Fort Lewis tuition waiver is not charity
ELLINDA
http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/letters_to_the_editor/2010/01/28/Fort_Lewis_tuition_waiver_is_not_charity/
Fort Lewis tuition waiver is not charity
by Chris Jocks, Durango
Article Last Updated; Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:16AMSo House Bill
1067 has been scuttled, but according to the Herald (Jan. 23), the
fight has left “bruised feelings" among officials in Denver. Now Fort
Lewis College has to worry about a backlash because powerful people
such as Reps. Middleton and Pommer, and Colorado Higher Education
chief Munn, had their feelings hurt by accusations of racism in a few
private e-mails.
What about the feelings of Native American students and their
families, some of whom struggle harder than Denver suburbanites ever
will know to go to college and still keep a foothold in their
traditional lands and ways of life, only to be told by online
commentators that they are lazy and spoiled, living on free land given
to them by an overgenerous Uncle Sam?
This needs to be understood: The tuition waiver is not charity. It is
part of Colorado's mortgage payment for the land the college sits on.
Colorado “bought" it from the United States, which “bought" it from
its original Native American owners. There was no time limit written
into this provision of the contract to educate American Indian
students free of tuition. It's the law, confirmed in 1973 by the U.S.
Court of Appeals.
Perhaps people like Middleton, Pommer and Munn are not outright
racists, but think about it: Here's this small college in a far corner
of the state, with American Indian education at its core, with a
strong Native American student presence unlike any other public
college in the country. This is the one they decide to target with
budget cuts far greater proportionally than any other institution in
the Colorado system - and that's before HB 1067 came along attempting
to cut $1.8 million more. Do legislators from Aurora and officials in
Denver have any idea what the opportunity of FLC means for Native
American students? I would call it the subtle racism of convenient
ignorance.
Denver should have come to college officials years ago with their
concerns about the mounting cost of the Native American tuition
waiver. The state and the college should have worked together to find
solutions.
Chris Jocks, Durango