Letter to the Editor: University, students show lack of cultural, heritage sensitivity
Patience and persistence were required to write an op-ed to the blatant remark by a young college male whom bragged one weekend to be, “drunker than 100 Indians” on a popular social media page. The remark was perhaps nothing more than a young male highlighting the activities of his typical Friday night.
However, I couldn’t ignore the context of the remark; and even further, the fellow students that enjoyed his remark. Despite the fact that their fellow Native American classmates expressed their frustration over the remark, it remained on the social media site for many others to view.
The University of South Dakota seeks to enhance diversity to create a welcoming environment to all students. In 2001, for continued accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and School, USD was required to submit a monitoring report in the area of diversity. A recent site visit by the NCA also done in 2001, noted USD has failed to embrace and institutionalize the inherent educational value of diversity within the university community, its people and its programs, according to the 2011 USD Self-Study Report.
USD improved in some areas for example: women now compromise 47 percent of the faculty, the number of Asian faculty has grown from 17 in 2002 to 28 in 2006, yet only 2.3 percent of the faculty members are American Indian, slightly more than the percentage of Native graduates but well below the percentage in South Dakota, the largest increases in minority students were African Americans, Hispanic, and Asian students. The American Indian population increased 11 percent since 2004, less than the pace of university growth, the study reported.
Contrary to the report, USD still lacked in areas of cultural and heritage awareness and cultural and heritage sensitivity. USD has been kind enough to allow the DakotaDome to be used in recent years for the USD powwow. Every March it’s hosted by TiospayeU, a USD student organization comprised of Native American and fellow USD students.
USD continues to let forms of colonization and colonialism reside on and off campus. The American Indian Oral History Center is housed in the basement of Dakota hall, Native American Studies also used to be housed in the basement. The two individuals that consisted of Native American studies had their offices later moved to East Hall. However, those faculty and staff members are no longer with USD. All the while USD still continues to underappreciate the discipline Native American studies by not having adequate faculty or perhaps any faculty dedicated to the discipline.
– Brooke Yellow Hammer,
Junior
Read part two of Brooke Yellow Hammer’s Letter to the Editor in next week’s issue.
