The barks and howls of between 100 and 200 University of Washington students could be heard from the steps of the Capitol building in Olympia today.

In an event called “Huskies on the Hill Lobby Day,” the group, which also included some alumni and staff, was there to persuade lawmakers to protect higher education funding.

“We are the students who are still here,” Quinn Majeski, director of government relations for the UW’s student government, said to the crowd of Huskies on the Capitol steps. “We are not one of those 22,000 students who never had a shot because they were eligible for the State Need Grant and never received it. We are not those students who failed because the academic support services they needed were cut when state funding was. We are not one of the students who were forced to drop out simply to cover the rising cost of their student loans. We are not those students, but we must speak for them today.”

If Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed cuts to the state budget come to pass, state appropriations to the UW would drop by about 50 percent since 2008 funding levels.

JOANNA NOLASCO/THE SEATTLE TIMES

University of Washington students rally against higher education budget cuts at the state Capitol in Olympia.

Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, vice chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, joined the student speakers at the rally.

“We have a genuine budget deficit and higher education is a critical part, not only of state spending, but it is the essence of the way out of this mess,” he said to the crowd. “Investing in higher education is … not some nebulous concept that maybe there’s a return on investment. It’s real. It’s jobs. It’s quality of life. It’s public infrastructure.”

Carlyle is the main sponsor of a House bill that would allow the state’s universities and colleges to set their own tuition rates for four years, among other provisions related to tuition and financial aid.

Before and after the rally today, the UW students met with several legislators in small groups to discuss higher-education issues.

The UW’s Lobby Day is part of a broader higher-education funding campaign put on by student leaders, called “Bark Against Budget Cuts.” On Monday, the campaign held a rally at the UW’s Seattle campus in which students were encouraged to call and write postcards to legislators.