Calvo wins case against NMI scholarship board

A local student who sued the CNMI Scholarship Board for failing to use the proper criteria in the selection process for an honor scholarship award has won her appeal in the CNMI Supreme Court.

Roselle D. Calvo emerged victorious after the High Court, in a 12-page decision issued Friday, vacated the trial court’s decision in the case and remanded it to the scholarship board.

It ordered the scholarship body to reevaluate the entire 2006 honor scholarship applications process and award the scholarships based on the criteria set by law in selecting recipients.

Calvo, who failed to be selected for the honor scholarship award despite complying with all necessary requirements, had appealed the trial court’s decision in 2007 that affirmed the NMI scholarship advisory board’s methods for selecting honor scholarship recipients.

Calvo graduated as her class salutatorian at Marianas Baptist Academy in May 2006. She was one of the 29 Saipan high school students who applied for an honor scholarship. After complying with all the requirements of the applications, she was not chosen for the award.

She appealed her case but the board maintained its decision, citing that Calvo ranked 11th only among the Saipan applicants as grounds for rejecting her application.

In her petition, Calvo argued that the scholarship board disregarded the criteria set forth in selecting scholarship recipients, which include grade point average, SAT or ACT score, extra-curricular activities, difficulty of high school coursework, and letters of recommendation.

The Supreme Court, in its decision, indicated that the scholarship board shall promptly promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the statutory language of the Constitution, which requires the board to weigh the five criteria.

The court ordered the scholarship board to reevaluate the entire set of applications for the 2006 honor scholarships and award the scholarships based on the statutory-mandated criteria.

Calvo was elated with the decision of the High Court.

“I am very pleased by the decision of the Supreme Court in my case against the Scholarship Office and board. The decision issued is a showcase of the justice provided by our legal system, especially since it is one coming from the highest judicial officials,” she said, adding that from the beginning, the case was based on the pursuit of justice.

“This victory is a victory not just for me, but also for our community. Let this be a message to the Scholarship Board and other boards that they have to follow the law, not create their own laws. Their decision to create their own rules and regulations led to this catastrophe that will require them to backtrack three years and recalculate the awards based upon the letter of the law,” Calvo said.

She thanked her lawyer, Robert Torres, who she said took on the case purely “because he saw the injustice” committed by the board.

“To the youth, never give up. To the community, don’t be scared of the government. Most importantly, always fight for what is right, even if that fight takes years to end,” Calvo added.

Each year the scholarship board awards 12 honor scholarships to CNMI students graduating from high school—eight from Saipan, and two each from Tinian and Rota.

Recipients may receive up to $15,000 annually for up to five years so long as the scholarship funds are used to pay for education-related expenses.