At 10 a.m. today, drop everything.

Stand up and walk out of that classroom door to meet your fellow students at Library Mall at 10:30 a.m. Walk up State Street. Wave some signs. Yell at the top of your lungs. And protest the budget repair bill with everything you have got.

If you set foot anywhere near the Capitol building these past few days you felt the electric energy that has worked itself into the very fiber of this city. You also most likely noticed that throngs of University of Wisconsin students were some of the most visible faces among the crowd.

We commend those students for their catalyzing presence and urge the rest of the student body to make their own appearance today as a part of the walkout. Whether or not you support collective bargaining rights, protesting this bill really comes down to condemning the egregious process Gov. Scott Walker has followed to get the bill before the Legislature. Such sweeping measures absolutely deserve proper time and input, and both have been shockingly absent.

Make your voice heard. Take those discussions that have carried so many classroom and hallway conversations for these past few days and replant them on the Capitol lawn or rotunda. This is a historic moment that could set the tone of governance in this state for years. Be a part of it.

The Associated Students of Madison and the Teaching Assistants Association have come out in support of this walkout. Their endorsements join at least 1,000 students on Facebook who have already pledged to participate.

The walkout will come at the cost of a day of instruction. That cost is a fair one to fight a bill of this scope that is potentially days, even hours, away from approval. Consider the proper care that should go into measures of that magnitude. Then take action.

We’ll see you at Library Mall.