Indian tuition waiver program at issue in Michigan

The legality of the Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver program is being debated after state voters approved Proposal 2,, which bans referential treatment on the basis of race, sex and ethnicity in public education and government hiring and contracting.

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights says the 30-year-old program should continue. The department's general counsel said the tuition waiver is based on Indians as a political and not racial class.

Allie Greenleaf Maldonado, the assistant general counsel for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, believes the program is legal. She benefited from the tuition waiver when she attended the University of Michigan Law School.

Attorney General Mike Cox is determining whether program is legal as a result of Proposal 2.

Get the Story:
Free Mich. American Indian tuition should continue, official says (The Detroit News 3/14)

Relevant Documents:
MDCR Report on Proposal 2 (March 2007)

$rl Michigan Department of Civil Rights - http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr

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