"As the angry voices over UND's nickname and logo grew to a fevered pitch, one assertion stood out as being so blatantly incorrect that it needs to be corrected and never repeated. It is this: The claim that American Indian students somehow get a “free ride” at UND.
This claim was made again and again in some 120 comments that hit the Herald's Web site Thursday in connection with a nickname story. But it's one of those untruths that is so flagrant, it makes all other arguments from nickname supporters seem false.
When I spoke about the issue Thursday with Robert Boyd, UND's vice president for student and outreach services, he said - with some frustration in his voice - that he didn't know where these kinds of rumors or assertions start. American Indian students get the same financial aid consideration as do any other student, he said.
So, let me tell you from the lips of Boyd and Robin Holden, director of the student financial aid office: All undergraduate students who are eligible (according to a needs assessment by the financial aid office) get a financial-aid package from the university. This package typically includes a mix of grants, waivers, loans and a “work study” amount that, when added to the contribution expected from the student and the student's family, totals the expected cost of a year's study at UND."
Get the Story:Dorreen Yellow Bird: Putting to rest the myth of a ‘free ride' (The Grand Forks Herald 9/5)
pwpwd More Dorreen Yellow Bird:
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