Reception Held To Emphasize Native American Retention
(Press Release 03-30-07)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

Submitted story & photo

Assistant Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mike Bailey, spoke with Native American students on the campus of Eastern Oklahoma State College, Wednesday (03-28-07) during a reception held to emphasize Native American retention at the Wilburton based college.

Bailey shared with students his own personal story and the importance of higher education in today’s world. He told students that through the support and funding provided by the tribe, all Native American students should be able to stay in college and graduate.

Casi Dennis, a freshman from Clayton, is serving as a peer advisor for a new Scholarship Advisement Program funded by the Choctaw Nation at Eastern Oklahoma State College. As a new component to the Choctaw scholarships, this program is designed to help with Native American student retention. Native Americans normally make up a quarter of the school’s student population.

Eastern Director of Native American Programs Rusty Shaw worked with the Choctaw Nation to get the program started and helped Dennis attain the position as peer advisor.

“I think it’s a great program and it will help the students academically,” Dennis said.

Because Native American students, among all minorities, have the highest drop-out rate between freshmen and sophomore years and the lowest graduation rates among all minority groups, this program has been implemented to help improve these statistics.

The Choctaw Nation has recognized a need for an on-site support program to help students with any problems that might occur and to have a peer advisor on campus to help these students work through issues and seek resolution. Dennis is available to provide assistance and will be located on the Wilburton Campus, 1st  floor of Johnston Hall, Office 116.  She can also be reached through email by contacting cadennis@eosc.edu.

Caption info:

Students and members of the Choctaw Nation of Okahoma attending a Native American retention reception on the Wilburton campus of Eastern Oklahoma State College include from front left: Casi Dennis, Clayton; Joy Culbreath, Executive Director of Education for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Amberly Cross, Calera; Judy Bond, Wilburton; Shannon Shields, Stigler; Wesley Snead, Atoka; Mariah Angel, Hartshorne; Erica Vihrosky, Fanshawe and Assistant Chief Mike Bailey, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Second row: Jennifer Robertson, Wister; Krysten Williams, Antlers; Colby Moffatt, Soper; Mandy Atkinson, Wilburton; Kirby Thomason, Pittsburg and Joseph Tyson, Tuskahoma. Back row: Rusty Shaw, Director of Native American Programs at Eastern; Jo McDaniel, Scholarship Advisment Director for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Brittany Cook, Wilburton; Dakota Fields, Tahlequah; Ivan Taylor, McAlester; John Fitzgerald, Muse; Ashley Young, Sallisaw and Luke Forwoodson, Wilburton.