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Students will learn ‘necessary academic, professional, tribal government-centered, community-focused, culturally based’ skills

Sacramento State University is getting ready to open a new college specifically designed to serve Native American students and prepare them for the “challenges of today.”

The Native American College is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025. Its official “Native Language” name is “TBA.”

“It’s a first initiative of its kind to serve Native and Indigenous students,” university President Luke Wood stated in a news release. “… We want to serve as the place where Native students want to come and study and learn and grow in an environment that is intentionally designed to serve them.”

The purpose is to provide a “Native-based cohort educational experience” in which students will learn “the necessary academic, professional, tribal government-centered, community-focused, culturally based” skills, according to the college website. It will also offer support services to students, including faculty mentors.

While the focus is on Native Americans, students of all ethnic groups may apply “in accordance with state policy,” the release states.

Applicants must first be accepted into Sacramento State and then complete a separate application for the Native American College.

Students accepted into the college may choose any major offered by the university, but all will minor in Native American studies and take tribal leadership courses, according to the university.

When contacted for more details, the university media relations office directed The College Fix to the college’s website.

Meanwhile, the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism responded with a mixed reaction when The Fix asked about the new college.

While the civil liberties group applauded the new Native American College for its nondiscrimination policies, it expressed disappointment about segregatory aspects of the program.

“FAIR applauds CSU’s decision to extend admission to students of all races and backgrounds, consistent with federal non-discrimination laws,” Executive Director Monica Harris wrote in an emailed statement to The Fix. 

“We are, however, disappointed that the university believes the best way to support indigenous students’ interest in Native American knowledge systems and traditions is by providing separate living environments,” Harris stated.

The college will be a separate school located on the campus of Sacramento State, according to its website.

It also will be separate from Sacramento State’s existing Native American studies program, which includes classes such as “Magical Realism,” “Black Political Thought,” and “Culture and Personality of the Chicano Child.”

The Native American College will have its own staff, including a recruiter, advisor, counselor, administrative support assistant, tutors, and dean. Additionally, students will be able to apply for special campus housing “that reflects the cohort model” of the college, according to its website.

Responding, Harris at FAIR told The Fix: “It’s unfortunate that more effort isn’t directed toward integrating these programs into SSU’s existing framework to create a truly inclusive learning environment that encourages students from all backgrounds to become aware of and benefit from knowledge of Native American systems and traditions.”

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University leaders announced the college Nov. 8 during an Indian Cultural Education Day celebration at the Sacramento State Capitol.

Annette Reed, (pictured) a Native American and the first dean of students at the college, said she wants to see the program become a place of “belonging, empowerment, and collaboration” for students.

“We are creating a learning environment that values Native American knowledge systems and traditions while preparing students to address the challenges of today and tomorrow,” Reed told Fox 40 News.

President Wood said university leaders wanted to create a separate college that fully understands the needs of Native American students.

Many attend schools with instructors who “may not fully understand their communities, their cultures, various cultural and religious practices,” Wood stated, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Curriculums and educational spaces also often fail to consider students’ “identities and support their growth and development,” he stated.

California State Assemblymember James Ramos, who is Native American, also expressed support for the Native American College in a statement.

“This new Sacramento State Native American College is a testament to the power of education in preserving and uplifting our tribal nations,” Ramos stated in the university news release.

Sacramento State also is home to the nation’s first Black Honors College, which opened this fall. The university created it in response to a California State University report that recommended ways to promote “Black student success” across its 23 universities.

SSU is a campus of California State University. Of the 461,612 students enrolled in the university system, 884 are American Indian, making the group (0.2%) the smallest ethnicity represented, according to university data.

Dean Reed said she is optimistic that other universities will follow SSU’s example and open similar “micro-colleges.”

“I would assume that we’re going to see others who are going to want to do the same thing,” Reed told Inside Higher Ed. “And for those institutions that don’t, we look forward to seeing their students transition to having greater opportunities with Sacramento State.”

MORE: U. Wisconsin professor sticks to ‘personal beliefs’ about Native American ancestry

IMAGE: Sacramento State University

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