OSU Students Take a Sovereign Stance
Monday, April 9, 2018
Students at the OSU Stillwater Center for Sovereign Nations will participate in three sovereignty-focused events Tuesday, April 10, as part of Native American Awareness Week. The first event, Sovereign Stance, will be an opportunity for students to gather at 11:45 a.m.-12 p.m., at the Student Union Chi O-Clock, to discuss the responsibility they feel toward representing their sovereign tribal nation culture as a student on campus. Billboards depicting student images and sovereign nation names have been deployed across campus since students returned from Spring Break. Viewers are encouraged to visit www.SovNationCenter.okstate.edu to learn more about the students and their tribal nations.
The second event, Sovereignty Speaks© Culture, takes place from 12-1 p.m., in the French Lounge of the OSU Student Union (room 270). Valorie Walters, Executive Officer, Chickasaw Cultural Center, will be the featured speaker for the 19th monthly Sovereignty Speaks© luncheon. Walters will speak about how the Chickasaw Nation shares its culture as an exercise of tribal sovereignty. Walters oversees day-to-day operations of the Chickasaw Cultural Center and the Ada Tribal Library. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Museums Association and the Oklahoma Humanities Board of Trustees. Registration is required at www.SovNationCenter.OkState.edu/Events and parking is available in the OSU Student Union Parking Garage.
The third event is a reception that begins at 1:30 p.m., in the newly renovated Center for Sovereign Nations located at 105 Life Sciences East. Email SovNationCenter@OkState.edu for more information.
The Center for Sovereign Nations is located on Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) campus in Stillwater, Okla. Created as a result of President Hargis’ vision for focused service to sovereign tribal nations in Oklahoma, the Center for Sovereign Nations was launched in August 2015 through the joint investment of the Chickasaw Nation and OSU. In August 2016, the center celebrated the addition of the Choctaw Nation as a center partner. There is an ongoing invitation to other tribal nations to join as center partners. The center has a three-fold mission: it educates about tribal sovereignty; it promotes student success and graduation; and it develops partnerships between OSU and the tribal nations in Oklahoma. Find more information about the Center for Sovereign Nations at www.SovNationCenter.okstate.edu.