Leech Lake Tribal College takes part in Obama initiative

WASHINGTON -- Dr. Donald Day, president of Leech Lake Tribal College, will join President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington today to announce new actions to help more students prepare and graduate from college.

Today is the White House College Opportunity Day of Action, an initiative that will help to support "the president's commitment to partner with colleges and universities, business leaders, and nonprofits to support students across the country to help our nation reach its goal of leading the world in college attainment," a release from Leech Lake Tribal College and the White House said.

In addition to Leech Lake, hundreds of college presidents and other higher education leaders will be on hand for the event.

"Leech Lake Tribal College is honored to participate in the College Opportunity Day of Action hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama," Day said in the release. " We represent a strong consortium of Tribal Colleges in Minnesota that are committed to increasing access and college opportunities to rural Tribal communities. We recognize our mission is to not only provide educational opportunities rooted in Anishinaabe values and culture but to increase the number of college graduates as a measure of economic growth and workforce impact."

In 2011, the Minnesota Education Nation Consortium was created between Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, according to the release. The consortium later included Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe. With each nation maintaining the charter of a designated TCCU (Tribally Controlled College and University), the intent of the Minnesota Tribal College consortium was to work together to make the following educational improvements: the crucial and urgent issue of Ojibwe language preservation, mutually agreed upon grants partnering and grant endorsements and mutually beneficial advocacy efforts. The tribal colleges will collaborate using best practices in the following areas to increase college graduation rates by 20 percent by 2020:

• Improve student retention and graduation rates

• Expand transfer opportunities

• Share academic resources and programs

• Increase access through technology infused education

• Impact the economic development of Tribal communities

• Work to preserve Ojibwe language and culture

Participants at today's events are asked to commit to new action in one of four areas: building networks of colleges around promoting completion, creating K-16 partnerships around college readiness, investing in high school counselors as part of the First Lady's Reach Higher initiative, and increasing the number of college graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Obama is expected to announce $10 million in funding to help promote college completion and a $30 million AmeriCorps program that will improve low-income students' access to college.

Today's event is the second College Opportunity Day of Action; the first was held on Jan. 14.

On Wednesday, Obama spoke to the Tribal Nations Conference at the Capital Hilton in Washington, which was attended by many area tribal leaders and members.