Every year, the University of Dayton hosts an event to celebrate and educate the campus community about Indigenous cultures. Andy Reza and Shannon Toll are among those creating opportunities for students to learn throughout the year in ways that build belonging and understanding.
Andy Reza: Shannon and I are on UD’s Native Peoples of the Americas Colloquium committee together. The theme for our November campus events was The Gathering, and we welcomed several guests. For example, my cousin, who works with the Comanche Academy Charter School, talked about language restoration and how they’re teaching our children to speak Comanche in hopes the language won’t die.
Shannon Toll: We also had film programming, showing the documentary Yintah, about a nation protecting their ancestral lands from a pipeline. Next semester we’ll show the most recent iteration of the Predator movies, Prey, which has a Comanche protagonist, is dubbed in Comanche and had a lot of involvement from the Comanche Nation. We want this to be consistent programming — not just once per year — that shows Indigenous presence in the present. It’s a great opportunity for students to see cool art, to share ideas and to get excited about something that’s different from what they’ve seen before.
AR: It’s a way to see other identities in an inviting, safe manner. It’s an inclusive way of learning.
ST: It feels like an invitation.
AR: With all of our cultural heritage and history months at UD, we let our students who are multi-ethnic know we understand this is your identity every day of the year. One of the best things about diversity is that you get to see and experience different identities by listening to their stories. By being here, I get to let students into my world. I do it daily. In the signature line of my emails, it says “Comanche Nation of Oklahoma.” I want people to know that I’m here. It’s one way to make sure that we are still represented, and you can see that we’re surviving and thriving.
I’ve been asked why I think there aren’t very many Native students on campus. One of the big reasons is the lack of Native presence in Ohio, because of the early forced removal of Indigenous people. But I also put it back on what I call the “big three”: education, religion and health care. Those really harmed Indigenous communities. And with University of Dayton, there are two of those big three. This historical trauma can lead to a lack of trust. Until we have a way of showing accountability and moving forward or giving back, I don’t think a lot of Native students will come here.
ST: Really, we’re dealing with structures that are largely invisible. People don’t realize the impacts that they have if they have not themselves been impacted. It’s long work, it’s difficult work. But it’s just something you have to be willing to engage in meaningfully.
AR: I started at UD almost two years ago in the Multi-Ethnic Education Engagement Center. One of the first things we say to students who come into MEC is “welcome home,” because you are part of our family now. My office is right next to what we call the family room, and it really is a family room; students will eat, they’ll take naps, they’ll study. It gets really rowdy on Fridays with some loud games of Spades and Uno. They are engaging with each other, laughing and joking. That’s what it looks and sounds like when students feel like they belong — it’s a place where they can just be their authentic selves.
ST: My students, for the most part, have been really interested in learning about Indigenous literature, film and culture. Students generally lack knowledge about today, that there are entire groups of people who are pushing back against ongoing settler colonialism and ongoing colonial violence and exploitation of Indigenous homelands. I’m what’s called a settler scholar, which means I’m a non-Native scholar. Some people think that’s a negative term, but I just think of it as a way of understanding my relationship to space and people, and my responsibility within those spaces. Even when I’m talking about things in my early American lit class that are extremely challenging — for example, the Papal Bull of 1493, which decreed all non-Christian lands to be that of Spain and Portugal — I trust our students to not shrink away from difficult content. It helps our students to understand themselves as part of a larger community, as part of a responsible citizenry. It’s a way for students to be able to articulate their relationality to other people.
AR: In my role in MEC, I reach out individually to each student who self-identifies as American Indian, Alaskan Native and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. I introduce myself and my role, letting them know I identify as Indigenous and that I know how it feels to be isolated in a predominantly white institution. I give them the option to reach out to me. Some have, but most haven’t. I had two students last year; they’ve both graduated. This year, there’s one student who has been consistently coming by, which is actually very successful because there are only eight students on campus who have self-identified.
ST: There are people across campus who are collaborating in this work of belonging and education. Associate professor of English Tom Morgan takes students on a trip to Standing Rock Indigenous Reservation in South Dakota. Students can get learning that’s very much grounded in the experience while being good members of that space within that community at that time.
AR: All of this programming and instruction is so important because, at the University, our job is to help our students become global citizens who are going out to change the world. These programs embody the Marianist charism and its five pillars, particularly inclusivity and community. These programs are helping our students become better stewards of the community for the future when they leave this community.
A version of this article appears in print in the Winter 2024-45 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 22. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE