Press, Media, Financials

Media Inquiries

Reporters: Please contact Dina Horwedel at dhorwedel@collegefund.org or 303-426-8900

Speaker Requests: To request a speaker from our organization for your conference or event, please submit the request form.

Press Releases

American Indian College Fund Partners with Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to Enhance Native Arts Programs 

American Indian College Fund Partners with Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to Enhance Native Arts Programs 

The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) announced new efforts to enhance Native arts curriculum development programs at six tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Each of the participating TCUs will receive $100,000 to enrich their curricula by integrating Indigenous education values and incorporate Native knowledge, language, and cultural practices. The project will also help to expand institutional capacity, developing or revising academic courses, minors, and certificate and degree programs.

May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust Partners with American Indian College Fund to Support Native Student Veterans

May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust Partners with American Indian College Fund to Support Native Student Veterans

The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) has received a $50,000 grant from the May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust to implement a six-month fellowship focused on empowering Native student veterans to success. The Naabaahii Ółta’í (Student Warrior): Native Student Veterans Peer-to-Peer Program is a mentorship opportunity that builds relationships between veterans based upon their shared experiences.

American Indian College Fund Launches “Make Native Voices Heard” Voting Campaign

American Indian College Fund Launches “Make Native Voices Heard” Voting Campaign

Native Americans are more impacted by the law than any other group in the United States. Native students in higher education, or seeking a higher education, in particular are impacted by federal and state laws impacting funding for education, such as Pell Grants, student loans, and federal funding for tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), 70% of which comes from federal sources.

American Indian College Fund Awards Three-Year American Indian Law School Scholarship to Jade Araujo to Attend Harvard Law School

American Indian College Fund Awards Three-Year American Indian Law School Scholarship to Jade Araujo to Attend Harvard Law School

Jade Araujo, an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) in Massachusetts and a descendant of the Tlingit and Koyukon Athabascan tribes in Alaska, is the third person to have been awarded the American Indian College Fund Law School Scholarship. Araujo is a senior at Stanford University who will graduate in June with a degree in political science and will enter Harvard Law School in the fall. She is the daughter of Todd Araujo (Aquinnah Wampanoag) and Jaeleen Kookesh (Tlingit and Koyukon Athabascan).

College Fund in the News

Tribal College Campuses Are Falling Apart. The U.S. Hasn’t Fulfilled Its Promise to Fund the Schools.

ProPublicaOct 14, 2024

Learn why current conditions at tribal colleges and universities make it imperative to receive full funding to attract new programs, students, faculty, and staff.

Cheryl Crazy Bull Publishes Brief on Native Student College Access

The Campaign for College Opportunity has published "Ensuring College Access and Success for American Indian/Alaska Native Students,” authored by Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund. This latest publication is part of the Campaign for College Opportunity's "Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, and Empowering Action," a national initiative that elevates best practices supporting the college preparation, admission, affordability, and success of minoritized students.

Jasmine Seeks Role as Voice for Her People and Environment as University of Michigan Law Student

University of Michigan LawOct 18, 2023

College Fund student ambassador Jasmine (Menominee) has long been an environmental activist in her community, which depends upon the environment for its economic livelihood. Today she is studying at the University of Michigan Law School to pursue a career as an attorney working in litigation and appeals after realizing that the aspect of the environmental movement that affects her the most is social justice.

Congratulations Dyani White Hawk

MacArthur FoundationOct 4, 2023

The American Indian College Fund congratulates Dyani White Hawk (Lakota), multidisciplinary artist and tribal college and university graduate, who was named a 2023 MacArthur Fellow. Read more about Ms. White Hawk, her prestigious achievement, and her art.

Higher Education Leaders Respond To Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling

ForbesJune 30, 2023

Forbes offers perspectives from several higher education experts on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action and shares hope for colleges and universities to still achieve diversity with a little bit of creativity.

Barack Obama says affirmative action ‘allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged’

Yahoo! NewsJune 30, 2023

In sharing his own experience with affirmative action, Former President Barack Obama also noted the American Indian College Fund and other organizations that support students who have historically been systemically excluded from pursuing higher education. Learn more in the article shared by Yahoo.

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American Indian College Fund 
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Student Biographies

Student Biography Samantha Maltais

Deanna
(Navajo)

Growing up on the Navajo reservation in Blue Gap, Arizona, Deanna learned early in life that determination and focus are the keys to lifting oneself out of adversity.

Student Biography Samantha Maltais

Sam
(Cherokee)

Sam’s chosen career path is all about words – using words to teach, to change hearts and minds, to rewrite truthful history, to document and preserve culture and language, and to shape the future. Sam’s vision for all Native people is to have a voice, and he wonders what our world would look like today if Native voices had been included in the growth and evolution of our country.

Student Biography Jamie Artussee

Promise
(Yankton and Santee Sioux)

“Resilience is in my DNA,” says Promise, reflecting on her upbringing. Surrounded by instability, drug abuse, and a responsibility to protect her younger siblings, Promise views her education as proof that nothing will stop her from achieving her goals.

Student Biography Jamie Artussee

Selena
(Pascua Yaqui)

Throughout her journey, Selena has seen the barriers that prevent her people from traveling on the path they want to take. Being a single mom with four kids, two of whom have special needs, she has first-hand experience with the lack of resources and culturally centered support available in Native communities. This is why Selena has taken it upon herself to receive the education she needs to be a guiding light for her tribal community and help clear a better path for them.

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