Native American Students On Campus Tour Detained By CSU Police

FORT COLLINS, CO -- Two Native American students from New Mexico were pulled off a college tour Monday at Colorado State University and questioned by campus police after a parent in the tour called security saying the two students made her "uncomfortable."

In letter to campus members, CSU administrators said the students had joined the group late. The two were detained by campus police, then allowed to rejoin the tour, but the group had moved on and the students stayed on campus briefly, then returned to New Mexico.

The boys were identified by their mother as Thomas Kanewakeron Gray, 19, and Lloyd Skanahwati Gray, 17, Denver7 reported. Thomas is a freshman at Northern New Mexico College and hoped to transfer to CSU, his mother said, and Lloyd is a senior at Santa Fe Indian School.

"They scraped together their dollars, made arrangements themselves to register for the campus tour, and took the only car we have and drove up there," Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray told the station. "That enough was worrisome – for our teenage boys to take our car and get on a big highway and drive seven hours to another unknown place."

"And how it ended was even worse," she said.

Gray said the parent who called security gave the rationale that the boys were "being too quiet" on the tour, for which staffers were well aware the two were registered. When police interviewed the young men, who showed proof that they were registered for the tour, an officer admonished the boys, telling them they should "speak up for themselves," Gray said.

“Why should it be a crime for a person to remain silent and choose not engage in conversation? They were still taking in the information, and that was their right. And for the police officer to say that, that was bothersome to me," Gray told the station.

When the young men couldn't find the group, and called their mother Gray told Denver7 she panicked.

“Right then, that was just a big red flag for me. When you think about young men of color being shot all over the place, or being arrested…I said, ‘Just get in the car and come home,’” she said. “They’d missed a day of school for this campus tour only to be pushed aside because of some woman’s fears.”

"This incident is sad and frustrating from nearly every angle, particularly the experience of two students who were here to see if this was a good fit for them as an institution," said the letter from administrators.

CSU admissions personnel reached out to the parents of the two students, the letter said.

"We have reached out to the students’ family and school community. As a University community, we deeply regret the experience of these students while they were guests on our campus... The fact that these two students felt unwelcome on our campus while here as visitors runs counter to our Principles of Community and the goals and aspirations of the CSU Police Department, even as they are obligated to respond to an individual’s concern about public safety, as well as the principles of our Office of Admissions."

Read the letter on CSU's Facebook Page here:

CSU: Police called on two Native Americans who were on campus for tour: https://t.co/y57DXNw5FR #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/BT1aISBbca

Image: CSU Campus via CSU