President's Message

Dr. Cheryl Crazy Bull (Sicangu Lakota), whose Lakota name Wacinyanpi Win means “they depend on her,” was named as the incoming President and CEO of the Fund by the American Indian College Fund Board of Trustees.

Dr. Crazy Bull has more than 30 years of experience with Native American education institutions. She comes to the Fund from Northwest Indian College (NWIC), located on the Lummi Nation in Washington, where she served for 10 years. Prior to joining NWIC, she served as the superintendent of St. Francis Indian School and in several teaching and administrative roles at Sinte Gleska University, both on her home reservation of Rosebud in South Dakota.

Dr. Crazy Bull also served for four years as the Chair of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) Board and four years as member-at-large of the AIHEC Executive Committee. She has served on the boards of the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center, and on the economic development committees of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Lummi Nation.

It is my honor to have been selected as the new President/CEO of the American Indian College Fund. In my 30-year career as a tribal educator, the inspiration for my work is the vision of the founders of the tribal college movement. Our founders, many who have gone on their journey to the Spirit World, wanted place-based, culturally rooted higher education institutions to lift up tribal people’s into abundant, prosperous lives. They knew that the cultural knowledge of our tribal people, combined with an understanding of and proficiency with western skills, would rebuild tribal nations.

As Rick Williams, outgoing President and CEO of the Fund has shared, “Tribal colleges have rewritten the history of Indian Education.” For many Native people, education did not represent opportunity or hope; it represented a loss of identity and important knowledge based in our languages and relationships. Tribal colleges and universities restore that knowledge and rebuild relationships.

Students at tribal colleges are among the most resilient, talented individuals in higher education today. They eagerly study, research, serve, and learn together. They overcome tremendous economic and personal obstacles in order to achieve their dreams of a higher education that provides them with both employment and the security of their rich tribal identity. Today this is even more important because economic policies and political approaches to social change are having a challenging impact on already impoverished tribal communities. Tribal college students with their talents and education can change the future of tribal nations.

I am inspired by the achievements of our students to seek even greater resources for tribal colleges and their students. Our students hold the promise of opportunity and prosperity in their hearts and hands. I have witnessed how the resources of the friends and supporters of the American Indian College Fund made higher education possible for tribal college students. I have seen the many incredible improvements in human capital and physical capacity at the TCUs as a result of the investment of contributors in the Fund.

As the incoming President of the American Indian College Fund, I look forward to creating more opportunities for investment in our tribal colleges and universities and most importantly in our students. I believe that the generosity of our contributors will continue to support the diversity of cultures represented by American Indian tribes that are such an important part of American democracy.

It will be a privilege to meet and work with our many friends and supporters and to continue to help tribal college students achieve their dreams.

Pilamaya he, thank you, for your friendship,

Wacinyanpi Win (They Depend on Her)
 

Cheryl Crazy Bull
President, American Indian College Fund

Cheryl Crazy Bull has more than 30 years of experience with Native American education institutions. She comes to the Fund from Northwest Indian College (NWIC), located on the Lummi Nation in Washington, where she served for 10 years. Prior to joining NWIC, she served as the superintendent of St. Francis Indian School and in several teaching and administrative roles at Sinte Gleska University, both on her home reservation of Rosebud in South Dakota.

"I am inspired by the achievements of our students to seek even greater resources for tribal colleges and their students."

Cheryl Crazy Bull

A Retirement Message from Rick WIlliams