87 American Indian undergraduates attend UNC

During her junior year, Airianne Posey headed down to the Smith Center, decked out in blue and ready to cheer on the men’s basketball team.

But the feeling of excitement quickly evaporated when she reached the volunteers checking the students’ tickets.

After scanning the tickets of her friends, a volunteer turned to Posey and asked if she was a member of housekeeping.

“I was shocked. I didn’t know exactly what to do,” said Posey, now a senior.

Posey, who is an American Indian student, stayed after the game to seek out someone in charge to speak to about the situation, but did not have any luck.

“You could tell through their body language and the way that they were speaking to us that they weren’t really going to do anything about it.”

For the 2013-14 academic year, only 87 UNC undergraduates identified as American Indian, said Amy Locklear Hertel, who is director of the campus’s American Indian Center.

According to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 22 of the 31 American Indian students who were admitted for the 2013-14 officially enrolled. As of fall 2012, there were 104 students at UNC who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native or about 0.6 percent of the total student body.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1.2 percent of the American population identified as American Indian or Alaska Native in 2012.

“I don’t know what’s happening across the state, but we need to take a serious look and investigate,” said Locklear Hertel.

Outside of the incident at the Smith Center, Posey said she doesn’t face discrimination at UNC very often, but that it does happen.

Ryan Comfort, a research assistant in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, recently made a video? about the personal experiences of American Indian students. The video, “Dear Chancellor Folt,” chronicles discrimination that these students face.

Comfort said he made the video to raise concerns that otherwise might not be heard and to tell the stories of American Indian students.

“The video isn’t meant to indict anyone in any way,” he said. “It’s meant to raise awareness about an issue on campus.”

Andrea Felder, associate director for recruitment at the Office for Undergraduate Admissions, said though American Indian enrollment was low, it was high compared to UNC’s peer institutions. She said the office is committed to recruiting and enrolling American Indian students.

“We also want American Indian students to feel welcome at Carolina and to achieve their fullest potential once they have enrolled,” she said in an email.

Brittany Hunt, a graduate student in the School of Social Work, said one student she spoke with at the American Indian Center likened the campus outside of the center to a warzone because she was forced to constantly defend herself and her culture.

Only a few months ago, after returning to her apartment after a weekend away, Hunt’s white roommate informed her that she had thrown a “tribal party” and guests had arrived dressed in stereotypical American Indian costumes.

“Things like that erode you and chip away at your morality,” said Hunt, who has since moved out of the apartment.

Hunt said even in the classroom her culture is overlooked, and oftentimes American Indians are completely excluded.

“I feel like we’re the invisible minority.”

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