Native American Heritage Month
What a year it has been since our previous highlight on USC’s Native American Student Assembly (NASA)! Here, at USC, we work hard to make sure our students can find communities and have safe spaces for them to be themselves. Although the cultural club for our Native American students may be relatively new, we are growing and progressing exponentially!
NASA provides an intimate space for Native American students to authentically be themselves and to be supported in their endeavors. They are supported by Native American USC staff and faculty like me: Dylan Goodwill (Diné/Hunkpapa Lakota/Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota).
As part of our growth, NASA has fully moved into our culturally affirming lounge in the Student Union for our Native American and Pasifika students. Today, you can find the Native American and Pasifika Student Lounge (NAPL) alongside other cultural centers like La CASA, the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs (CBSCA), and more in the Student Union. The lounge has become our home away from home and a place where our students host events, talk with supportive staff members, study, or just relax!
Our NASA student leaders have persevered and continue to work hard to create events and spaces for their voices to be heard at USC. NASA meets once a week and hosts amazing events. Currently, they are actively coordinating a Kickoff event with the university to celebrate Native American Heritage Month set for November 13th, 2024. Our banner, which is at the top of this blog, is on full display on every light pole down Trousdale. This is the first year we are highlighting the artwork made by our very own NASA student, Cat Boderick (Seneca and Cayuga), a senior studying Creative Writing.
In addition to this upcoming celebration, USC has created many wonderful changes in 2022 for our Native American students. For example, this past April, USC dedicated one of its most landmark buildings to Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, the first Native American USC graduate. Our NASA students were heavily involved in the building dedication, and it was a beautiful sight to see allies from across the university come to support them. It was a monumental moment to see so many Native Trojans in their traditional regalia during the dedication ceremony, and to hear Crow honor songs echo across campus as the banner fell to reveal the new building name, the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International and Public Affairs.
Along with the building dedication, USC launched the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Native Leadership Scholarship in January. By April 2022, our first Native Leadership Scholarship cohort was admitted to USC and invited to attend the building dedication ceremony. From this, we are truly excited to continue the scholarship, which is available to first-year applicants who identify as American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native Hawaiian and have applied through the Common Application by our Early Action deadline of November 1.
Overall, NASA hopes to gain more Native students so they can continue to grow and thrive. We are very excited for what the future may hold! So, do you know any Native American students? If you do, let them know about NASA at USC.
To receive further information on upcoming events, be sure to follow the Native American Student Assembly on all social media platforms (@uscnasa).
Written by: Dylan Goodwill, Senior Assistant Director & NASA Advisor – Office of Undergraduate Admission