Transportation and College Fund
Donation protected
College Fund for the Gray Brothers
An incident on the Colorado State University campus this week has left many of us heartsick. Two Native American brothers, Thomas and Lloyd Gray, aged 19 and 17, from New Mexico saved their own money and borrowed the family car so they could drive 7 hours to take a tour of the CSU campus, where they had signed up for an admissions tour. They arrived a little late which is understandable given the distance they drove. Upon joining the tour one of the other prospective student’s mothers because suspicious because she felt nervous and thought they were “too quiet” and called the campus police. The police responded, talked with the students and then said they could rejoin the tour. The student guide didn’t know what was going on and had proceeded to the next stop with the tour. The brothers were understandably upset and humiliated and decided, upon talking with their mother, to just go home. I try to imagine how a seven hour return trip without their parent and with deflated dreams must have felt to them.
This incident has hit our community hard as we imagine the optimism and excitement these young men must have felt having a grand adventure and hoping to attend Colorado State University, only to have it crushed by an overly anxious parent of another prospective student. Steps are being taken to be sure that such a thing never happens again.
Deciding to go far from home and to a different culture to go to school is a difficult decision and an expensive one. It is easy to point fingers but after working 35 years on the CSU campus I know that the people at CSU are some of the finest I’ve ever met, and would not knowingly crush dreams. Money won’t solve the very significant societal problem this represents, but I ask you to help build a fund that will speak to our support of their desire to attend university, no matter where they choose to go. A college expense fund for Thomas and Lloyd Gray will perhaps help them believe that we do, in fact, care about them and wish them success. It is intended as a gift and not solicited by the family. Thank you.
I am a retiree from Colorado State University, living in Fort Collins. I worked at CSU for 35 years and am Director Emerita of International Education. I interacted daily with people from all over the world, and have a sense of the hurt that can result when people make assumptions and use stereotypes when they interact with those who are different from them. For that reason I, and a number of my friends, desired to create a go-fund-me site to help in some small way with the educational costs that the boys will face. It was conceived as a symbolic and caring act that communicated how much people support them.
I have been in communication with the mother of the boys and at her request I have taken the site down. The $3,365 that were collected will be sent to them via paypal to be shared by the brothers for educational expenses.
An incident on the Colorado State University campus this week has left many of us heartsick. Two Native American brothers, Thomas and Lloyd Gray, aged 19 and 17, from New Mexico saved their own money and borrowed the family car so they could drive 7 hours to take a tour of the CSU campus, where they had signed up for an admissions tour. They arrived a little late which is understandable given the distance they drove. Upon joining the tour one of the other prospective student’s mothers because suspicious because she felt nervous and thought they were “too quiet” and called the campus police. The police responded, talked with the students and then said they could rejoin the tour. The student guide didn’t know what was going on and had proceeded to the next stop with the tour. The brothers were understandably upset and humiliated and decided, upon talking with their mother, to just go home. I try to imagine how a seven hour return trip without their parent and with deflated dreams must have felt to them.
This incident has hit our community hard as we imagine the optimism and excitement these young men must have felt having a grand adventure and hoping to attend Colorado State University, only to have it crushed by an overly anxious parent of another prospective student. Steps are being taken to be sure that such a thing never happens again.
Deciding to go far from home and to a different culture to go to school is a difficult decision and an expensive one. It is easy to point fingers but after working 35 years on the CSU campus I know that the people at CSU are some of the finest I’ve ever met, and would not knowingly crush dreams. Money won’t solve the very significant societal problem this represents, but I ask you to help build a fund that will speak to our support of their desire to attend university, no matter where they choose to go. A college expense fund for Thomas and Lloyd Gray will perhaps help them believe that we do, in fact, care about them and wish them success. It is intended as a gift and not solicited by the family. Thank you.
I am a retiree from Colorado State University, living in Fort Collins. I worked at CSU for 35 years and am Director Emerita of International Education. I interacted daily with people from all over the world, and have a sense of the hurt that can result when people make assumptions and use stereotypes when they interact with those who are different from them. For that reason I, and a number of my friends, desired to create a go-fund-me site to help in some small way with the educational costs that the boys will face. It was conceived as a symbolic and caring act that communicated how much people support them.
I have been in communication with the mother of the boys and at her request I have taken the site down. The $3,365 that were collected will be sent to them via paypal to be shared by the brothers for educational expenses.
Organiser
Martha Denney
Organiser
Fort Collins, CO
