Challenges of First-Generation American Indian Students

According to the Pell Institute, only 11% of first-generation students earn a degree within six years. There are many reasons for this. First-generation students are less prepared than their counterparts, they did not get help choosing a college that is a good fit for them, their families often discourage them from getting a higher education, and being unfamiliar with college culture, rather than immersing themselves in it, they withdraw.

For American Indian college students, many of whom are first-generation students, this problem is compounded when they attend college off the reservation or outside of their culture. Not only are they unfamiliar with the academic demands of college, but they are also unfamiliar with their culture. This is why so many American Indian students drop out of mainstream colleges if they have not been prepared to succeed at a tribal college.

The 33 tribal colleges and universities across the country are uniquely positioned to help American Indian students succeed academically. They provide small classroom environments, ensuring students get the attention and counseling they need. Students are schooled in their culture and are given the confidence and study and learning skills to accompany that confidence to enable them to finish their education, whether at a tribal college or mainstream institution. While mainstream institutions are developing student housing for first-generation students and other programs to enable them to succeed, tribal colleges have been providing the support and special coursework for at-risk students ahead of the curve.

By supporting tribal colleges, you help ensure that first-generation American Indian students are part of the 11% that graduates, and helping to improve those statistics.

Leadership

This week the team at the American Indian College Fund embarks on a one-day retreat to recharge and regenerate, learning about leadership principles and applying them in our mission to provide scholarships and access to higher education for all of our students. We will be out of the office all day Wednesday.

As we set out to learn more about how to lead in the arena of fundraising to serve our communities, I would like to invite you to share some of your tried and true tested leadership principles that you employ in your studies, your careers, and your personal lives. These can be Indian leadership principles, mainstream ideas, or even those you have innovated yourself.

I look forward to hearing your ideas on leadership!

In a good way,
Rick

Education is independence

After Independence Day, one thing strikes me: if American Indians are ever going to be free of poverty and being treated as second-class citizens, education is vital.

Education does not just mean the basics: the math, the science, the language and reading skills: education also means being educated in the Indian way. Learning our native languages. Learning our traditions and ways as Indian people, and preserving them.

Why is this important to our independence? Because we were then, as we are now, strong and independent people. And to appreciate that strength and independence, we need to continue to cultivate our strengths as Indian people, preserving our languages and teaching them and our ways to our children, rather than subverting them to a dominant culture. Just as other groups celebrate their heritage while achieving great things as the part of this great democracy, so should we as American Indians. Education is the key to that freedom: freedom from poverty, and the freedom to define who we are as a people.

The Politics of Ignorance

Check out my article on the political motives behing ignorance about Native Peoples at Indian Country Today.

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/46721207.html

Have You Helped A Student Today?

The New York Times ran a story Sunday about an organization that matches alumni and cash-strapped students at Harvard University. The alumni provide loans for students to be able to take tests, finish a semester, and buy books.

For American Indian students attending tribal colleges, however, wealthy alumni are few and far between. Our alumni DO go on to get meaningful jobs in their communities, helping others as teachers, health care providers, and in tribal government. But American Indian students start out poor, and have few people they can rely upon to help them through college. When they graduate, they are in th trenches, helping their communities--but do not have millions of dollars of disposable income to assist others.

That is why the American Indian College Fund provides scholarship money to American Indian students, who are often the poorest in the nation. Scholarship monies enable students to focus on their studies without the worries of having to pay back loans after they graduate. And it helps them get a leg up to get an education so that they can make a future for themselves.

Have you helped an American Indian student today? Even the smallest amount helps our students. Please donate at www.collegefund.org

American Indian College Fund Meets Colorado Community

The American Indian College Fund welcomed more than 200 business people and community members to the Colorado History Museum Thursday, June 4 to learn more about American Indian college students' needs and the tribal college movement. They saw Native dances, heard Native musicians perform, and enjoyed crafts, a silent auction, and refreshments.

A special thank you to everyone who attended. We look forward to seeing you at our 20th anniversary gala in Denver at the Seawell Ballroom of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts October 28! To reserve your space call Lucia Novara at 303-426-8900.

New Think Indian Television Spot Released

To continue the theme of our Think Indian public service print media announcements, our pro bono advertising partner, Wieden+Kennedy, has graciously donated its time and creative genius to create an animated television spot. The spot celebrates American Indian ways of thinking and how tribal colleges preserve both that and Native cultures.

View it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qky6HR4XlJg