Uplift Educational Opportunities for Native American Youth!

Historically Native Americans make up less than 1 percent of the Fresno State student population. This type of data does not reflect the reality of our Native student population and there are many factors and reasons why the data is so low which is an issue across the nation for K-16 institutions. The four main areas that contribute towards the challenges we've identified by Dr. Amanda R. Tachine in her book “Native Presence and Sovereignty in College “Sustaining Indigenous Weapons to Defeat Systemic Monsters”. As followed, the financial hardship monster, the deficit (not enough) monster, the failure monster, and the (in)visibility monster; are all areas that hinder the reality of Native students pursuing higher education.

This campaign is to support the youth who attend the Native American Youth Conference (NAYC) that’s hosted at Fresno State. The conference began in 2014 by community members who wanted more youth to have the opportunity to be exposed to higher education. Since then the NAYC has been held annually, with a target audience of 6th to 12th grade Native American students from across the Central Valley and beyond! Some examples of where guests have traveled to attend include Yreka, Bishop, Sacramento and Bakersfield along with our local communities. On average the attendance reaches about 350 guests and the youth can continue to attend each year to become more familiar with the campus until they become a Fresno State student! During the event guests get to hear from a keynote speaker; students also engage in cultural practices that will impact their sense of belonging and Native American identity at the NAYC. As a result, the NAYC is designed to help Native students defeat those systemic monsters by building relationships with a diverse tribal community, networking with other Native students from different schools, and having a space that creates a sense of belonging at Fresno State.

If our Native students didn’t have this youth conference made feasible and created for them they could fall into the narrative that college is not an option for them. It also creates a lack of representation in higher education and falls into the traps of the four monsters that Native students continue to experience today.

Your generous donation to the NAYC will allow us to achieve our goal by providing opportunities for future students to explore the pathways towards higher education. Students participate in workshops covering application admissions,  learn about financial aid and scholarships, dive into their A-G requirements, explore student services, and have the chance to be awarded a New Bulldog Scholarship (NBS) when they attend NAYC. 

Testimonials at NAYC:

“Loved it, my children loved it and one [of them]  is now looking forward to college despite having the mindset that college was not for him. Now he’s exploring his options.”

“Keep up the good fight and please continue to advocate for the Native community!”

“We'll see you next year. Nice job, excited to see how you improve the conference for next year.”

Their reason for attending NAYC:
“Native-led.”

“[For] my child’s future [by gaining a real experience] of college and networking within her neum peers.”

“I want to instill a sense of Native pride in the students I work with because it can be hard for youth to find out about their culture.”

“My daughter is a senior this year and she would like to attend Fresno State. We attended the conference so she can tour the campus.”