Oglala Lakota College leaves a legacy of learning

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer | Sunday, December 26, 2004

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From the outset, it has never been traditional.

Although most universities' and colleges' enrollments lean toward traditional students - those ages 18 to 22 - Oglala Lakota College has always catered to nontraditional students, about 25 years and older.

Unlike many colleges and universities in South Dakota, OLC doesn't highlight campus living. You won't find stadiums, fraternity houses, concert halls or even a dormitory on its campus.

What you will find is a college that considers its students part of an extended family.

It has expanded its classes to provide an accredited, college education to students at Eagle Nest College Center, Wanblee; East Wakpamni College Center, Batesland; LaCreek College Center, Martin; Pahin Sinte Center, Porcupine; Pass Creek College Center, Allen; Pine Ridge Village College Center, Pine Ridge Village; Oglala College Center, Oglala; Wounded Knee College Center, Manderson; He Sapa Learning Center, Rapid City; and the Oglala Lakota Nursing Program, Pine Ridge Village.

Tom Shortbull, OLC president, administers the sprawling college from his office at Piya Wiconi College Center nearly 41 miles from the classrooms in Pine Ridge Village and 85 miles from He Sapa Center in Rapid City.

He has guided the higher education institute through its first major building campaign. In the past decade, all of the campuses have undergone major renovations to create more classroom space, update technology and provide more access for students to receive an education.

"It's a decentralized model," Shortbull said of his school's nine satellite campuses. "We are one of the few decentralized models in the world."

Because many of the students didn't have transportation, the college took a sensible approach, Shortbull said.

"We go to them, but it requires a lot of coordination."

Overcoming poverty

Jonalynn Clifford credits OLC for her job and education.

"I got a job here right out of high school," she said.

As an employee of the school, Clifford was able to take classes and waive payment. She now works as an administrative assistant to the vice president and teaches keyboarding classes for the college.

"If the school hadn't been here, I wouldn't have the degree that I have," she said.

Shortbull said that there is no better evidence that education is the key to overcoming poverty and its effects than Oglala Lakota College.

The school has changed the face of those who now work in tribal programs, businesses and as policy makers on Pine Ridge. Juanita Scherich, Medicine Root District council representative, said many of Oglala Sioux Tribal council members had received their degrees from OLC. "We have a very educated council," Scherich said.

Former Oglala Sioux Tribal President John Steele, speaking at the 2001 graduation ceremonies, said the opening of OLC has been the greatest event on the reservation.

"It's changed our people. It's changed the reservation. It's changed our perspective," he said.

Steele said OLC graduates become role models for all of the children on the reservation in the 17 school systems, the grade schools and the high schools.

"They see you struggling all of those years, day to day, and they're going to do it, too," he said. "It's given us hope."

Shortbull said 80 percent of OLC's graduates are employed on the reservation. There are more college-educated Oglala Lakota people than at any time in history.

"Our enrollment continues to grow each year," he said.

How it works

Shortbull credits his faculty and staff for their professionalism and commitment to education. All 150 professors and adjunct professors must drive to several centers to teach a total of 160 classes each semester. They routinely brave black ice, snowstorms and numerous hours in their cars, he said.

"We're very appreciative," Shortbull said.

The school offers degrees in Lakota studies, elementary education, human services, interdisciplinary environmental sciences, sociology, business administration, business education and history. Overall, OLC offers more than 25 degrees, from associates, to graduate degrees, he said.

Shortbull has served 14 years in two tours of duty as president of the tribal college. He returned about a decade ago to begin creating foundations and endowments that would build new learning centers and increase the college faculty.

He said that when the college began, it operated on about a $3 million budget. Today, the college operates on a $21 million budget.

Rebuilding the Lakota Nation Through Education, an aggressive fund-raising campaign nationwide, has brought in money, but there is never enough, he said.

"Fund-raising is our biggest challenge," Shortbull said.

Despite a shortage of local businesses relationships and few alumni able to contribute to OLC's foundation, the college and its budget, scholarships and faculty have mushroomed.

The school, which pulls students from every corner of the 7,000 square-mile reservation, juggles staff, classroom space, supplies and materials to meet their needs.

"It's very challenging getting these courses into the communities, but we work around it," Shortbull said.

The effort includes getting the required text materials into the classrooms. Myreen Iron Cloud, OLC's bookstore manager, based in Kyle, keeps the bookshelves stocked.

"I don't know of any other college that does this," Iron Cloud said. "We chase the students."

With a typical reading list of 225,000 titles per semester, Iron Cloud and her staff established a travel schedule and a deadline for book orders. Then, she and her staff of two go to work loading up computerized cash registers, supplies and books to travel hundreds of miles into four counties.

"We go to every college center on the reservation and Rapid City to sell the books," she said.

Because the bookstore staff sells to a number of students, the staff sets up for a day at most centers and two days in Pine Ridge and Rapid City. Rapid City has the longest lines, with people waiting for three hours before getting into the temporary store. But after they're in, students generally have their shopping done within 15 minutes, Iron Cloud said.

Iron Cloud said the books are set up in a room, and five students are let in at a time. The two computerized tills have expedited transactions and eased accounting work. It's a long way from the days when Iron Cloud wrote everything out by hand.

"Hopefully, the computers won't crash, but we take our calculators, just in case," she said.

Last fall, the movable book store sold $231,000 in books and supplies.

"More than 8,000 new titles were requested by the instructors for the students," Iron Cloud said. "It's a lot of work, and it does get crazy in here."

Elders ask for college

In the late 1960s, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation elders recognized that traditional colleges were failing to recruit and retain American Indian youths, according to OLC staff.

The elders went to their tribal council and asked for a community college.

In 1971, in what is now the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, the first classes of the fledgling Lakota Higher Education Center met in the Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel dormitory in Pine Ridge.

About 100 students began their college careers there.

According to an OLC 30th anniversary publication, the first college classes were extension courses from the University of Colorado. At that time, support was not available from the South Dakota university systems. Students attend classes in borrowed school classrooms, churches, in people's basements and around kitchen tables. Supplies were carried from class to class in cardboard boxes.

The Lakota Higher Education Center received its tribal charter on March 4, 1971, under the administration of former President Gerald One Feather.

In 1978, the name of the college changed to Oglala Sioux Community College to reflect its status as a community college. At an annual retreat in 1983, the college changed its name again, to Oglala Lakota College. By then, it was a four-year, degree-granting institution.

Anthony Fresquez, interim vice president of instruction, recalled the first days of teaching at the new college.

"I came to work in June 1971," Fresquez said. "I was the fifth person to come on board."

He joined Evelyn Eagle Bull, Jim Ham, Gail Vocu and another faculty member Fresquez can't recall. There weren't any facilities for the tribal college, so the tribe provided space in a BIA dormitory.

"It was called the club house, and we were assigned the dining room area," Fresquez said.

A few years later, the tribe awarded the college its first facility, a small building behind the superintendent's building. The 12-foot by 20-foot structure was quickly converted into a library and faculty office.

Classrooms were established inside of the house, which included a basement and a bad sewer system.

"It had a long history of the sewer line always backing up. The only sewer lines belonged to the BIA. The city didn't have any water system. It was a disaster," he said.

In spite of facility shortages and crowded classrooms, the college continued to grow, largely because of the tribe's support.

"They recognized the college's importance. They supported us and awarded incremental raises when tribal employees completed coursework," Fresquez said. "It was a boon for us."

Enrollment increasing

At that time, the students were primarily tribal staff. Now, the school has expanded. Its enrollment is more than 10 times what it was when OLC opened its doors.

According to Billi Hornbeck, Oglala Lakota College registrar, this fall's enrollment was 1,438 students. Pine Ridge's center has one of the largest campuses, with 280 to 300 students enrolling each semester.

The Rapid City campus has the largest student body, with about 350 students arriving for class each semester. The trends suggest the population will probably exceed that number by the 2005-2006 academic year.

"Our enrollment has grown every year," Hornbeck said. "Growth has been most significant in Pine Ridge and Rapid City."

Many of the students are the first generation of their families to go to college, but that's changing.

"There are a number of students whose parents hold degrees," Hornbeck said.

The school centers are attended by a variety of people, such as neighboring ranch wives from Chadron and Gordon, Neb., teachers, traditional students seeking to fulfill course requirements before going to a bigger school, or nontraditional students needing a degree to find a better job.

"Our typical student is a 30-something single mother starting out to get an associate's degree," Hornbeck said.

According to the registrar, seven American Indian students received their inaugural degrees in 1974 at OLC's first graduation ceremony. Since then, 2,500 students have graduated from the tribal school.

Hornbeck said that in 1994, the first graduate degrees were awarded to four students. Last year, the school awarded bachelor's and associate's degrees to 179 students and master's degrees to 17 graduate students.

Clifford, a computer teacher at OLC, said the basic courses of English, math, Lakota and science carry full enrollments of 25 students per classroom. If more students enroll, new sections are added.

Because 300- and 400-level courses have smaller class sizes, they're typically combined, and students must travel to other centers to go to class.

"Our problem with that is transportation," she said.

To help those who can't travel from Wounded Knee to Pine Ridge or from Wanblee to Rapid City, OLC invested early in distance-learning technology. If students can't travel on BIA roads and South Dakota highways to get to classes, they can travel the information super highway of the Internet.

OLC offers its advanced classes through a variety of Internet options. Assignments are left on computer bulletin boards. Students send theme and term papers and take tests electronically.

"Upper-level classes will be taught over Pic-Tel, a video conference class," Clifford said. "We want our students to succeed."

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com