| PRESS
RELEASE
POC:
CRST Public Relations
1/03/05
Jessica
D. Kennedy
(605)964-8308
For
immediate release March 4, 2005
False
Promises and Reneged Agreements by the BIA
Will Force Closure of Si Tanka University
A
series of false promises and reneged agreements
by Dr. Ed Parisian, the Director of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs’ Office of Indian Education
Programs (OIEP), will result in the closure of Si
Tanka University, according to University and Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribal leaders. The University is a
driving force in the Eagle Butte and Huron, South
Dakota, communities. With the loss of employment
for 191 people and the loss of educational opportunities
for 775 students, most of them Native Americans,
the closure of Si Tanka University will devastate
both rural South Dakota communities.
A
vital source of funding for the University comes
from federal monies called “471 funds,”
which are administered through OIEP and are allocated
to Tribal colleges based on Indian student enrollment.
After OIEP’s denial of the University’s
receipt of 471 funds, CRST Chairman Harold Frazier
and University President Francine Hall met with
Parisian in Washington, D.C. in January. At that
meeting, the University and OIEP reached an agreement
that would have ensured the University’s operation
through the 2005 academic year: both parties agreed
that the Eagle Butte campus of STU would receive
471 funds immediately based upon its Indian student
count, and that OIEP would conduct a site visit
of STU’s operations in early February in order
to determine whether the University’s Huron
campus Indian students are eligible for 471 funds.
In
reliance on the agreement reached at the January
meeting, University officials believed that there
would be sufficient funding to keep the doors of
the University open through the spring semester.
However, after several weeks of unsuccessfully attempting
to access the promised funds, Parisian told University
officials on Wednesday that OIEP had changed its
mind and is now not going to release any 471 monies
to the University. Not only did Parisian renege
on his January agreement, but he also refused to
put such denial in writing, in an apparent attempt
to avoid a legal appeal of his decision by the University.
When University officials attempted to solicit more
information from Parisian about his decision to
deny 471 funds, Parisian repeatedly evaded questions
before abruptly hanging up on the telephone call.
“Ed
Parisian is a liar and dishonorable. He is a threat
to Indian Country. He had no authority to abrogate
our Treaties, yet he is doing just that. He should
be ashamed to call himself an Indian,” Chairman
Frazier exclaimed after learning of the University’s
imminent closure. “The BIA needs to remember
that they exist because of Tribes. It is sad to
see that instead of working to promote Tribal colleges,
OIEP is working to close them. First it was DQ University,
and now it’s us – who will be next?
Ed Parisian is an embarrassment to the President
and his administration.”
Other
tribes in the Great Plains Region have experienced
similar mistreatment and disrespect at the hands
of Parisian. In March 2004, after numerous broken
promises and unprofessional treatment by Parisian,
the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association
membership passed a resolution calling for Parisian’s
resignation “because of his lack of effort
in building a relationship with the Great Plains
Region Tribes for the betterment of Indian children’s
education.”
University
President Francine Hall is dismayed that OIEP officials
display no apparent understanding of Tribal sovereignty
or the modern-day Tribal educational institutions
that they are charged with serving. In a teleconference
with Hall earlier this week, OIEP official Sharon
Wells was surprised to learn that Tribes have sovereign
authority to issue charters for the creation of
Tribal colleges, even though a Tribally issued charter
is a requirement under the federal Tribally Controlled
College or University Assistance Act. “It
is extremely disheartening and disturbing that Tribal
members, and especially aspiring Indian students,
have to suffer the consequences of the BIA’s
ignorance of Tribal sovereignty. If OIEP doesn’t
understand Tribal sovereignty or how Tribal educational
institutions operate, then how can we expect them
to carry out their trust duties?” Hall further
declared, “OIEP has erred in their decision.
If they would have followed through with their promise
to fund the Eagle Butte campus and conduct a site
visit to learn about our operational structure,
we would not be forced to close.”
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