ABSTRACT
In 1968, after centuries of subpar access to education, forced assimilation, and cultural marginalization, Navajo Community College (NCC) was founded as the first tribal college, offering American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) 1 students an opportunity to exercise tribal sovereignty in higher education. But due to continued inequalities, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) struggle financially to provide for their students and communities. According to Boyer (1995), TCUs must work hard to avoid “extinction” by finding ways to bridge the tribal world with the Western one (p. 9). This would include attracting a wider range of students through expanded curricula and building stronger connections with the larger higher education community. Between 1980 and 2011, the number of minority students enrolling in postsecondary education increased by nearly 300 percent, with the greatest increases amongst Latinos, Asian, and multi-racial populations (Conrad & Gasman, 2015). With these changing demographics of the United States, many Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) have expanded their student outreach in order to remain financially and globally viable (Gasman, 2012). However, there are conflicting views among leaders at various TCUs about intentionally diversifying to include more non-AI/AN students. According to Cheryl Crazy Bull, former President of Northwest Indian College and current President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Indian College Fund (the Fund), there is concern that this would hinder the TCU mission of providing culturally based higher education for AI/AN students (C. Crazy Bull, personal communication, April 21, 2016). This chapter explores the tribal identity of TCUs, and questions if intentionally diversifying their student bodies will compromise their ability to best serve the students they were founded to educate.
