SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Students of Haudenosaunee ancestry now have a strong
incentive — a free college education — to study hard in high school.

Syracuse University announced on Aug. 19 that it will foot the bill for an
undergraduate education to any enrolled Haudenosaunee student who qualifies
for admission to the university.

“Education at its best is a two-way process,” said Chancellor and President
Nancy Cantor in a news release. “I am delighted that we will be building —
and expanding — upon our historical relationship with the Haudenosaunee.
The benefits and opportunities to be created are truly exciting.”

“This is an extension of our hand of friendship and honor to the
Haudenosaunee,” said David C. Smith, the university’s vice president for
enrollment management and emissary to the Haudenosaunee. “We hope that this
will be seen as an opportunity for inspiration.”

Students qualifying for the Haudenosaunee Promise Scholarship Program will
receive full-time undergraduate tuition, on-campus room and board and
payment of university fees. Based on current rates, the package is worth
over $38,500 annually. The scholarships will not be limited in number.

In return, students must qualify for admission to the university and must
maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5. Students must be
enrolled members of one of the six Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) nations and
also be citizens of one of the territories throughout New York state and
Canada that are part of the Haudenosaunee nations. These include: Akwesasne
Mohawk, Ganienke Mohawk, Kahnawake Mohawk, Kanesatake Mohawk,
Kantatsiohareke Mohawk, Tyendinaga Mohawk, Tonawanda Seneca, Six Nations
(Canada), Oneida (New York), Oneida of the Thames (Ontario), Onondaga,
Allegany Seneca, Cattaraugus Seneca, Oil Spring Seneca and Tuscarora.

Smith said that university and tribal officials are in the process of
determining exact criteria for the enrollment and residency requirements.
Since the announcement, the phones have been “ringing off the hook” with
calls from prospective students, he said.

Smith told ICT that the impetus for the scholarships came from Cantor
herself. The idea is to remove the financial barriers faced by many Native
students while recognizing the cultural, political and historical
significance of the Haudenosaunee.

“We sit here, six miles away from the center of the Haudenosaunee at
Onondaga, and we might as well be on different planets,” Smith said. “Now
we’re not any more.”

“The last time Indians got a free education was at a boarding school,” said
Robert Odawi Porter, Seneca, director of SU’s Indigenous Law Center. “No
other university has made this kind of commitment to neighboring Aboriginal
peoples.”

Porter said that there are several states and colleges around the nation
that offer reduced tuition to American Indian students, but he knew of
nothing on the scale of the Haudenosaunee Promise.

“This is different from any other scholarship initiative in that it
supports helping the Haudenosaunee sustain themselves by educating some of
their people who will live and work within their nations,” said Odie Brant
Porter, Seneca, assistant provost, in a news release. “We have turned the
corner in the education process, where education can be used to sustain our
distinct culture and values, rather than being used to destroy it.”

SU will enroll approximately 12,000 undergraduate students for the upcoming
fall semester; only 35 are of Native ancestry, 11 of whom are incoming
freshmen.