SMSC Endowed Scholarship Recipients Announced

Prior Lake, MN – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community today announced 16 recipients of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Endowed Scholarship for the 2010-2011 school year. This is the second group of students to receive the scholarship at the University of Minnesota. Ten of the first group of 13 students will continue to receive the scholarships they were originally awarded for the 2009-2010 school year. Continuation of the scholarships is based on grades and financial need.

“In today’s society, an education is essential, but most especially for our Indian people. We need Indian doctors and dentists, lawyers and engineers. We need Indian teachers and counselors, managers and builders, and journalists.  We need to educate our young people to be prepared to better meet the opportunities that will be available to them. We need our young people to protect our tribal sovereignty,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.

The SMSC Endowed Scholarship was established in 2008 through a $2.5 million gift from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community into a matching endowment fund, creating a $5 million endowment to provide scholarships for American Indian students.

The SMSC scholarship program is designed to recruit and retain talented American Indian students with demonstrated financial need to the University of Minnesota. The SMSC scholarship program is administered by the University's Office for Equity and Diversity. To date, 29 students have received the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Endowed Scholarship.

The primary goal of the SMSC scholarship program is to support incoming University of Minnesota freshmen and transfer students with demonstrated financial need. A smaller number of scholarships may also be awarded to newly-admitted graduate and professional students in specific disciplines. For undergraduates scholarships are renewable for up to four years or until graduation (whichever comes first) contingent upon academic performance. For graduate and professional students, the length of funding is contingent upon academic performance, the school of enrollment, and degree program and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

The 16 scholarship recipients come from across the country and from a number of different tribes. They come from as far as New York, Utah, and Colorado. Eight of them are from Minnesota; four from Wisconsin. Four of the students are majoring in Medicine, two of them at the Duluth Campus and two at the Twin Cities campus. Other recipients have majors as diverse as Forensic Science to Music to Biochemistry to Dentistry.

For each cycle applications materials received by March 1 are given preference.  The final deadline is May 1. For more information go to http://www.shakopeedakota.org/scholarships.html.



The 16 scholarship recipients for the 2010-2011 school year are:



Melvina Bissonette

Oglala Sioux Tribe

Medicine Major, Graduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Ashley Duffy

Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewas

Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Undergraduate Studies

Morris Campus



Michelle Huyser

Navajo Nation

Medicine Major, Graduate Studies

Duluth Campus



Tyler Kelley

Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

Chemistry/Pre-Med Major, Undergraduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Misty Keoke

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate

Forensic Science Major, Undergraduate Studies

Morris Campus



Jenny Mayotte

Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Music Major, Undergraduate Studies

Duluth Campus



Alexandra Myhal

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Biology Major, Undergraduate Studies

Morris Campus



Casey Newton

White Earth Mississippi Band of Chippewa Indians

Dentistry Major, Graduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Larissa Anne Oakgrove

Red Lake Band of Chippewa

Education Major, Undergraduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Bobbi Jo Potter

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Social Work Major, Graduate Studies

Duluth Campus



Deanna Shoup

Rosebud Sioux Tribe

Medicine Major, Graduate Studies

Duluth Campus



Maria Smith

Seneca Nation of Indians

Undecided Major, Undergraduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Richard St. Germaine

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma/LCO

Biochemistry Major, Undergraduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Andrew Steinfeldt

Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin

Pre-Physical Therapy, Undergraduate Studies

Crookston Campus



Jeremiah Strong

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Pre-Pharmacy Major, Undergraduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



Noah Wride

Hopi

Medicine Major, Graduate Studies

Twin Cities Campus



About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for all of the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need.

Over the past 13 years, the SMSC has donated more than $180.8 million to charitable organizations and Indian Tribes. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $6.6 million for shared local road construction projects and an additional $5 million for road projects on the reservation.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.