University Daily Kansan. August 21. 1985
Page 7
Friends from Haskell recall good, bad KU days
By Cheryl Youngblood
Staff Reporter
They came from two different states. Both had lived on Indian reservations. Neither had plans for college and Lawrence was not on their itinerary.
Little did they know that they would be spending the next few years of their lives in Kansas.
They soon became best friends. Both attended the University of Kansas after two years at Haskell Indian Junior College. One relished attending a larger university. The other dreaded it.
Karen Lilly earned a bachelor's degree from KU in social welfare. Debra Byrd left after three semesters at the University.
Lilly, 23, a native American, came from Philadelphia. Miss. She had lived on the Chowtie reservation during her teenage years, and she thought it was time for a change
Byrd, 22, also a native American, was anxious to leave White Swan. Wash., where she had grown up on the Yakima reservation. She, too, needed a change of pace.
"I had been there all of my life and I didn't even know that I lived on a reservation until my ninth grade showed the class a map." Byrd said.
Friends attending Haskell Indian Junior College influenced Lilly and Byrd's moves to Lawrence. Lilly
moved to Lawrence in 1980 and Byrd moved in 1981. Both of them dec...ded to enroll at Haskell.
Lilly said Haskell was the only remaining government-financed Indian college in the country. She heard it had a good academic reputation. He told me the fact that tuition was free was a big plus in her decision to attend Haskell.
The two women met during volleyball tryouts at Haskell, and ever since they have been best friends.
Byrd said, "I was really excited, because I had never seen so many Indians in one place. And I really felt like I was a part of what was going on."
Her grade point average rose from what it had been in high school and she soon became involved in various clubs and team sports.
Both women took social welfare classes at Haskell. Lilly transferred to KU in fall 1962 and Byrd came to KU in fall 1938. Each entered KU's School of Social Welfare.
"I'd still spend a lot of time at Haskell with friends, but I really liked classes on this year they said." I liked classes at students and experience of going to a big university."
KU's School of Social Welfare and the staff at Haskell work.together in a program that allows Haskell students interested in social work to take most of their social welfare
prerequisites at Haskell. The students can later transfer to the University to continue their education, an assistant professor of social welfare.
When Byrd told her mother that she was thinking about attending KU, her mother suggested that she not attend.
"My mother went to Haskell and she knew about the prejudices toward Indians at KU, but I really wanted to go." Byrd said. "I had to see for myself.
"I wish I had listened to my mother.
"On the reservation, Indians, blacks and whites all worked together, and there was no discrimination. And at Haskell there was discrimination. I even thought Laurence was OK — until I went to KU."
Byrd said social welfare professors tried not to discriminate and most did not, but a few always practiced subtle discrimination. She noticed certain signals, such as professors ignoring the comments that were made by Indian students during class discussions.
Byrd withdrew from KU in fall 1984.
Lilly said, "Most instructors went out of their way to help Indian students and I never had any problems with instructors."
Byrd agreed that most of the professors were helpful.
Lilly graduated from the University in May 1984.
"Most professors seemed to give so much of themselves and I think that they thought Indian students should have tried harder," she said.
But it was hard for Byrd to do her best when she sat in classes and heard people making jokes about Indians.
"I used to sit in class and watch these two guys make gestures behind this Indian girl's back." Byrd said. "I made me so mad, but what did I do?"
"My grade point average started dropping and I felt that there was no reason for me to even go to class. But Karen would always encourage me to go to class, so I did. But I hated KU and I still do."
Lilly said, "I really didn't experience any discrimination in the classroom." She said she noticed no students with disorders but did detect some by students.
Byrd recalled a time when she was visiting a friend who had a Korean roommate. Her friend left the room for a minute and Byrd was talking to her roommate.
"The girl could hardly speak
English, so I asked her what nationality was she, and the first thing that she blurted out was 'I'm not an Indian.' I couldn't believe it. I was really insulted."
Byrd said that after this incident, it was obvious that Indians did not have a good reputation at KU.
"I think a lot of people up here are fares, and I hate that," Byrd said of Kane.
She recalled a situation when she was in a class, with a woman who never spoke to her, for a full semester. One day the woman acted and Byrd to vote for her because she was running for an office on campus.
Byrd replied, "I don't even know you and I'm not going to vote for someone that I don't know."
The woman never spoke to Byrd again, nor did she ask any other Indians for their votes. Byrd said.
During fall 1984, 1,222 minority students were enrolled at the University, including blacks, Hispanics and American Indians. Of those students, 122 were native Americans, according to the office of student records
Now, 11 American Indian undergraduate students are enrolled in the School of Social Welfare, said Edith Black, assistant dean.
Gerald Gipp, president of Haskell, said that a slight problem existed with Indian students trying to transfer to KU, trying to adjust to the new atmosphere.
"Haskell has an orientation class for students where they try to bring in different speakers that will address the issue of discrimination," he said.
He said he hoped Haskell and KU would work more closely with Haskell students transferring to the University. An organization at the University, the KU Intertribal Alliance, is working to ease the transition between the two schools, Gipp said.
Venida Chenault, the new president of the alliance and Lawrence senior, said, "We're going to serve as a liaison between both Haskell and KU for the betterment of the students."
Lilly now is a counselor at Haskell, working with disadvantaged youths. At the end of this month, she plans to return to Mississippi.
Byrd works as a housekeeper at Hallmark Inn Best Western, 730 Iowa St., and she plans to return to Washington and attend the University of Washington in Seattle.
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