PRESS RELEASE: Justice for D-Q University Students & Elders

JUSTICE FOR D-Q UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND ELDERS

Davis, CA – Community supporters and Student Leaders at Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University received letters from the Yolo County District Attorney yesterday, stating that the charges against the 18 arrested on campus on March 31, 2008 have been dropped.

The Associated Student Body would like to thank all the support received and would like to extend an invitation to the community and media to attend an Honoring of the Elders Gathering - a ceremony hosted by D-Q University supporters and Student Leaders - this Sunday, April 20, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A press conference will be held on this day at 3:00 p.m.

Former D-Q U student and long-time community activist Steve-Jerome Wyatt states, “This is a great victory for everyone who is trying to get D-Q U back up and running into an educational institution. We don’t see why the Yolo County Sheriffs wasted taxpayer money to terrorize our people.” Mr. Wyatt is a member of the Affiliated Obsidian Nation, a support network of committed groups and individuals that advocate on behalf of American Indian rights.

D-Q University, California’s Only Tribal College was founded in 1971 by Native American and Chicano activists. Through misappropriation of funds and administrative corruption, the University lost its accreditation in 2005. Since then, Student Leaders and community supporters have protested the lack of investigation into the missing documents, transcripts, and funding taken from the University by the former and current Board of Trustees. The current board has not functioned to serve its purpose toward attaining accreditation, hiring new administration, or bringing in funding for the school in the 3 years since their inception. The board has gone on a smear campaign in retaliation against the community and students for blowing the whistle on their mismanagement of the University.

The Associated Student Body of D-Q University is a 501 (c) (3) Non-Profit Organization that seeks to reinstitute D-Q U as an Indigenous institution of higher education and traditional knowledge. Community members and students have been mislabeled as “squatters”. All of the supporters have homes, families and jobs and dedicate their time voluntarily for the success of the University. We honor D-Q University as a sacred site.

Students have been attempting to work with the board since 2005 and have only received harassment at the hands of the board. The community and students demand that accredited classes be held at the University. Student Leaders have taken it upon themselves to hold classes, programs and workshops on campus in order to remain compliant with regulations stated in the deed to the University. These classes include the Bio-diesel Program, the Indigenous Perma-culture Program and Indigenous Nations Network Media Workshops, along with bi-weekly ceremony.

There are still 5 Student Leaders with cases pending in court. Friends of D-Q University demand justice for the three Student Leaders arrested on February 20, 2008 on campus, as well as the 2 Student Leaders that were arrested at gunpoint by the Yolo County Sheriffs as they slept next to the sweat lodge on ceremonial grounds on April 2, 2008.

D-Q U ASB and Supporters demand an end to the harassment against the students by the Board of Trustees, the Yolo County Sheriffs Department and the Yolo County Board of Supervisors.

Friends of D-Q U are requesting letters in support of the Student Leaders be sent to: the Yolo County District Attorney, the Yolo County Sheriffs Department, CA Attorney General Jerry Brown, Sacramento and Washington D.C. BIA Offices and the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, demanding these agencies to end the reign of terror against students and organizers in support of the University. The community demands that their rights to an education and a right to assemble and hold ceremony on D-Q U campus be respected. D-Q University supporters seek justice for all the caretakers of D-Q U and for the health and safety of the land.



See article: http://www.sacbee.com/102/story/872641.html