Week of Feb. 20, 2025

From the editor’s desk

Most of the time, when government institutions send me blow-off answers to direct questions, I find it frustrating.

This week, government institutions have my full sympathy. 

After the U.S. Department of Education issued its Feb. 14 memo advising schools to cancel diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within two weeks, or risk losing federal funding, schools are in an unprecedented holding pattern. Educational leaders, instead of doing their jobs this week, are scrambling to determine how this sweeping ultimatum may translate to specific action items.

Here’s a passage from the memo:

In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families. These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia.

The memo specifies that race must not be factored into decisions about financial aid, among other things. The first thought that rushed to my mind was: What about the Nevada college students who receive the Native American Fee Waiver? Are they to be kicked out of school, lest our colleges lose the many forms of federal funding they receive?

When Nevada legislators made the Native American Fee Waiver possible in 2021, they were not by any stretch of the imagination engaging in “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences.” They were not impeding the success of white or Asian students. They were taking a long overdue step toward countering centuries of federally backed oppression, including a shameful, long-lasting period of genocide—the effects of which still linger in Native communities.

Here’s a telling detail from a January 2023 Nevada Current update on the fee waiver program: 

Brian Melendez can trace his family history back to an encampment on the land where the Reynolds School of Journalism now stands, before they were forcibly removed to make room for the old (Mackay) Stadium.

“Not too long ago, my great-great-grandmother gave birth where the University of Nevada, Reno football statue is currently located. That hillside was once our people’s traditional homes,” said Melendez, a citizen of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, who advocated for a Native American tuition waiver for years.

(If you’ll allow me a quick digression here, Melendez is also the creator of the excellent podcast Coffee With an Indian, which I consider a must-listen for anyone who cares about being a well-informed Nevadan.)

Normally, once a question such as, “What about the Nevada college students who receive the Native American Fee Waiver?” arises in my mind, I immediately take steps to get that question answered. I contacted the University of Nevada, Reno’s Office of Indigenous Relations; UNR’s communication staff; a Truckee Meadows Community College contact who’s knowledgeable in DEI matters; and the Nevada System of Higher Education. No one could say much, because it’s not clear what, exactly, Nevada schools are supposed to be doing in response to the memo. 

Between late yesterday afternoon and noon today, I learned three things. 

1. Currently, 215 UNR students receive the Native American Fee Waiver.
2. UNR receives federal funding for things like emergency grants to students and research in many areas. Climate, meteorology, agriculture, medicine and geology are just a few.
3. The only information the Nevada System Higher Education could release today was this: 

“NSHE is reviewing the recent guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and assessing its potential implications for our institutions.

At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to all of our students and their success. We remain focused on ensuring they have the resources and opportunities needed to achieve their educational goals. NSHE will continue working closely with institutional leadership as we navigate this matter.”

Is the federal government actually going to pull the rug out from Native students? From research departments that are critical to higher education and to Nevada’s economy? What, exactly, does the DOE want to see cut from UNR, TMCC and the rest of Nevada’s colleges?

I don’t know. Our schools don’t know. Apparently, no one knows.

Take care,

—Kris Vagner, managing editor