Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

Lumbee Tribal Chairperson Milton Hunt sent a letter on May 16 to UNCP Chancellor Allen Meadors in which he expressed concern that the university is not enrolling more Native American students and opposed the university's plans to establish a multicultural center and a cultural center for black students. Most council members agreed with the letter, although a council motion for a resolution to support the letter was withdrawn. A substitute motion to invite Chancellor Meadors to a Tribal Council meeting to discuss UNCP's recruitment of Native American students received unanimous approval.

Chancellor Meadors's response to the May 16 letter from the Tribal Council mentions that (1) UNCP recently had its highest ever Native American enrollment (852 in Fall 2001, compared to around 680 during most of the 1990s) and (2) UNCP has designated recruitment of Native American students as a top priority (see items STAN001, UNCP005). In its discussions of the letter to the Chancellor, various Tribal Council members pointed out that UNCP's head of recruitment, Jackie Clark, is Lumbee; the university now has three Native American vice chancellors, the highest number in its history; and recruiting Native American students is difficult because they have a high rate of dropping out of high school.