Native American students continue to rise at CMU


The number of Native American students attending Central Michigan University has been steadily on the rise, said Colleen Green, Native American Programs Director, thanks in part to the work her office does.

"Since I've been here, and I've been here seven years now, the Native American Program has continuously grown throughout those seven years because of what we do in regard to recruitment and retention of Native American students,” she said. “We also have a lot of projects and collaborations that we do with the local tribe here."

Since 2007, the total number of on-campus “American Indian” and “Alaskan Native” students has jumped from 198 to 285 according to data from the Office of Institutional Research. Those students made up one percent of the on-campus student population in 2007, and continues to represent one percent of that population today.

After a dive in enrollment from 2007 through 2009, in which Native students fell from 198 to 176, the number spiked to 217 with a much larger incoming class in 2010. That number has continued to grow slowly ever since.

Green said the work Native American Programs does with current and prospective students has a lot to do with these improved numbers. In order to improve retention, she and other office staff constantly put on educational programs and often visit CMU classes to educate the rest of the student body about the Native American culture alive on campus.

"Getting out in the classrooms and explaining what our culture is, and explaining what our nickname is and where that came from, is also crucial to educating our community here on campus,” Green said. “Allowing Native American students to feel that they're part of CMU is also beneficial. It helps with our retention rates of Native Americans, as we have the highest drop-out rate nationally."

While the number of Native American juniors and seniors has remained relatively static since 2007, each year shows a drop in students between their freshman and sophomore year.

Olivia Manitowabi-McCullough and Hannah Bartol, both of the Hannahville Indian Community, part of the Band of Potawatomi near Escanaba, are two sophomores who made the jump to college directly after high school and have stayed committed to higher education.

While both said coming from a small town and community wasn’t easy, taking full advantage of the educational opportunities provided to them seemed more important. Bartol, who is academically a freshman, wants to use her degree in health education to go into small, rural tribes who might have limited health care or health-related information.

"Sometimes I want to go home and I want to help because our tribe doesn't have that new information that we're getting in college. They just need a breath of fresh air,” Bartol said. “Other times I think they gave me what I needed and now I have to move on. I want to explore. I want to eventually work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington DC."

Manitowabi-McCullough, too, expressed confliction over the idea of continuing on after college compared with bringing her education back home.

"It's not out of my options to go back home and help my people,” she said. “Then again I would like to explore the world more, but I would definitely go home and help people."

Both students agreed that the current number of Native American students, while growing, isn’t as high as it could be, possibly because not all Native American high school students know how to take advantage of higher education opportunities.

“I feel Native Americans have so many opportunities to go to school and get so much help, but some aren't taking advantage of it,” Bartol said. “I know I wanted to take full advantage of it just because I had all of these opportunities."

Green said early exposure to the option of higher education is crucial for higher incoming classes of Native American students. Getting out into high schools isn’t always enough. Class trips to two and four-year schools and education about colleges is left up to tribal schools, something Green cannot control.

"I think a lot of the obstacles we face today, like anybody else, are the funds,” she said. “If students don't receive that information in high school, they're not going to know. If they're first generation college students, they don't have parents to rely on to ask those questions, so they might just have that assumption that it's not affordable. A lot of it is just about education."

Still, CMU appears to be ahead of the curve when it comes to Native American student populations in general, according to enrollment information available on both Michigan State University's and the University of Michigan's websites. Michigan state has 127 American Indian and Alaskan Native students as of this fall, making up only 0.3 percent of the school's total student population. 

U-M only shows enrollment through 2010 in its Total Enrollment Overview, and displays a significant drop in Native American students from 332 in the fall of 2006 to a mere 85 in the fall of 2010. 

In terms of retention once Native American students get to college, Bartol and Manitowabi-McCullough said CMU is doing a good job. Both students also work for Native American Programs and enjoy going out to classes to educate. Then also enjoy as well as planning programs such as the annual Central Michigan University Powwow and events for Native American Heritage Month in November.

Cultural events on campus help Native American students, themselves included, to feel welcome and a part of the campus community and culture.

"I think Central does a really good job personally,” Manitowabi-McCullough said. “Another part of our job duties is to give presentations on Native Americans to different classes that request it, and I think we do a really good job educating and telling people that we are here.”

Share: