Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are unique in both their mission and the demographic they serve. They were created out of a need to undo years of systematic assimilation and sustain 12,000 years of traditions, languages, and cultures. Tribal Colleges and Universities are the direct results of Native American tribes recognizing a need in their communities and demanding the solution. They developed their own form of education, based on Western traditions, to ensure their people were educated and prepared to succeed. The passionate dedication to education and preservation of culture is why I was interested in researching on Tribal Colleges and Universities. I am an advocate of creating and demanding spaces for underrepresented minorities
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The direct result of this spread of ideas was the destruction and systematic replacement of Native American educational systems with schools of assimilation (Reyhner & Elder, 1989). While considered unsuccessful, Native Americans feel the residual effects of these assimilation lessons. As higher education was developed in North America, opportunities for Native Americans were limited and often discouraged. State and federal governments were largely uninterested in the results of assimilation and acculturation in Native populations, despite the high college dropout rates of the 1950s and 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement allowed Native Americans an opportunity to address the adverse effects of European culture on their ability to access and succeed in higher education. Native Americans “were no longer willing to passively accept the inadequate programs offered them at white controlled public and private institutions” (Oppelt, 1990, p. 42). This dissatisfaction with White institutions of higher education led to the creation of the Tribal College Movement and …show more content…
Tribally Controlled Community Colleges are “created and chartered by federally recognized Indian tribes”, and are located on Native American reservations. Tribally Controlled Vocational Technical Institutions, such as United Tribes Technical College, are “chartered by one or more federally recognized Indian tribes”. These type of TCUs are funded by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act. The final two types of TCUs are linked directly to the federal government. The third is “owned and operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs” and the fourth is chartered by Congress and governed by a board of trustees appointed by the president (O 'Laughlin, 2003). While TCUs “vary in enrollment, focus, location and student population” (Tribal College, 1999), the vast majority of Tribal Colleges are tribally controlled through the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and a board of directors for each respective college. Both of these governing bodies are predominately Native American and help charter and direct
The direct result of this spread of ideas was the destruction and systematic replacement of Native American educational systems with schools of assimilation (Reyhner & Elder, 1989). While considered unsuccessful, Native Americans feel the residual effects of these assimilation lessons. As higher education was developed in North America, opportunities for Native Americans were limited and often discouraged. State and federal governments were largely uninterested in the results of assimilation and acculturation in Native populations, despite the high college dropout rates of the 1950s and 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement allowed Native Americans an opportunity to address the adverse effects of European culture on their ability to access and succeed in higher education. Native Americans “were no longer willing to passively accept the inadequate programs offered them at white controlled public and private institutions” (Oppelt, 1990, p. 42). This dissatisfaction with White institutions of higher education led to the creation of the Tribal College Movement and …show more content…
Tribally Controlled Community Colleges are “created and chartered by federally recognized Indian tribes”, and are located on Native American reservations. Tribally Controlled Vocational Technical Institutions, such as United Tribes Technical College, are “chartered by one or more federally recognized Indian tribes”. These type of TCUs are funded by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act. The final two types of TCUs are linked directly to the federal government. The third is “owned and operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs” and the fourth is chartered by Congress and governed by a board of trustees appointed by the president (O 'Laughlin, 2003). While TCUs “vary in enrollment, focus, location and student population” (Tribal College, 1999), the vast majority of Tribal Colleges are tribally controlled through the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and a board of directors for each respective college. Both of these governing bodies are predominately Native American and help charter and direct