9/21/2006:
It was on this date in 1973 that Sitting Bull College, in Fort Yates, was granted a charter to operate as a post-secondary educational institution with the authority to grant Associate degrees. It was one of the first tribal colleges in the Nation and was originally called Standing Rock Community College.
The situation on most American Indian reservations at that time was desperate, with overwhelming unemployment and poverty. Standing Rock, which is primarily populated by Hunkpapa Sioux, was no different.
Tribal members recognized that in order for conditions to improve, they needed better higher education on the reservation. Different colleges throughout the state had been offering various courses on the reservation prior to 1973, but there was no coordination between them. Tribal leaders thought it was important to have one umbrella institution and arranged to work with Bismarck Junior College, or BJC.
The arrangement worked, and as ties with BJC strengthened, tribal leaders began discussing the possibility of their reservation joining efforts with other tribes that were forming their own colleges. Eventually, BJC was awarded a grant, through the Higher Education Act, allowing them to help set up Standing Rock Community College in Fort Yates. A staff of three full-time people set up the facility in the Douglas Skye Memorial Retirement Complex in July 1973.
Two years later, the Standing Rock school began seeking accreditation, and in 1978, it was recognized as a candidate after being evaluated by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education. This meant the college was seen as having the characteristics that would allow it to become fully accredited at some future date.
Evaluators documented the college’s progress every two years, and by 1984, the college met all the requirements for accreditation. At that point, the name was officially changed to Standing Rock College to mark this milestone.
The institution adopted one of Sitting Bull’s philosophies, which was: “Let us put our minds together to see what we can build for our children,” and on March 6, 1996, the Tribal Council amended the charter to change the school’s name to Sitting Bull College.
Sitting Bull College now has more than 40 full-time staff members, and its original enrollment of 90 students has grown to more than 250 per year. The college now provides not only vocational training but also works with other colleges to offer four-year degrees to its students.
By Merry Helm
Source: History of Sitting Bull College.
http://www.sittingbull.edu/aboutus/