March 23, 2020
Dear Ho-Chunk Scholarship Recipients:
This letter serves as notification of changes that will occur within the Ho-Chunk Nation Education Department in the coming weeks. As you may be aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the Ho-Chunk Nation’s economy. President WhiteEagle has issued a number of administrative orders to flatten the curve of the virus in recent days, including closing our casinos and instituting significant layoffs in our workforce. The Higher Education Division will respond with the following measures:
First, any student who wishes to be considered for the spring 2020 term must have their application complete by Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Failure to meet this deadline will mean that you will not receive a spring 2020 scholarship. This includes support programs, as well.
Second, the Education Department will be reduced to critical staff only effective Monday, March 30, 2020. As such, the Higher Education Division will temporarily lay-off the College Advisors (Carla, Geno, Salena, and Erin). Please be sure to email the shared email account at higher.education@ho-chunk.com, and the two remaining staff persons will respond to your email as quickly as possible.
Third, the Ho-Chunk Scholarship Program will be limited to need-based students only effective March 26, 2020, until further notice. The Ho-Chunk Nation receives limited scholarship resources from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and those resources will become the source of our scholarships in the near future. Unfortunately, the BIA scholarships can only be awarded to students who are deemed need-based. We hope to return to providing scholarships to all students (both need- and non-need) once our revenue generators have reopened and the pandemic has abated.
Fourth, all summer programming is hereby cancelled, including the summer internship and any college visits.
Finally, all students are eligible for advising during these uncertain times. We know that this is a stressful time, and though our scholarship capacity will be limited, we are still committed to helping our Ho-Chunk students earn their college degrees and find new funding sources. Our people have been through and overcome many hardships in our history, and I am confident that will prevail again.
Please contact higher.education@ho-chunk.com or (800) 362-4476 for any further information.
Sincerely,
Nehomah Thundercloud
Executive Director of Education