Calling it 鈥渁n important step in recognizing past injustices,鈥� a CU Boulder professor, two regents and alumni testified before the Colorado Senate Education Committee today, expressing support for a bill moving through the legislature that would grant in-state tuition to members of American Indian nations with historical ties to Colorado.
Senate Bill 21-029, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Fenberg, D-Boulder, would mandate that public colleges and universities in Colorado provide in-state tuition classification to American Indian students from tribal communities with cultural, geographic and other historical ties to the state. Dozens of indigenous groups stand to benefit from this proposed legislation if it passes into law.
On Thursday, the bill passed unanimously on a 7-0 vote out of the Senate Education Committee. It听now moves to a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing before a full discussion in the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives.
If the bill becomes law, advocates say it would increase college affordability and enable American Indian students to pursue their academic goals in a region many consider part of their ancestral homeland. Currently, nonresident American Indian college students, including those from tribes with Colorado roots, are required to pay out-of-state tuition rates.
Andrew Cowell, a professor of linguistics and faculty director of CU Boulder鈥檚 Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, is an expert in the linguistic tradition of the Arapaho, a people of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions with historical ties to Colorado and the city of Boulder, home of CU鈥檚 flagship campus.
During his testimony before lawmakers, Cowell said, 鈥淣ative American peoples were forced out of Colorado at gunpoint. This was their home, and many of them still consider it to be part of their home. I work closely with the Arapaho people as a scholar, and whenever I am with them here in Colorado, they always talk about how good they feel to be here.
鈥淭hey share their stories and knowledge of this place, and a good deal of my work has involved documenting this knowledge. The in-state tuition bill is one very important step in recognizing past injustices, and in restoring the rights of 鈥榟ome鈥� to these and other tribes,鈥� he said.
Regent Lesley Smith, who is the board鈥檚 vice chair, and Regent Emerita Irene Griego also, with Smith calling it 鈥渁 way to improve educational equity and remedy historical barriers to education experienced by American Indians.鈥�
Smith said CU adopted the university system鈥檚 first native land acknowledgement statement last fall, calling it an important step in articulating the university鈥檚 commitment to Native American students and their communities.
鈥淎s leaders of a public institution, we know how critical access to higher education is for all students and that barriers to entry disproportionately impact underrepresented populations, including American Indian people,鈥� she told lawmakers during her testimony. 鈥淎llowing these students to qualify for in-state tuition is just one important step we can take in eliminating the financial roadblock that out-of-state tuition rates can create.鈥�
Former Regent Griego, who served on the board for nine years, worked closely with campus stakeholders and the university administration to bring forward a resolution last fall asking the state legislature for statutory authority to offer in-state tuition to American Indian students with historical ties to Colorado. The board passed the resolution on Nov. 12.
鈥淲e at CU recognize and affirm the ties these nations have to their traditional homelands and the many Indigenous people who thrive in this place鈥撯�揳live and strong,鈥� she said during her testimony. 鈥淲e also acknowledge the painful history of ill treatment and forced removal that has had a profoundly negative impact on Native nations.鈥�
Griego also told lawmakers, 鈥淚t is incumbent upon institutions in Colorado, especially CU, to put action behind our words. A critical action step is to ensure we are providing educational opportunities for Native students, faculty and staff and advancing our mission to understand the history and contemporary lives of Native peoples.鈥�
CU Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano expressed gratitude for the testimony provided by Cowell and Regents Smith and Griego, calling the bill 鈥渁 symbol of the university鈥檚 commitment to supporting the cultures, lives and communities of Colorado鈥檚 first residents.鈥�
鈥淓ach one of our campuses is located on lands that were historically inhabited by these great nations,鈥� DiStefano said. 鈥淚t is right and long overdue that we strengthen the ongoing presence of these communities at CU Boulder, Colorado鈥檚 flagship campus.鈥�
College-aged students who are members of American Indian tribal communities are far less likely than their nontribal counterparts to be enrolled in a higher education institution, with only 19% enrolled in college in 2016, compared to about 41% of the total college-aged population, according to recent census data cited during today鈥檚 legislative hearing.
