- Edgar Schein
BOZEMAN - Montana State University president Geoffrey Gamble represents a rare form of leadership in academia when it comes to embracing a Native presence on campus.
The president has since created a Council of Elders. I attended the Nov. 30 meeting of elders, a group that has been meeting twice a year for nearly four years. Elders from 12 tribes and honorary members in the state are invited to the university to share their educational and life experiences with the president.
“President Gamble gives weight and validity to what we say,” said Richard Little Bear, president of Chief Dull Knife College on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. “I'm going to keep making time to come over here. In the long run, it has a lot of implications for our students and how our students are treated on the campus. Those are the types of things that can help our students achieve.”
Gamble is already looking forward to the group's next meeting in April.
“The council is amazing,” Gamble said. “It has matured wonderfully. Rich conversations. People sharing. The level of trust and honesty that's now represented, and feeling comfortable in getting issues out is incredible. For us that's important. We need to hear what the issues are in truthful way to help us make the university better.”
MSU's Native students are routinely invited to the council to share their views, too. Some criticized the university's history department for a nearly nonexistent curriculum regarding the history of Native people of Montana.
The president acknowledges MSU isn't perfect.
“We have a rich array of programs to support Indian students here,” said Gamble. “But they've all kind of worked independently. We said, ‘Let's put together an integrated strategic plan that actually works and benefits students, particularly Indian students.' ”
Louie Adams of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation said he appreciates the council's role at the “nucleus of this university. I wish they had one in Missoula. This is very important. It's a step forward.”
Gamble created the elders council after he and Mann discussed “how we could make this university more effective in terms of dealing with issues around Native American education and helping Indian students and helping faculty of the university prepare themselves to be a better place.”
Said Mann: “The Council of Elders is a perfect vehicle for President Gamble to get the kind of input that is so necessary and is oftentimes overlooked from the ivory tower. There is a huge community out there and we can never forget the indigenous peoples of the state of Montana who now share this beautiful land with us and who have values and views of the world that are so important.”
“It's a good program the president of the college has started,” said Caleb Shields, a Sioux from Fort Peck.
More than 88,000 Natives attend a four-year college or university, according to an American Council on Education 2007 report. The experiences for those students can differ dramatically from school to school.
Some school administrators fumble along when it comes to recruiting, retaining and graduating Native students. And Native studies programs aren't always pantheons for embracing tribal perspectives. Many colleges still lack a strong presence of Native professors.
Gamble isn't afraid to embrace an authentic perspective.
During the council's last meeting, the president was so impressed with one of the elder's indigenized leadership presentations that he invited Tom Thompson, a retired educator, to return for a presentation to the president's cabinet, which consists of 40 of the university's top leaders.
“The council makes a big impact on the students and staff with the words we have to say and bringing our experience and education to them to help,” said council member Minerva Allen of Fort Belknap. “It's making the students more aware that we are here to support them.”
Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net.
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