UAA needs more Alaska Native representation

When I began planning my schedule at the beginning of the semester, I looked to see what holidays were observed throughout, and I noticed something alarming — Indigenous Peoples' Day is mentioned nowhere on the academic calendar.

This led me to dig deeper into the history of representation of Alaska Native students at UAA and to investigate where it stands today.

I set up an interview with Dr. Maria Williams, the current Alaska Native Studies Department chair. To put it bluntly, some improvements need to be made.

The beginning of our discussion revolved around what Alaska Native-focused programs and systems are in place at the university. I found out that there are many organizations and events that I was unaware of, and that's because they aren't particularly easy to find.

According to Dr. Williams, it has been an ongoing struggle for any Native Programs events to be featured within the College of Arts and Sciences newsletter — which is sent out monthly and is the college which her department falls under.

I looked at their most recent newsletter, and sandwiched in the middle there is a brief mention of Indigenous Peoples' Day and the activities being put on by the Native Programs on campus. Other than this little blurb smack dab in the middle of an email that is likely overlooked by many students — I overlooked it myself until it was mentioned to me by Dr. Williams — there is no mention of any other events that are taking place around campus.

This illustrates a major issue regarding the support given to Alaska Native organizations by university administration. While there are performative attempts that feign support — such as land acknowledgments and a few plaques that say “welcome” in different languages scattered around campus — there is no real follow-through from university administration on pleas for support from Native Programs and faculty.

This is highlighted by the mass exodus of Native Alaskan faculty from the university in recent years, many of whom cited a blatant lack of support and institutional racism as reasons for leaving UAA. Key among these departures was Dr. Jeane Breinig, who was the Associate Vice Chancellor for Alaska Natives and Diversity.

Laid out in her resignation memo are details of her position having devolved into a token Native figurehead and non-Native leadership holding more sway over decisions affecting Alaska Natives than her position — amongst other reasons for her decision to resign.

In other memos from faculty who resigned, there are mentions of microaggressions and blatant racism still present among some staff, decisions regarding programs being made without consulting Alaska Native faculty running the programs, and an overall lack of commitment to the Alaska Native population at the university and state by UAA.

This is a stark contrast to APU, UAS and UAF, which all have well-developed resources for students and faculty. These resources have largely come about simply because the respective universities wanted to support the Alaska Native students and faculty on their respective campuses.

At this point, the focus of my conversation with Dr. Williams shifted to student retention data at UAA.

According to the UAA Office of Institutional Research, there has been a positive increase in Alaska Native students re-enrolling in part-time and full-time programs in recent years. However, the percentage of Alaska Native students retained still lags behind most other demographic groups cited in the retention data.

Dr. Williams noted that this is largely in part due to many Alaska Native students not feeling at home on campus. While services have been created to help mitigate this — such as Native Student Services, the Cama-i Room and ANSEP — they simply aren't enough to fix the issue without direct support from administration.

Beyond a general lack of support from administration, these programs are all largely isolated from each other, making it more difficult for each to succeed in providing Alaska Native students with opportunities to thrive in a university environment.

Something positive that was mentioned in both my conversation with Dr. Williams and in a conversation I had with Dr. Yatchmeneff — the Executive Director for Alaska Native Education and Outreach — is the current inclusion of the Alaska Native Studies credit requirement within all degree paths at UAA.

More recently, there has also been a small increase in engagement from administration towards Native Programs.

The newfound promotion of activities and greater exposure being given to Alaska Native programs is a step in the right direction for the university. It will need to continue in order to have a lasting and meaningful impact, but bringing greater visibility to these programs is deserved and should continue to be made a priority.

On the note of the Alaska Native Studies credit requirement, it is immensely valuable to all students attending the university. I was lucky to have a teacher who taught a rigorous Alaska Studies course. But a solid amount of students attending UAA from within the state haven't had the same luxury and would benefit greatly from further education on the history of the Alaska Native peoples.

Beyond students attending UAA from Alaska, it is also exceedingly beneficial for out-of-state students to be confronted with a history they have likely never been taught about before.

Overall, the ability for Alaska Native students to find success and a feeling of home on campus should not be placed squarely on the shoulders of faculty. Administration needs to ditch the belief that land acknowledgements fix the current situation and put a greater focus on supporting the monumental efforts that many Alaska Native programs around campus provide to students who attend the university.

Beyond this, continued steps need to be taken to promote Native Program activities to encourage attendance from a greater number of students to these events. Expanding Alaska Native Studies to offer more degrees and courses would also be beneficial.

While Alaska Native representation is not as abysmal as it has been in the past, these are all changes that need to be made to further representation on campus from its current state, and I hope that this article helps spur that change in the near future.