MSU makes Natives priority

By: Jodi Rave

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.

Gamble was selected to lead MSU as the college's 11th president in 2000. One of the most remarkable steps he's taken was the appointment of Henrietta Mann as a special adviser in his cabinet. Mann, a Southern Cheyenne woman, has been lecturing, advising and teaching on college campuses for the last 36 years.

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.

Read more here: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/12/09/jodirave/rave19.txt