A Shinnecock from Long Island. With a long pin in hand, each of the two dozen or so in attendance steps forward and flags his or her hometown. A member of the Gitksan tribe of the Tsimshian nation from the northwest coast of Canada. Okla. An Aluet from Naknek, Alaska. A second-year graduate student in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Connors' ongoing practicum has been to serve as the American Indian recruitment intern in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
Many people come from communities where they are one of many who are similar.
Then you come to a university like this where you merge. Whether it's with an ethnic student, an international student, a student of same-sex orientation, there is so much diversity that you're forced to look at. So when you have an American Indian presence on campus, people are learning. They're going to programs, they're rooming together. It's an exchange.