Over 93% of American Indian College Fund scholars receiving scholarships and other support from the College Fund use their degrees to give back to their communities. This isn’t surprising when one considers that maintaining good relationships and service to others are core values for many Indigenous peoples.
But for many aspiring Native students, getting a higher education can seem like a far-off dream, since many institutions, including tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are physically far from their communities.
While TCUs often serve as the only opportunity to gain a trade, certificate, or degree for tribal communities on remote, rural reservations, there are only 34 accredited TCUs today. And even if a TCU does exist on a student’s reservation, the vast majority lack student housing. When you consider that reservations in the United States can range from less than a mile to more than 27,000 miles, this barrier of accessibility is a significant challenge for students living far from their community’s TCU.
Fortunately for students, TCUs are innovative institutions led by people who share the same values of connection and community as their students. Bay Mills Community College (BMCC), headquartered in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is one example. With a student population that is 80% remote, BMCC has been offering online courses since the early 2000s, when their student population was roughly 70% in-person and 30% online prior to COVID-19. The switch only further highlighted what faculty and staff at BMCC already knew: it is important to teach students where they are.
Duane Bedell, President of Bay Mills Community College, said, “The important thing about that is that, again, we get to meet the students where they’re at, because we have to take into consideration their personal and their professional schedules, along with whatever their academic endeavors are. So over the years, as we started to build out our network with the tribal nations and so on and offering online programs. This has allowed us to grow and have representation in pretty much every state, I think, but two.”
The college is committed to learning about each student as a whole, which includes understanding students’ communities. The outcome has been a cultural exchange with Native students from across the country sharing both the differences and commonalities between their Tribes. This complements BMCC’s priority of including a culture and language component in every course.
Online students are provided a quality education and held to rigorous academic standards while working and studying remotely. The college’s transition to a predominantly online system means electronic textbooks can be made available to students to save them the cost of buying print copies, tutors are available 24/7, and of course, students never have to leave the communities they plan to serve once they graduate. All of these benefits of remote learning address several key challenges Native students face when wanting to attend college. And, for the first time this summer, the college was able to bring not only classes but commencement to the tribal community of some of its remote students.
BMCC partnered with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) to hold an in-person commencement for 11 graduating online students studying early childhood education on June 3. The event was held in Philadelphia, Miss. on tribal lands–the first college commencement on the tribe’s reservation. The majority of BMCC senior leadership attended, taking up nearly half a plane to travel to celebrate the accomplishments of their graduates. More than 100 members of the Choctaw community attended, with their tribal council and offices represented in the crowd to congratulate their relatives.
BMCC Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian graduate, Tina Hickman, said, “Walking across the stage at the Bay Mills Community College commencement on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation was one of the proudest and most meaningful moments of my life. It represented years of hard work, perseverance, and the unwavering support of my family, friends, mentors, and community. Celebrating this milestone on my tribal homelands made the experience even more special, reminding me that education is not only a personal achievement but also a way to honor where I come from and invest in the future of my people.”
While it may have been the first traveling commencement for BMCC, it is safe to bet that it won’t be the last. President Bedell is planning to host another ceremony in New York in 2027. Between now and then the college will keep working to help build better futures for Native students, families, and communities across the nation by not requiring individuals to choose between an education and everyone they’re learning for.
