November 22, 2005
Purdue begins program to recruit, retain Native American students
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A program in Purdue University's Graduate School will help give Native American students a home away from home while they continue their education.
|
Through a cooperative agreement with a mentoring program at Northern Arizona University, the Native American Cohort at Purdue program, nicknamed the Tecumseh Project, will offer support to Native American graduate students in ways that have never been formally available before.
"There are cultural differences that are reflected in body language, mannerisms and eye contact that both the students and faculty need to be aware of for Native American students to transition smoothly to academic life," said Aleeah Livengood of Mulberry, Ind., a Native American who will receive a master's degree in special education next semester. "We have a deep affiliation with community and family that makes it difficult for us to leave them and go to college. Also, because college educations usually require one to leave that environment, it has never been a priority within that community structure. However, the acquisition of an education is the only way that we can improve our lives, the lives of our children and our people."
Livengood, who is Cherokee, Oneida and Seneca and whose adopted parents are Navajo, has family in Arizona but grew up in the Lafayette area. She is helping the Tecumseh Project get started by being a part of the core group and mentoring other Native American students.
The program was put together as a result of a meeting among Kerry Rabenold, professor of biological sciences, and two professors at Northern Arizona University who run an undergraduate research program.
"This project has kindled enthusiasm throughout Purdue," said John Contreni, dean of the Graduate School. "Purdue is among the top five in the nation as a producer of doctorates from underrepresented groups in chemistry and biology, so this initiative to recruit and retain Native American students is a natural fit for our Office of Multicultural Programs."
Dwight Lewis, director of multicultural programs for the Graduate School, has been studying the history of Native Americans in the Tippecanoe area and said it's an appropriate time to initiate this program.
"For thousands of years, Tippecanoe County, the Wabash River and Prophetstown were all key locations for Native Americans, and it's time for them to come back," Lewis said. "The first challenge we face is the distance from their native communities. Because Native Americans are more likely to grow up in a ethnically homogeneous environment, it's our job to create a similar community here in West Lafayette for them."
Faculty involvement will be crucial to the success of the program, he said, which has received initial funding from the Office of the Provost. In addition, there are several Native American Purdue faculty, and they have been actively involved in creating the program.
"We know how to do this. We have activities to use for just this purpose," Lewis said. "To make this work, we need to have help from the faculty. At the end of the day, these students are going to have to be comfortable to be successful."
The Purdue program will draw future graduate students from the Northern Arizona University program for undergraduate research that started from a small grant from Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. The NAU program, run by Thom Alcoze, professor of forest ecology and wildlife, and Sally Alcoze, associate professor in literacy and diversity education, began as a peer-mentoring core in fall 2004.
"The students accomplished outcomes at the end of the year that we never could've imagined and we feel it's important to encourage them to continue their education," Thom Alcoze said. "They learned to do field research and connect it to their own disciplines."
Sally Alcoze said she hopes the Purdue program can provide help for students and their immediate families in a number of ways by providing:
• Financial aid packages that include reduced costs in housing for husbands, wives and children.
• Daycare.
• Classes scheduled to provide peer support, such as peer study groups and especially informal get-togethers.
Contreni said there are Native American students now at Purdue who will make up the first group, but he hopes to bring in more who already know each other from this mentoring program at Northern Arizona University.
"There are career and employment opportunities that didn't exist 20-30 years ago," Contreni said. "There is a real need for Native Americans with graduate educations."
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765)494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
Sources: John Contreni, (765) 494-2604, contreni@purdue.edu
Kerry Rabenold, (765) 494-8120, krabenol@Bilbo.bio.purdue.edu
Dwight Lewis, (765) 494-3232, delewis@purdue.edu
Thom Alcoze, (928) 523-5972, Thom.Alcoze@nau.edu
Sally Alcoze, (928)523-8965, Sally.Alcoze@nau.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: Journalists who would like to interview any of the students should contact Maggie Morris, University News Service, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Aleeah Livengood (left), who will complete her master's degree in special education next semester, talks with Dwight Lewis, director of minority programs for Purdue's graduate school. Also at the meeting were first-year doctoral student in curriculum and instruction, Hollie Kulago of Sawmill, Ariz.; Leanna Begay, a senior in applied indigenous studies of Flagstaff, Ariz., who is at Purdue this semester on a semester exchange program for Northern Arizona University; John Contreni, dean of the graduate school; and Valerie Shirley of Ganado, Ariz., who is working on a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. The group is developing a program to help Native Americans adapt to life away from home and to encourage more Native Americans to attend graduate school at Purdue. (Purdue News Service photo/Dave Umberger)
To the News Service home page