Little Big Horn College is Celebrating its 30th Anniversary

January 20, 2010

Little Big Horn College (LBHC), established by the Apsalooke (Crow) nation to serve its tribe on the reservation in northern Montana, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. As part of its 30th Anniversary Symposium celebration to mark this milestone, the school is honoring the tribal members who had the vision of establishing an education institution in its community and chartered the two-year community college.

The school, which had its humble beginnings in 1980 in two trailers and a garage located in the original town of Crow Agency, is now a campus comprised of both the original buildings which have been renovated, and several new buildings featuring a library, archives, academic laboratories, classrooms, student services area and administrative offices, with more phases of construction ongoing.

“We also recognize that it takes many individuals and groups to continually mold, shape and project what Little Big Horn College has become and will be in the future,” said Dr. David Yarlott, President of LBHC. “I am extremely happy for this day and time of accomplishments and very excited for the things that are still to happen; innovative technology, advanced degrees, additional programs and a much larger skilled and educated population from which to draw expertise. We are creating our own future, not waiting for the future to come to us.”

The school is also growing in ways beyond the physical by strengthening its intellectual capital with the assistance of the American Indian College Fund. The college’s multi-faceted focus on academic programs is furthering the professional development of the college’s administrative team, recruiting and retaining the best talent of the Crow nation, and is strengthening of the academic programs to invest in the development of the tribe’s and college’s future leaders.

“We are accomplishing this in bits and pieces, knowing that it will come to pass, tomorrow, next week… persistence will prevail,” Dr. Yarlott said. “Thirty years is a major accomplishment in our community. We are celebrating the existence of Little Big Horn College for those thirty-years and also honoring a group of tribal members that had a vision of an educational institution in their community, so that tribal members would not have to leave their families to get an education.”