Bacone College seeks tribal status to bolster American Indian education opportunities while trying

[TexasTowelie]

Bacone College seeks tribal status to bolster American Indian education opportunities while trying to regain financial stability


MUSKOGEE — Bacone College, known as Oklahoma’s oldest higher education institution, has been associated with financial instability since its 1880 inception, according to President Ferlin Clark.

But Clark is charting a course that may deliver a measure of sustainability and unite a number of tribes across Oklahoma under an educational umbrella.

Clark took the helm of a floundering Bacone 14 months ago from an interim president. He aims to transition the four-year private institution into a public college with a tribal designation — not exclusively Indian — through a consortium of tribes.

There are 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities in the U.S. established by a tribe or the federal government to provide access to higher education for American Indians.

Read more: https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/bacone-college-seeks-tribal-status-to-bolster-american-indian-education/article_a94585bc-0594-5841-a38a-ded2387fa917.html