The Fort Lewis College Board of Trustees was recognized this month by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges for exceptional college and university board leadership, according to a Feb. 3 release from the college.
The award, called the John W. Nason Award for Board Leadership, was also given to the School of Mines, Evergreen State College and University of Pikeville boards.
According to the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the FLC board was chosen for “(exemplifying) courageous and valued-centered governance by leading the institution through a process of truth, healing, and reconciliation tied to its history as a former federal Indian boarding school.”
The Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School operated on college grounds from 1892 to 1909 near Hesperus, where students were subject to cultural cleansing by way of being “forcefully removed from their homes and stripped of their traditions under poor conditions,” according to FLC’s website.
Fort Lewis College is situated on the ancestral land and territory of the Nuuchiu (Ute) people and is connected to the communal and ceremonial spaces of the Jicarilla Abache (Apache), Pueblos of New Mexico, Hopi Sinom (Hopi) and Diné (Navajo) Nations.
The school has headed up a number of reconciliation measures recently, including advocating for state legislation to research boarding school history, supporting the public release of findings and instituting a unanimous adoption of a formal institutional commitment to reconciliation.
“Our responsibility as trustees is not only to govern Fort Lewis College today but to shape a future rooted in truth and justice,” Board of Trustees Chair Janet Lopez said in the release. “By advocating for a full examination of our boarding school history, we’ve laid a foundation for ongoing reconciliation, one of the board’s five guiding directives. This recognition by AGB affirms the importance of that work and reinforces our commitment to continue with humility, respect, and care.”
FLC President Heather Shotton – who is a citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, a descendant of the Kiowa and Cheyenne nations, and the college’s first Native American president – has been at the helm of many of FLC’s reconciliation efforts alongside the board.
“This recognition reflects the collective work of so many, especially faculty, staff, students, community partners, and Indigenous leaders who have shaped and guided this process,” Shotton said in the release. “We could not have done this without the vision and courage of our Board of Trustees, whose leadership has made reconciliation a cornerstone of our mission. Their support continues to make this work possible.”
The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges is a national organization that supports and recognizes effective leadership by college and university governing boards.
The award is named after higher education leader John W. Nason, who served as chair of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and was part of helping 4,000 interned students continue their college studies during World War II.
The Fort Lewis College Board of Trustees will be formally honored in Denver this March at AGB’s Foundation Leadership Forum and the National Conference on Trusteeship, the release said.
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