The Haskell Foundation is resurrecting, in hopes of overcoming a scandalous past and reviving its mission to raise much-needed funds for Haskell Indian Nations University.

New Haskell President Venida Chenault, who took office in January, has cited reactivating the Foundation as one of her goals.

This year the Foundation has worked on building the infrastructure to properly manage incoming grants and determining what staffing and procedures are needed so “we don’t repeat history,” Chenault said. “We also need to be identifying other revenue strands to supplement those funds.”

Chenault and Foundation representatives summarized their progress and plans Wednesday for Haskell Board of Regents members, who are convening this week in Lawrence for their annual fall meeting.

Particularly with the financial restrictions of Haskell — one of two federally run Indian colleges in the country — the Foundation’s support and flexibility are critical, Regent Clarena Brockie said.

“The foundation was originally established to raise funds for the institution, and that really didn’t happen,” Brockie said. “Do you have a plan?”

Pete King III, a consultant working for the Foundation, said the group currently manages 17 grants totaling more than $1 million but that this year’s work means they are now capable of handling more funds.

King said internal controls have been established. The group now has regular meetings. A brochure and website with board and staff members’ names are forthcoming, and the group hopes to develop a packet telling Haskell’s story to potential donors.

In the past two weeks, Chenault said she has identified priorities and projects that Foundation members could cite when asking potential donors for money.

Board member Joe Clote said the Foundation has provided check processing for students — who depend on Pell Grants and tribal scholarships — in the past but that the computers and system were so antiquated that processing a single check could take an hour, a topic students have lamented. A new computer and accounting personnel were put in place this semester that have greatly sped up that process, Clote said.

King said the Foundation must acknowledge past problems and assure potential funding sources that “it’s safe to donate to us.”

The Foundation was established in 1984 and made “great strides” in the late 1980s, board president Jerry Tuckwin said.

But he said problems derailed the organization, the board fell apart, and the Foundation was inactive for years.

In the most dramatic of those problems, former executive director Gerry Burd resigned in 1999 amid reports that student and staff paychecks were bouncing, and trustees learned the Foundation was more than $1 million in debt. An FBI investigation led to Burd’s conviction for stealing from the group.

“We are resurrecting the Foundation,” Tuckwin said.

Tuckwin said infrastructure and athletics were two of the biggest needs right now at Haskell.

The last new building at Haskell was constructed in 1994, and others are plagued with problems — historic Hiawatha Hall, for one, has been shuttered for years.

Tuckwin said the football program, in particular, needs perhaps a couple hundred thousand dollars to update equipment, pay for supplies and supplement salaries to get the program adequately staffed.

“If you’re just standing still you’re going backward,” Tuckwin said. “And that’s what’s happened.”