I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Sept. 16, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
Leech Lake Tribal College Interim President John Morrow announced Wednesday the school has been awarded at least a $1.1 million grant to expand, renovate or build a new school.
Morrow said American Indian College Fund Executive Director Rick Williams visited the college Sept. 9 to tell school officials about the award. An official announcement, however, won't be made until October.
"Our tribal college has been growing by leaps and bounds since it opened in a one-room log house in 1990," Morrow said. "We're certainly in a space crunch at this time. We're using nooks and crannies for faculty and staff."
Morrow said even though the $1.1 million is guaranteed, what is more important is the final grant amount could total as much as $4 million.
The grant money is a portion of what the American Indian College Fund has raised in a nationwide capital funds campaign. AICF is trying to raise $120 million to upgrade the 32 tribal colleges nationwide. If it reaches that goal, Morrow said, AICF will award Leech Lake Tribal College $4 million.
"And the possibility is very strong they will reach their goals," he said.
The college is now forming a committee to decide how to use the money: buy the current building in which the college resides, the former Cass Lake-Bena High School, or to build a new school another site.
Presently, the school occupies the building with the Cass Lake-Bena School District administrative offices, early childhood programs and the district's Area Learning Center. LLTC also uses a former house and church across the street from the former high school building.
Morrow said no options have been ruled out. For instance, he said the college might decide to raise additional funds to combine with the AICF grant to build a new school.
He did say a large number of people would like to see a new college built on the shores of a lake that is centrally located on the Leech Lake Reservation.
"Nothing is locked in," he said.
Morrow said the money is important to the college because tribal colleges receive only one-seventh the amount of funding mainstream colleges and universities receive.
The AICF raises funds nationally from private sources to aid American Indian students attending tribal collages, similar to how the American Negro College Fund raises funds for black students and colleges.
Leech Lake Tribal College, which opened in 1990, has a current enrollment of about 170 students for fall semester. A normal semester's attendance is about 250 students. About 30 to 40 graduate annually.
Most of LLTC's funding comes from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Morrow said.
The college offers degrees in programs such as law enforcement, business, language and culture, casino operations and elementary education.
Morrow said during Williams' visit, he also announced the college has been allocated $30,000 for student scholarships this year.
He said the money is the first installment of an annual $100,000 awarded for student scholarships by the AICF to Leech Lake Tribal College.
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