| Summer 2025 |
Circle of Hope
Dear Friends and Relatives,
Many new things now take up space in my head and heart – the dismantling of the Department of Education, the acceptance and support of people who spew hate, the passing of the 2025/26 budget reflecting diminished resources for Tribal Nations and people – but my focus and strength come from one unwavering belief. Education, particularly tribal education, is still and will always be the answer.
In this moment, the value of a tribal education is unquestionably demonstrated.
Our children and grandchildren are learning in tribal college classrooms about their legal rights as citizens of sovereign nations. They are learning about the trust/treaty rights in legal agreements with the federal government to provide our people with education, healthcare, housing, spiritual and traditional practice freedom, and the right to our land itself.
Native students and graduates are revitalizing languages, our communal values, and our science that for centuries has helped us proudly steward the land and ALL its inhabitants. Native students have the right to learn about their proud backgrounds – our children are descendants of people who know how to survive.
Chartered by tribes and serving entire rural communities, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) build strong people and even stronger communities, teaching students that every one of us, and every one of our gifts, is needed to build a stronger community and nation. And they do this while providing an affordable, relevant higher education grounded in Native traditions and cultures.
Many politicians advocate cutting funding for these remarkable institutions, even as TCUs are making significant, unprecedented contributions to their communities, regions, and states. But those who attempt to diminish us don’t understand what they are up against – generations of resilient people from resilient nations.
What gives me strength and keeps me going right now is the number of people, like you, who share our values, rooted in the belief that education is the answer – not just to our communities’ issues and to making our children’s dreams reality – but also to the challenge of creating a stronger, more beautiful nation where all our children can blossom.
Whether Native or non-Native, students who study ranchland management at a tribal college in the Great Plains, the arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts, nursing in rural Montana – these students become electricians, social workers, and entrepreneurs and are the key to our communities’ and our country’s prosperity.
I thank you for always standing with me and honoring us with your support as we continue to speak truth about our Native histories and identities and as we work to fulfill our commitment to create stronger Native communities, a stronger nation, and a better country – where ALL of us can thrive.
Education is our act of hope.
Stay Informed. Stay Engaged.
Read More of the Circle of Hope Newsletter.
Spring 2025
JUN 12, 2025
Winter 2025
FEB 5, 2025
Special Edition 2024
OCT 29, 2024
Ways to Give
education. We encourage you to explore the various ways you can continue to support Native students to find what works for you!
Use Your Donor-Advised Fund
Recommend a grant to the American Indian College Fund. It’s easy – and quick – to make a designation to the American Indian College Fund.
Become a Monthly Donor
Sign up for the Circle of Strength Monthly Giving Program. As a monthly donor, you can provide a consistent and steady stream of support to Native students.
Donate Stocks
Did you know you can make gifts of stock without cashing them in? You could reap tax and charitable gift benefits and make a difference to an American Indian student. It’s a win-win!
Leave a Legacy Gift
Let us help you tailor your charitable gift to your financial, tax, or estate planning objectives.
Visit collegefundlegacy.org to find the planned giving opportunity that best fits you.
Jasmine: Finding Her Voice and Using It
University of Michigan Law School,
Class of 2026
On the first day of law school orientation, Jasmine Neosh took her place. The aspiring attorneys introduced themselves one by one, sharing the undergraduate institutions that brought them to this elite room – Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and more.
When it was her turn, Jasmine raised her voice with poise and confidence and offered the room a surprise: “Jasmine Neosh. College of Menominee Nation, class of 2022.”
The curiosity was as palpable as the hush in the room. In this competitive space, few had heard of Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). But Jasmine didn’t shrink or try to blend in. Instead, she took her chance to shine a light on the special place that shaped her as a scholar and a person.
Jasmine, a citizen of the Menominee Nation, is now a 3L at the University of Michigan Law School and a dual–degree graduate student in Environmental Justice. Her path to an elite law school was not an obvious one: before enrolling in college, she worked in restaurants and art spaces in Chicago and found herself inspired by the events at Standing Rock. She knew there must be a place for her in the movement for Indigenous rights and environmental justice but was not sure where until she arrived at the College of Menominee Nation (CMN). There, Jasmine discovered her academic gifts – and with it the confidence and clarity she needed for her journey.
At CMN, she studied public administration, rooted in tribal knowledge and place–based learning. Unlike many academic environments that treat Native people as relics of the past, CMN allowed Jasmine to engage with cutting–edge science and evolving legal issues through the lens of her own culture. That experience equipped her not only with technical knowledge, but with a deeper understanding of how to lead.
“My people have been taking care of the land for thousands of years,” she explained. “And it’s a core part not only of our cultural and spiritual identity, but also our economic life.”
Now thriving in law school, she draws on that foundation daily. She speaks with conviction in rooms where Native perspectives are often overlooked, confident in her ability to offer something truly new.
“I found that I could critically evaluate ideas that even my most brilliant classmates took for granted,” she says. “Not with malice, but with the open–heartedness of someone who knows just how big the world of ideas can be.”
Scholarships from the American Indian College Fund helped make this journey possible. They allowed Jasmine not only to finish her undergraduate degree, but to step boldly into her next chapter, a dual–graduate program that few would try to complete. Today, she’s preparing for a career in litigation and appellate law – fields where few Native voices are heard – yet.
She is determined to advocate for those still too often silenced:
“College helped me find my voice. Law school helped me decide how to use it.”
Jasmine will graduate from Michigan Law with a bright future and a job offer she dreamed of. But for her, success isn’t just measured in accolades or titles. It’s about fulfilling her responsibilities to her people. It’s about bringing a Native perspective into rooms where decisions are made. And it’s about being a voice that speaks loudly on behalf of others.
