Many students were honored recently during the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota held April 16 to 19.
The Coca Cola Foundation and the American Indian College Fund (AICF) gave 36 American Indian students $5,000 each for the Coca Cola First Generation Scholarship.
The scholarship was started to help fund the student’s first year in college.
“If a student maintains at least a 3.0 grade point average and shows strong participation in campus and community life the first year and beyond, the scholarship is renewed every year throughout her tribal college career,” reads a press release announcing the winners.
Richard Williams, AICF president and CEO, presented Kirk Glaze, the community affairs manager with the Coca Cola Foundation, a custom-beaded bolo with the Coca Cola emblem.
Iva Croff, a Coca Cola First Generation Scholarship recipient at Blackfeet Community College, gave a speech at the event. “Other than my family, I haven’t had anyone believe in me so much that they would invest in my education for three years. I will graduate this spring with my associate of arts degrees in Blackfeet language and Blackfeet studies, and had it not been for the College Fund and Coca Cola, it would have been very difficult to accomplish that in this timeframe. Thanks to them, I don’t think the word difficult was even part of my vocabulary during the past three years.”
The following students are First Generation Scholarship recipients:
Denise Aldrich, Tohono O’odam Community College
Janice Mendez, Haskell Indian Nations University
Tammi Proulx, Bay Mills Community College
Cindy Knapp, Keweena Bay Ojibwa Community College
Nicole McMullen, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Leila Northbird, Leech Lake Tribal College
Iva Croff, Blackfeet Community College
Laura Whitford, Blackfeet Community College
Anthony Morrison, Chief Dull Knife College
Shelley Schenderline, Salish Kootenai College
Jessie Bennett, Institute of American Indian Arts
Tyler Tarpalechee, Institute of Indian Arts
Lyle Etsitty, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Tiffany Shortbull, Oglala Lakota College
Sophia Renville, Sisseton Wahpeton College
Talia Graves, Northwest Indian College
Ashley Bierman, College of Menominee Nation
Teresa Blueshield, Candeska Cikana Community College
Felix Delmar, Diné College
Virgil McLaughlin, Oglala Lakota College
Alyssa Jackson, Fort Belknap College
Matthew Yellow Wolf, Fort Berthold Community College
Jayde Clampitt, Fort Peck Community College
Kivvaq Nungasak, Ilisagvik College
Anastasia Gordon, Lac Courte Oreilles Community College
Rochelle Long Soldier, Little Big Horn College
Brandon LaMere, Little Priest Tribal College
Olivia Holiday, Navajo Technical College
Lindsey Adams, Oglala Lakota College
Lucelia Fire Cloud, Sinte Gleska University
Lindsey Larson, Sitting Bull College
Sterling Chase, Sitting Bull College
Antoinette Eagleman, Stone Child College
Vincent Wilkie, Turtle Mountain Community College
Lora GreyBear, United Tribes Technical College
Victoria LaFriniere, White Earth Tribal and Community College
AICF also honored 33 Students of the Year at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference. Each student received a $1,000 scholarship from the Colorado-based Castle Rock Foundation.
Students of the Year for each tribal college and university include:
Tamara Munz, Bay Mills Community College
Brendon Gobert, Blackfeet Community College
DeShawn Lawrence, Cankdeska Cikana Community College
Wayne Roundstone, Chief Dull Knife College
Cherie Thunder, College of Menominee Nation
Terra Harvey, Diné College
Shirley Blacketter, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
Jesse Brockie, Fort Belknap College
Sarah Cavanaugh, Fort Berthold Community College
Karri Charette, Fort Peck Community College
Ordell Joe, Haskell Indian Nations University
Joseph Pikok, Ilisagvik College
Shannah Serawop, Institute of American Indian Arts
Raymond Cadreaus, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College
Acacia Fawn Crow, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College
Dan Jourdain, Leech Lake Tribal College
Edison Jefferson, Little Big Horn College
Brandon LaMere, Little Priest Tribal College
Jamie Henio, Navajo Technical College
Isreal Harlan, Nebraska Indian Community College
Rita Asgeirsson, Northwest Indian College
Wanda Fields, Oglala Lakota College
Brenda Walker, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Urban Bear Don’t Walk, Salish Kootenai College
Travis Jansen, Sinte Gleska University
Brendon Barker, Sisseton Wahpeton College
Harriet Blackhoop, Sitting Bull College
Calvin Silas, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Nich’e Herrera, Stone Child College
Iris Francisco, Tohono O’odham Community College
Erin Trottier, Turtle Mountain Community College
Bobby Crow Feather, United Tribes Technical College
Kyla Van Pelt, White Earth Tribal and Community College
Williams also presented Lionel Bordeaux, president of Sinte Gleska University and one of the tribal college movement founders, with the Tribal College President Award and $1,000 for his educational contributions.
“The education system we have is not ours [the presidents’, faculties’, and staffs’]. It is yours…it comes from you…We’re all here today in redefining and rebuilding tribal nations,” Bordeaux said after accepting his award.
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