Federal grants are used to finance the summer system.
A prominent civil liberties attorney has labeled a federally funded Cornell University program that is primarily designed for Native American students as discriminatory.
Monica Harris is the founder and managing director of the organization Good For All, or the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, which fights to stop racial discrimination and advance civil rights and liberties for all.
In a recent interview with The College Fix, Harris stated that “anygranting or denialing any right, privileges, or advantages on the basis of race or ethnicity is essentially unfair.”
The Indigenous Summer Research Scholars Program at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is the system Harris is referring to.
It is partially funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which allows Cornell to “fully account four Aboriginal kids… who will participate in our Summer Research Scholars Program.”
Academic students are mentored by university and grad students in the field while completing an “independent study project focused on the agricultural flower or food science” during the internship.
According to the program website, students also receive” culturally relevant mentoring from Indigenous Cornell faculty, the Cornell American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program ( AIISP), and Indigenous farmers and agricultural professionals in New York.”
Individuals may be” a part of an Indian community as defined in part 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act” to be ready.
Through its give titled” New Beginning for Tribal Learners,” the USDA provides funding for the program. The goal of the offer is to create” competitive offers to land-grant colleges and universities to offer identifiable support specifically targeted for Tribal kids,” according to the USDA site.
The Fix repeatedly emailed The USDA for comment, asking if the system is still being funded and how it would listen to issues about the software being discriminatory. Neither the USDA media relations department nor Program Leader Erin Riley responded.
The Fix even reached out to Cornell’s media group twice to inquire about the program’s specifics and how it would respond to allegations of discrimination, but neither request was returned.
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But, Harris at Good For All thinks the program may be constitutionally unlawful as well.
Harris claimed that the offer violated the 14th Amendment, adding that” We believe this system is biased and thus unconstitutional because it specifically targets Tribal learners as give recipients and excludes students of various races or ethnicities.”
Some argue, however, that these offers and programs are necessary to assist Native Americans in achieving social equality as a result of historical hardships.
Three federally recognized tribal nations filed a petition to stop the government’s activity in the midst of President Donald Trump’s resources cuts, alleging that the support is” critical.”
The lawsuit contends that Native American schools ‘ funding has resulted in the loss of faculty and other employees from their jobs.
However, it still appears to be funded the specific USDA program that is being offered through Cornell this summer.
According to Harris at FAIR For All, Harris ‘ organization “believes that the best way to address systemic inequities in education in Native American communities isn’t through preferential race-based grants, but rather through more robust funding of public schools in all socio-economically disadvantaged communities at the K-12 level.”
According to Harris,” Financial assistance should be provided on the basis of class, not race or ethnicity.” Students of all races who are in communities that struggle with inequality benefit from addressing the problem earlier because it prevents the adoption of unconstitutional, race-based policies.
MORE: DOJ examines four racially diverse colleges in California.
A sapling is held by a hand in the forest for IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT. Shutterstock/kenchiro168
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