Marcella has not had an easy life. She was primarily raised in the boarding school of Rough Rock, Arizona, and says relationships, consistency, and stability were not guarantees during her upbringing. With help from a sister’s open door, Marcella is now settled into an enriching life in Crownpoint, New Mexico, where she and her husband live near a wide collection of family members.
Katie, a Minnesota Chippewa student at Bay Mills Community College in Michigan, and Keri, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe studying at Oglala Lakota College in South Dakota, are both American Indian College Fund scholars who had the opportunity to network and learn more about educational and career opportunities through a partnership with the College Fund and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
National scholarship providers are often unaware of the special challenges American Indian students face when entering college. Tiffany Gusbeth, a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and a Program Manager for the Full Circle Scholarships program at the American Indian College Fund, spoke at the National Scholarships Providers Association annual meeting in Charleston, South Carolina in October, providing an inside view about those challenges and tips and tools to help them succeed.
American Indian College Fund Announces Clinton Global Initiative (CGI America) Commitment to Action Recognizing Partnership with Brazelton Touchpoints Center to Train Early Childhood Educators in Native Communities
The American Indian College Fund (the College Fund) announced that The Walt Disney Company has committed $250,000 to create The Walt Disney Company American Indian College Fund Scholarship Program. The program will provide Native American and Alaska Native students who have financial need with multi-year support to attend tribal colleges and universities nationwide.
Pendleton Woolen Mills added two new blanket designs to its American Indian College Fund line. The first, a crib blanket for babies, is titled the Thunderbird and the Whale. The image is inspired by the artwork of Larry Ahvakana and the Iñupiat legend of the Great Spirit Eagle.
The Coca Cola Foundation and the American Indian College Fund honored 36 American Indian scholarship recipients at its 2014-15 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship banquet at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship was established to fund unmet need for a student’s first year in college. If students maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average and show strong participation in campus and community life, their scholarships are renewed every year throughout the students’ tribal college career. The Coca-Cola Foundation and the College Fund Honor First-Generation Scholarship Recipients
Waylon Ballew (Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation/Northern Cheyenne) believes tradition is an important part of higher education. In order for him to be a community leader, Waylon said he must carry his traditions forward for future generations. Growing up on Bellingham Bay in northwest Washington state, Waylon said he was immersed in community youth leadership programs, where he incorporated leadership training in community youth tribal canoe journeys as he traveled ancestral waterways to potlatches (gatherings).
We are on the road again in Montana for the 2015 Montana Tribal College Career Fair Circuit on Feb. 2-10. Montana has the most Tribal College and Universities (TCUs) and TCU students than any other state and we are excited to join this event for the fifth year.
Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, wrote a response to both The Hechinger Report and The Atlantic in regard to an article both magazines published by the writer, Sarah Butrymowicz, which stated that tribal colleges were a poor return on taxpayer money. The College Fund presents the full statistics and socioeconomic details to support why tribal colleges are not only important in the lives of Native students, but are also making a tremendous impact.
