UVU celebrates Native American Heritage Month with events, new scholarship program
As Native American Heritage Month approaches in November, Utah Valley University has announced it will be expanding its Native American Initiative and will offer scholarships to Indigenous students from all eight of Utah’s federally recognized tribes.
According to UVU, Native American students enroll in college at half the rate of other groups nationwide. For that reason, the university says, it is embarking on a mission to change those statistics by providing new support options for Native Americans to consider attending college.
“UVU has nearly 800 Native American students and we have a tradition of helping them negotiate their paths to a college degree,” said Tara Ivie, associate vice president of student services. “Thanks to legislative funding earlier this year, we are launching and scaling our Native American Initiative, which will allow us to do even more for our students.”
Led by Director Justin Allison, these expanded efforts are made possible by a $2 million legislative appropriation from the state of Utah. The funding includes earmarks that will enable eligible indigenous students to attend UVU tuition-free through tribal and state-sponsored scholarships.
Allison and his team have already launched a Learning Community program that helps students with common backgrounds succeed in general education courses.
“There are several fundamental classes that all UVU students must take,” Allison said. “When students do well in those classes, they are much more likely to continue in college and graduate. Two of those classes are English 1010 and Math 1010.”
Native American professor Dezi Lynn is currently teaching a cohort of 17 Native American students in English 1010, where Indigenous students can learn from both a Native instructor and their peers.
In addition to academic opportunities, UVU has made efforts to create a welcoming environment for Native American students on campus.
Each November, the university celebrates National American Indian Heritage Month with a series of events. This year, UVU has three major events planned:
- A storytelling event on Thursday, where students from Alpine and Nebo school districts reenact stories from the Shoshone and Ute tribes. This event is free and open to the public but requires a reservation.
- A UVU Pow Wow on Friday from 6-8:30 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. This free public event will feature traditional Native American dance competitions for all age levels in many styles, accompanied by competitive drum groups. The theme this year is “Walking Towards Our Bright Future.” Attendees can also enjoy food, including Navajo tacos and green chili stew.
- A Native American Heritage Night and performance during halftime at the UVU men’s basketball game on Nov. 29.
“We invite the community to come to the Pow Wow. It is a great way to learn about Native American culture and traditions,” Allison said. “This will be one of the biggest events of its kind in the state this year, and I am excited to have students from other universities and colleges participating.”
For more information or to reserve tickets for the events, visit https://uvu.universitytickets.com.
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- Native American dancers perform during the Utah Valley University men’s basketball game against Lamar in the UCCU Center on the UVU campus in Orem on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019.
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- Utah Valley University’s Native American Pow Wow is held in the Rebecca D. Lockhart Arena on the UVU campus in Orem on Friday, March 31, 2017.
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- Native American dancers perform during the Utah Valley University men’s basketball game against Lamar in the UCCU Center on the UVU campus in Orem on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019.
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- Utah Valley University’s Native American Pow Wow is held in the Rebecca D. Lockhart Arena on the UVU campus in Orem on Friday, March 31, 2017.
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- Native American dancers perform during the Utah Valley University men’s basketball game against Westminster College in the UCCU Center on the UVU campus in Orem on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.
