Yvonne Honeyestewa, manager of MCC’s American Indian Center, said the money will be used for scholarships, meal plans, transportation and resources for multimedia platforms.
“This grant provides more opportunities for our American Indian students to be successful,” Honeyestewa said. “We can help more students achieve their academic goals.”
MCC’s American Indian Center is allocating a portion of the money to create student-produced documentaries on American Indian culture and traditions. Students will travel to home areas to film scenes for the documentaries.
“MCC’s Hoop of Learning students are working on a documentary to be completed in September,” said Eddie Webb, author of the grant for MCC and multimedia coordinator. “We are also starting a Film Club that will meet regularly at the college.”
Additionally, the Institute will hold retention and support services events throughout the academic year, inviting prestigious guests to campus as well as other events that support American Indian students.
MCC has the largest number of American Indian students of all community colleges in the state. More than 1,200 American Indian students attended MCC during the 2012 fall semester.
For more information, visit: https://www.mesacc.edu/students/american-indian-center
About Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College provides outstanding transfer and career and technical programs, workforce development, and life-long learning opportunities to residents of the East Valley area of Phoenix, Arizona. MCC excels in teaching, learning and empowering its more than 40,000 students to succeed in a local and global community. Mesa Community College is one of ten colleges that comprise the Maricopa County Community College District.
Please direct media inquiries to Sally Mesarosh at mesarosh@mesacc.edu or the Office of Institutional Advancement at 480-461-7445. IA website: www.mesacc.edu/ia.