Dive Summary:
- Iraq War veteran Hayleigh Perez says she was discriminated against when a school in the University of North Carolina system denied her in-state tuition, leading to her delivering a petition containing over 145,000 signatures to the UNC Board of Governors in Chapel Hill Thursday. She also plans to file a suit in federal court claiming the UNC system discriminates against veterans.
- Perez, who now attends Methodist University in Fayetteville, and her husband were sent to Texas in 2009, but when they received word they would be able to return to Fort Bragg in North Carolina last year, she began applying to colleges so she could complete her master's degree.
- A section of North Carolina's general statutes states that active-duty military members and those in the state's National Guard should be treated as in-state residents, additionally making provisions for their dependents.
From the article:
A veteran of the war in Iraq who says she was denied in-state tuition when she applied to a school in the University of North Carolina system wants its leaders to change the way student veterans are handled. Hayleigh Perez on Thursday delivered a petition containing more than 145,000 signatures to the UNC Board of Governors in Chapel Hill. "It is my hope today for this petition to show the UNC school system that American citizens, 145,000-plus, stand behind their student veterans," Perez said. ...