CELEBRATION. American Indian College Fund donors joined Oglala Lakota College (OLC) President Tom Shortbull (bottom row, left) and Sinte Gleska University President Lionel Bordeaux (bottom row, right) to celebrate the OLC graduation in 2006.

Students are not the only ones traveling outside their comfort zones to learn about the world. The American Indian College Fund also provides opportunities for donors to visit the tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). The Fund was created by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) in 1989 to provide scholarships to tribal college students. The Fund usually offers two or three tours a year and, on average, about 30 donors participate. Thirty-one TCUs are currently being served by the Fund.

Abigail Whiteing (Blackfeet), special events coordinator for the Fund, says this is their 15th year running tours. “The tours educate visitors about the cultural strengths, economic initiatives, and college programs in American Indian communities,” she says. “Our tours are specialized and provide an intimate experience, immersing participants into the lives of tribal college students, faculty, and community members.”

Donor Kim Blanchard visited the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) in Wisconsin; United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), and Sitting Bull College (SBC) in North Dakota; and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Navajo Technical College (NTC), Diné College, and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in the Southwest.

Blanchard explains that visiting a tribal college changed her perceptions of Native education. “I had always assumed that if a Native American wished to attend college, he or she could go anywhere, usually on scholarship,” she says. “In many ways this is true, but until you visit a tribal college you can’t appreciate why it is not a meaningful alternative for many who live on or near a reservation (and even for some who do not).” Blanchard spoke to students who could not always attend school because their car broke down and they didn’t have the money to fix it, or because their child was sick, or because they had to work.

Having been on two College Fund tours, donors Susan Then and her husband George toured several TCUs in eastern Montana. They also visited several southwestern colleges, including SIPI, Diné, and Navajo Technical College. “I think that both of us learned so much about the role of tribal colleges in preserving the culture and language of the tribes as well as teaching skills which will lead to jobs,” she says. “The tours really show the intense desire of tribal members to improve their own lives and those of their children, as well as having pride in being Native.”

For more information, see www.collegefund.org/donate/ 2010_tours.html.