change. This year, they
chose to raise awareness for the Federal TRIO Programs (TRIO).
According to the U.S. Department of Education, TRIO gives grants for universities to
assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities.
Under the HR1 budget package, known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” budget cuts
could remove funding for TRIO programs. Christie Wilder, dean of the School of Social Work
and professor of the policy class, said the social work class decided to advocate for the program
because it “hits close to home.”
“I have three or four [students] in my class who receive the dollars,” she said.
Wilder explained how her students’ stories serve as an effective way to advocate for policy
changes.
Yorleni Maldonado Robles, a senior social work major, said preparation for the trip took
weeks. Students researched how TRIO works, who it serves, what the possible funding changes
would mean and the federal budget process.
“We created multiple fact sheet drafts, which got feedback from our professor and
another faculty member,” Maldonado Robles said. “We also practiced what we were going to say
with a faculty member.”
The class split into groups and chose which representatives to meet. Hannah Hernandez,
a sophomore social work major, said her group picked Rep. Chuck Fleischmann because he
represents Southern’s district, where she is a registered voter. According to Fleischmann’s
website, he represents Tennessee’s Third District and chairs the House Budget Committee.
“I was really nervous leading up to [the trip], you know; it seemed very intimidating,”
Hernandez said. “But it was honestly like pretty chill when we got there.”
Because Congress was on break ahead of the midterm elections, the students met with
staffers instead of the representatives themselves. Many of them, Hernandez said, were younger
than she was.
“It ended up being super easy to talk to them,” she said. “It really made our policy class
that Professor Wilder teaches come alive, to see like this is how the system works, this is where
the power is.”
TRIO on Southern’s Campus
Southern’s Student Support Services provides students access to their own TRIO
program, called Tools for Higher-Ed Readiness, Involvement, Vision & Excellence (THRIVE).
According to Southern’s website, the THRIVE program offers “academic tutoring and support,
assistance in course selection, career exploration, cultural and academic enrichment, financial
and economic literacy education and financial aid information.”
“[THRIVE] provides some additional scholarship money for students who are first-generation college students, or those who are low-income, and they have the opportunity to have access to education through these additional funds,” Wilder said. “It really opens up a world of opportunities for our students.”
According to Kimberly Crider, director of TRIO Academic Support Services and the
THRIVE Initiative, Southern was awarded a recurring TRIO grant in September 2025. This year,
the program serves 130 students. Most of the funding Southern receives goes to staffing, tutors,
workshops, student travel and grant-aid. Institutional funds add $500 scholarships each semester
for students who meet the grant requirements.
The grant is a five-year award but is renewed annually based on whether Southern’s
THRIVE program meets the TRIO metrics. Crider said that THRIVE has been approved for this
academic year and hopes to be approved again in August or September 2027. If funding is not
renewed, students will lose additional support of tutoring, grant aid and scholarships.
Personal Impact
Crider said many of the students who went to Washington, D.C. were THRIVE
participants themselves and shared their personal connection with the staffers they spoke to.
According to Wilder, incorporating the students’ personal stories into the data helped emphasize
how the numbers were affecting real people in real time.
According to Hernandez, THRIVE was the difference between finishing her degree and
having to set it aside. She transferred credits from the University of New Mexico and moved to
Tennessee with her three children, restarting her life after leaving a domestic violence situation.
Hernandez said she found Southern through a camp meeting seminar hosted by End It
Now, the North American Division’s initiative against domestic violence. She asked the
presenter, Renee Drummond, a former Southern social work professor, what degree would let
her pursue the same work that had helped her.
“I didn’t even know what social work was as a profession and a career,” Hernandez said,
“but I was like, ‘Okay, that’s what I’m going to do.’”
She applied to THRIVE her first year at Southern.
“They’re just really great cheerleaders, and they’ll make stuff happen for you,”
Hernandez said. “It’s a great resource to have, because I know Southern is a relatively small
university, but it still can feel big and daunting, and it’s really great to be in a program like that
to have additional people in your corner.”
The Results
A week after the students returned from Washington, D.C., Rep. Fleischmann came to the
classroom, joined by Aaron Brown of the Council on Education’s Washington office.
Fleischmann took questions from students, most of them about supporting THRIVE on campus.
Students asked him specifically if he would join the TRIO Caucus, a nonpartisan group of
lawmakers who support TRIO programs. According to Wilder, Fleischmann told the class he
would consider joining.
A couple of weeks later, Wilder announced that Fleischmann had signed on.
“That is such a huge win. I feel like I’m still on the high of it,” Hernandez said. “I’m here
at this conference, and I tell everybody, ‘Oh, my class trip, we went to DC and we got our
representative to sign on the caucus for TRIO.’ It really is something to be proud of.”
Hernandez emphasized the importance of speaking up.
“Higher education is under attack right now,” she said. “I think it’s really important as
students that we make our voices heard as to how important it is to get an education. Because I
know, for me personally, being low-income and coming from my background and the things I’ve
experienced, education is life-changing.”
For Wilder, the effort aligns with a larger focus for the School of Social Work this year.
“It’s to repair relationships, of course, with God first, but in doing so, that we repair
relationships with each other in our communities,” she said.
Wilder said she sees the class’s advocacy work as a way to live out the Biblical concept
of “shalom,” or peace, by making sure students have access to resources they need.
“We all know that higher [education] is getting harder and harder to access,” Wilder said.
“When we have these additional federal grants and programs that make it more accessible for
students, it’s a huge win.”
