The Mountain States Legal Foundation told University General Counsel Melinda Grier that the College of Education’s Sapsik’walá Program violates the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Sapsik’walá program is a master’s degree program that prepares American Indian students to teach in schools that serve American Indians. The aim of the program is to lower dropout rates and raise test scores at schools with high populations of American Indian students.
MSLF President William Perry Pendley said the use of race or ethnicity as a prerequisite for the program violates the U.S. Constitution.
“Oregon’s College of Education is filled with fine students of all races and ethnicities, many of limited financial means, who would love the chance to compete for a scholarship to teach on an Indian Reservation and to give something back to young students there,” Pendley said. “These educators of the future should not be told that they are the wrong race to compete for a University scholarship or to teach their fellow citizens.”
Law Professor John Bonine said the Mountain States Legal Foundation is going after the wrong entity since the program is funded by the government. He said the group has only sent a letter to the University, and no lawsuit has been filed to push the program to change.
Calls to the MSLF were not immediately returned.
Sapsik’walá scholarship recipients receive tuition and fees, a monthly stipend and a book allowance. To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must meet certain ethnic requirements, including being a member of a recognized American Indian tribe or band or being a descendant of a member.
The program is part of the University’s Native American Initiative, which enhances recruiting and retention of American Indian students and faculty and increases academic support.
MSLF’s Web site states the organization is a nonprofit, public interest legal center dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government and the free enterprise system.
Humboldt State University, Montana State University and the University of Utah received similar notices about their respective American Indian education programs.