D-Q University students left in the cold

Posted: March 04, 2005
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

DQU attempts to evict students by turning off heat; sheriff refuses to force students out

DAVIS, Calif. - D-Q University students remained in the dorms and defied an attempt by university administrators to evict them by eating donated foods and keeping warm with space heaters, after administrators asked the Yolo County Sheriff to evict them.

Among the American Indian students who are the victims of the university's quagmire of problems, loss of accreditation and closure in January is Candice Guthrie. Guthrie, 19-year-old Paiute/Pit River/Shoshone, is among about 20 students occupying DQU dorms in a rural area near Davis.

American Indian students resisting eviction are surviving on donated foods from the World Rescue Center and braving chilly 40-degree night temperatures after DQU administrators turned off the heat in the dorms for one week in an attempt to evict them.

''They tried to turn off the electricity too, but the person in charge of maintenance refused to do it because he didn't want to be responsible if anything happened,'' Guthrie told Indian Country Today in a telephone interview.

Eviction notices were issued to students within days of the announcement of the closure of the university.

''Some were given 10 minutes to get off the campus. They were told if they didn't leave they would be trespassing,'' Guthrie said of the written eviction notices given to students.

Guthrie said sheriff's deputies advised students and administrators that there is an eviction process which the school was violating.

''The sheriff told them that the students are like their tenants, they can't just throw us out; there is a process for evicting people,'' Guthrie said.

Neither Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto nor Undersheriff Penny Farrington was available for comment in nearby Woodland.

Guthrie, preparing for a career in community development and management, lost a semester of college because of DQU's closure. ''It is a waste. I lost funding from my tribe because DQU lost its accreditation.'' This experience has left her with new career goals. She now wants to become an attorney who can help California rancherias pursue federal recognition and development.

While some DQU students remaining in the dorms are attending classes at nearby Solano College in Vacaville, Guthrie said she did not have money for books and other costs. The transfer would have meant joining classes that began a month earlier and would have placed her behind in classwork. Further, like most students, she doesn't have a car and catches rides.

''I'll have to look for a job or go home,'' she said.

Although the university promised to keep GED and trade classes going on the DQU campus in order to maintain a right to the land by keeping educational activities ongoing, Guthrie said it appears that no classes are being held at DQU. She said since the new board of directors has also given up on DQU, the only gatherings on campus are of the students occupying the dorms.

Although DQU administrators attempted to close the cafeteria as well, Guthrie said it remained open the last week of February. Some donations for gas and food have come from the California Nations Indian Gaming Association members.

Guthrie remained optimistic as she urged American Indian tribal leaders to come forward and aid students, while rescuing the university's future. She wants the university to survive, although not under the previous administration. She hopes Indian leaders will come forward with the same vision that DQU was founded on.

''The World Rescue Center brings us food every Friday. I'm not really worried; I know everything is going to work out.''

American Indian elders serving as longtime DQU board members cheered on the students occupying the buildings. Among the Indian elders rallying behind students were Genevieve Seeley, Wiyot, and Norma Knight, Maidu/Nomlaki/Pomo from Round Valley.

''I'm behind them 100 percent. It is a struggle, but it is a learning experience,'' Knight, 76, told ICT.

''It is really a sad story. All these years it has been a battle. Our own educated people never came forward to help; that's the only California university run by Indians.''

While students occupying the buildings said a few thousand dollars has been received from members of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, Knight said, ''That's just a drop in the bucket for them.''

DQU President Victor Gabriel could not be reached for comment and DQU offices remain closed.

The university was founded after American Indian and Chicano activists jumped the fence and occupied the vacant 643-acre Army communications center in 1970. After activists demanded that a college be established, negotiations and court action resulted in the transfer of title to the land in 1971.

D-Q University was developed as a private, independent and non-profit two-year college dedicated to the progress of indigenous people. It is a tribally-controlled community college under the Tribally Controlled Community Colleges Assistance Act. Recognized as a 1994 Land Grant college, it was governed by an Indian Board of Trustees. The university was approved for training veterans and for the education of foreign students, according to the university's data.

DQU derives its name from two important figures. The ''D'' stands for the name of the Great Peacemaker who inspired the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy and is only to be used in a religious context. The ''Q'' represents Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec prophet symbolizing the principles of wisdom and self-discipline, according to the university.

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Last updated on March 05, 2005