Title
A RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH AN EQUITABLE POLICY FOR ALL HIGHER EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS
Body
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation since time immemorial has exercised the sovereign rights of self-government in behalf of the Cherokee people; and,
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation is a federally recognized Indian Nation with a historic and continual government to government relationship with the United States of America; and,
WHEREAS, the Council of the Cherokee Nation has a sincere interest and duty in establishing scholarships for Cherokee Nation citizens in seeking assistance for higher education; and
WHEREAS, there is a current inequitable diversity of scholarships for qualified students that attend Haskell Indian Nations University which is $500 per semester, wherein other students who attend other colleges and universities receive $2,000 per semester; and
WHEREAS, Cherokee students who attend military academies (United States Military Academy - West Point, United States Naval Academy, United States Coast Guard Academy, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy) receive no funding from the Cherokee Nation Higher Education Scholarship Program; and
WHEREAS, the Council desires to correct this discrepancy and diversity by establishing an equitable policy for all higher education scholarships;
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CHEROKEE NATION, that the Council of the Cherokee Nation hereby directs the education scholarship department to review all policies and create an equitable policy so that students at the Haskell Indian Nations University, and others similarly situated including military academies, receive the same $2,000 scholarship per semester as other students who attend other colleges and universities and that as costs of higher education change, that these equitable policies remain the same as tuition costs increase and that these policies should take effect immediately, provided to the extent the recipient attends military academy the funds must be expended for travel and other incidental expenses.