May 5, 1999
Raven Ezekiel Heavy Runner, graduating senior in social welfare from Des Moines, Iowa, received the Outstanding Senior of the Year award. Heavy Runner is president of the First Nations Student Organization. He is the son of Pauline Upham, 23641 20th Ave. S., H-203, Des Moines. He is a member of the Blackfeet Nation.
Maggie L. Necefer, Lawrence doctoral student in education, received the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year award. Necefer directs the Haskell Indian Nations University teacher education program. She is a member of the Navajo Nation.
Cornel D. Pewewardy, KU assistant professor of education, was named the Outstanding Indian Faculty Member. Pewewardy is a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma and was raised by his Kiowa grandparents.
KU's First Nations Student Organization was named the 1999 Outstanding Student Organization.
The University of Oklahoma American Indian Student Association was host for the 1999 conference, with the theme, "Respecting the Past to Work for the Future." The Big 12 American Indian Student Leadership conference is dedicated to improving the academic achievement of American Indian students attending universities in the Big 12 athletic conference.
Pewewardy and Vine Deloria Jr., an attorney, nationally known author and member of the Lakota Nation, addressed the conference. Pewewardy discussed linguistic imperialism, hegemony and education; Deloria discussed the evolution of Native American student leadership.
The 2000 conference will be conducted at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Story by Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853