$17.5M Tribal College Initiative Will Build Intellectual Capital
DENVER, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Indian College Fund (Fund)
is at the forefront in promoting higher education for American Indians. For
Kyla Young, this meant receiving a scholarship in just the nick of time in
2006: she only had $18 left in her bank account. For Dr. Daniel Wildcat,
Fund support allowed him to complete his doctoral degree at the University
of Missouri, Kansas City. For Zachary Underwood in Montana, the designation
of a Fund scholar means he attracted the attention of recruiters from Yale
University for graduate work.
To continue providing financial support to individuals such as these
and the nation's tribal colleges and universities, the American Indian
College Fund announced a historic grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The
five-year, $17.5 million initiative named Woksape Oyate, Lakota for "Wisdom
of the People," aims to build the intellectual capital of tribal colleges.
The initiative will allow the highly diverse tribal colleges to tailor
their programs to address their individual needs, while simultaneously
strengthening the entire tribal college system.
Through a multifaceted approach, Woksape Oyate will dramatically
enhance recruitment, retention and development of highly qualified tribal
college faculty, staff and students. Leadership development programs,
increased fellowship and sabbatical opportunities for staff and pipeline
programs to bring the best and brightest students back to teach at their
tribal college will all be developed during this initiative. Institutional
capacity will also be enhanced by creation of development offices and
recruitment of highly qualified faculty.
Further, the initiative will strengthen academic programs at the tribal
colleges by growing tribal college academic centers of excellence in
reservation communities, developing honors programs for students and
encouraging exchange programs to attract internationally-renowned
instructors to tribal college campuses and to provide professional
development opportunities for tribal college faculty. Finally, the
initiative will provide much needed scholarship support to the best and
brightest American Indian students in the United States.
Tribal colleges, called "the most significant development in American
Indian communities since World War II" by the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, currently serve 31,000 degree-seeking and
community education students on 27 reservations in the U.S. With enrollment
numbers rapidly expanding, tribal colleges rely heavily on private funding
from supporters such as the American Indian College Fund and the Endowment
to keep competitive with mainstream institutions.
Current statistics paint a staggering picture of challenges that tribal
colleges and their students face.
* Only 12 percent of Native Americans aged 25 and older have attained a
bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27 percent of the U.S.
population.
* The average family income of first time entering tribal college
students is $13,998, compared to the federal poverty threshold for a
family of $19,157.
* When inflation is considered, federal funding for tribal colleges has
decreased by 30 percent since the passage of the Tribally Controlled
College and University Assistance Act in 1978.
* Tribal college faculty members routinely earn $20,000 less each year
than their community college counterparts.
Fund President Richard B. Williams lauded the vision behind the new
initiative stating, "Woksape Oyate: Wisdom of the People, will capture the
intellectual spirit at the tribal colleges by providing resources to
strengthen all members of tribal college communities. Lilly Endowment has
long been a strong ally of traditionally underserved populations. Through
its vision for a stronger and better future for Native communities, we can
significantly support the unsung heroes of the tribal college movement who
seek to help our people through education."
With its credo "Educating the Mind and Spirit," the Denver-based
American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest provider of private
scholarships for American Indian students, providing 5,000 scholarships
annually for students seeking to better their lives and communities through
education. More information on the American Indian College Fund can be
found at http://www.collegefund.org.
Lilly Endowment is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic
foundation created in 1937 be three members of the Lilly family -- J.K.
Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli -- through gifts of stock in their
pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. The Endowment is a separate
entity from the company devoted to the causes of education, religion and
community development. More information about the Endowment can be found at
http://www.lillyendowment.org.
SOURCE American Indian College Fund
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Related links:
http://www.lillyendowment.org
http://www.collegefund.org
CONTACT:
Media, Raymond Foxworth, +1-303-426-8900, or
Gretchen Wolfram, +1-317-916-7304
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