Caught between a budget crunch and protesting students, Haskell Indian Nations University’s Board of Regents on Friday agreed to double the school’s fees. The board also sanctioned plans to cut food-service costs by serving fewer meals.

“If we don’t do something, we’ll run out of food in March,” said Marvin Buzzard, vice president in charge of services at Haskell. “We can’t keep going like we are.”

The university’s cafeteria now serves 19 meals a week — three meals a day, Monday through Friday; brunch and dinner on Saturdays and Sundays.

“We may have to go to two meals a day or drop the weekends,” Buzzard said.

Buzzard did not dispute student complaints that the cafeteria often ran out of food and that meals had declined in quality.

“There’s no doubt that the budget, being what it is, has affected the quality of the food,” he said. “Absolutely.”

Board members voted 10-1 to double student fees used to offset the costs of textbooks, student activities and on-campus housing.

Currently, students living on campus pay $105 per semester. Those who live off campus pay $70.

Starting with the 2005 fall semester, fees will increase to $210 and $70, respectively. Students who used the university’s day-care center will be assessed a $40-a-semester fee.

Earlier proposals had called for raising fees to as much as $850.

On Thursday, several students protested the proposed increase, claiming they had been left out of the decision-making process and that the federal government was reneging on treaties guaranteeing American Indians access to education.

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“You are taking us back to the vocational days,” said Student Senate President Caleena Hernasy, referring to the years 1894-1969, when Haskell was a trade school.

Board members disagreed.

“This is fair, very fair,” said Radley Davis, a regent from Shasta Lake, Calif.

“I don’t want to increase fees,” said Irene Tansy, a regent from Copper Center, Alaska. “But if we don’t, we are hurting students who are here and who will be here in the future.”

Board president Gil Vigil asked Hernasy to encourage students to write letters to their congressmen, asking for more money for Haskell.

“The Board of Regents is not the problem here,” Vigil said. “The problem here is that federal government is not living up to obligations” to American Indian education.

Except for student fees, Haskell is funded by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Its current budget is $9.1 million, plus from $2.5 million to $5 million for facilities and maintenance.

In recent years, BIA funding has not kept pace with inflation, forcing the university to cut programs, Haskell officials say.

“We have students who don’t have textbooks, and many of the textbooks we do have are outdated,” said Venida Chenault, vice president in charge of academic affairs. “In one of the courses I teach, we’re using a textbook that’s 8 years old.”

Chenault said Haskell had been forced to cancel several classes this semester, while others were overcrowded.

“We are doing the very best we can,” she said, “but I feel like we’re letting the students down.”