Supporting Indigenous Students at Public and Land-Grant Institutions

In November 2022, APLU and Cornell University partnered to host a three-hour workshop convening public university and indigenous leaders to increase scholarly understanding of land dispossession history and its relationship to contemporary Indigenous people; support institutional learning by having campuses share their experiences and actions that they have taken to support Indigenous students and learning; and provide opportunities for campuses to collaborate and generate resources that could be shared more widely with APLU member institutions engaging with this topic. APLU and Cornell recently issued a progress report on this work.

Recommendations:

• Collaboration: Participants recommended continued collaboration among institutions, tribal communities, and organizations like AIHEC to share resources, knowledge, and best practices in Indigenous education.
• Resource Allocation: Institutions were encouraged to allocate resources to measure the success of diversity and inclusion initiatives effectively.
• Faculty Development: Promoting faculty development in areas of cultural competence and decolonization should be a priority for institutions.
• Community Engagement: Strengthening partnerships with Native tribes and communities, involving them in decision-making, and respecting data sovereignty should be central to transformative change efforts.
• Curricular Integration: Institutions should prioritize the integration of Indigenous culture and non-Western knowledge into curricula.
• Support Systems: Building effective support systems for students, including addressing financial barriers, should be a key focus.

Spurred by the recommendations and positive feedback from attendees, APLU has developed a website to continue to collect and share institutional examples of Native and Indigenous student support efforts. Institutions can submit photos, a brief description and a link (if applicable) for the program they wish to highlight. This site, supported by APLU, will continue to celebrate programs and provide resources. Submit your institution’s examples of Native American & Indigenous People campus initiatives.