On Friday, the Fund’s staff was given a rare treat: the opportunity to hear from both a TCU president and TCU student in one day. The presentation highlighted their challenges, successes, and overall vision for their tribe’s future. Sharing these words were President of Little Big Horn College, Dr. David Yarlott, and a first-year business student, Riley Singer.
The nation’s tribal colleges offer American Indians in remote, impoverished communities access to a higher education. The sequester will have a devastating impact on these “underfunded miracles,” already operating on shoestring budgets compared to their counterparts. Gains in education attainment and economic sustainability in Indian Country will evaporate under the drastic cuts.
Like many Natives and our allies across our Grandmother Earth, Unci Maka, I have joined the Idle No More movement, attending round dance gatherings, praying for Chief Theresa Spence and her supporters, sharing the stories I hear and read and perusing news and opinion pieces.
On April 28th, many of the Fund’s long time donors, the Fund’s board of trustees, a contingent of Wieden + Kennedy employees, and prominent figures from Portland’s Native community came together to show David Kennedy their appreciation for his 20 years of rigorous support of the American Indian College Fund.
Dave Rogers, a member of the American Indian College Fund Board of Directors, went to adventurous and altruistic heights this year when he combined a trek across the Pyrenees Mountains with a fundraising challenge for the American Indian College Fund.
