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MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2001

Montana State University brought Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills to its Bozeman campus to speak at a diversity training program last week.

Mills commended the school and tribal leaders for handling a recent incident involving a basketball coach and statements he made about Indian athletes. The Oglala Sioux runner, who won a gold medal for the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Olympics, said the school and tribal leaders have moved forward after Mick Durham's comments appeared in The New York Times.

"Have you ever been on a reservation?" Durham was quoted as saying. "There's hardly any green grass. They park right in front of their front door. That's always amazed me. There's no self-pride in having a nice house and taking care of it. They don't care if they have five cars broken down, sitting in the yard."

Durham and university president Geoff Gamble have since apologized for the comments.

Clayton Small, a diversity trainer, also spoke at the school.

Get the Story:
MSU brings Indian runner, speaker as part of training (AP 8/27)

Relevant Links:
Men's Basketball, Montana State University - http://www.msubobcats.com/index.asp?page=mb
Montana State University - http://www.montana.edu

Related Stories:
Mont. school, coach apologize for comments (6/25)
Indian athletes often ignored (6/18)