This has to be noted: The Herald reported on July 30 that the local tribes add about $1.5 billion to Colorado’s economy annually. Fort Lewis College President Dene Thomas has been lobbying Congress over the past several years to get the U.S. government to offset about $15 million (or $16 million – the figure fluctuates) that the state sets aside to cover the college’s Native American tuition waiver. So Colorado is irked at returning 1 percent of what it gains from Natives, to cover Natives.

But a deeper look into President Thomas’ efforts reveal that this does nothing to aid Native students: The students are legally entitled to the waiver – whether Colorado gets reimbursed or not, the students have a legal entitlement to the tuition waiver.

While Thomas couches her lobbying efforts as being for Natives, what actually gets done for Native students is pitifully little: The Native studies program has only two professors (while others have been gleaned from the program); scholarships are not increasing (beyond the waiver, Native students still must pay for books, fees, lodging, day care and meals); the Native American Center is not funded by the college and struggles to stay financially afloat through separate grants; while there are enough Natives at FLC to merit the creation of an Indian Health Care Unit, nothing has been done to pursue that; outreach to Indian tribes to determine what they need or want is cosmetic as opposed to meaningful. How much has this lobbying effort cost the college? In lost opportunities?

This illusory pursuit of congressional action is particularly troubling, especially because the Board of Trustees for FLC has a Native American woman as its president. Well, the board has been notoriously out of touch for decades: that’s what happens when they get their information from administrators.

Native America has always deserved better! Something has to be done for Native students themselves, not for the state of Colorado.

Carey N. Vicenti, associate professor of sociology, FLC

Durango