As you step onto the grounds of a university, you are met with an air of open anticipation. The buildings themselves reflect a history of past students who have walked through the halls. Filled with excitement, those same students buzz about heading to their next class, wondering about what they need to accomplish in a day.
The students drift through their day, worrying only about navigating the minor complexities of university life, using their educational experience as a shield in their quest for success and fulfillment.
Just like at any other university, this is the experience at UNC Asheville, at least for most.
The students push forward to the front of their classes, raising their hands as beacons to the future. Questioning the realities of what they faced within their childhoods, but never having to worry about the lack of pigmentation freckled across their skin.
When you look closer, you see a student ducking her head down and tucking herself into the corner of a classroom. Her dark hair and darker eyes match the shadows she sinks into.
She often sits toward the very back of the room.
Her voice is soft and measured, yet carries a weight of wisdom from a lifetime of listening and learning from elders before her.
She smells of garden soil, and there’s dirt under her shortened, half-painted nails.
The smile lines next to her eyes reflect the dozens of small smirks given across her mother’s table. Earrings adorn the side of her face, draped in beading, showcasing each prayer given to her by the person who made them.
Unlike her classmates, she carries with her the pride of a tribal member.
Her name is Delaney Wildcatt. A transfer sophomore student at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, who is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
“Before I mean I went to school in Seattle, it was very small but there was more to do. Every three months there would be a land acknowledgement read at some event, and all of the professors had to put this information in their slides. On the first day of class you heard the same land acknowledgement from every professor, they were required to read it out. I was like this is beating a fucking dead horse. I then transferred here and realized that it wasn’t any better,” Delaney said.
Delaney is one of eight indigenous students enrolled at the university, making up 0.29% of the total student population.
So far, the Indigenous student population has been decreasing as the universities’ Indigenous recruitment and retention rates have dropped.
“At the beginning of the semester I was like, it’s just me. It feels somewhat isolating. When I transferred I thought I would have a better experience because of how close I was to home, but it feels like I was wrong. Now moving through the semester I was able to find some of us through the American Indian studies program, and through Trey. I think we will have six indigenous students so that we can officially have a club. Although, I think we will only have enough for the required exec members,”
Between 2022 and 2024, the university saw a 1.81% decrease in Indigenous students’ attendance, with an already low enrollment percentage of 0.3%. There have been little to no improvements in the expectation of indigenous enrollment.
The low student enrollment is reflected in the equally low American Indian staff and faculty. Currently, only one professor on campus is registered as an enrolled member of a tribe.
Compared to the 76.0% white full-time faculty members, Indigenous professors make up 0.9% of the full-time faculty demographics.
Trey Adcock was one of the two full-time faculty members who just resigned. He is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation within the Oklahoma counties.
He has walked the halls of UNC Asheville for 12 years alongside the few Indigenous students who have passed by him.
Like Delaney, he carries himself like he holds the past of those before him.
As an advisor, he can provide cultural resources to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. He has seen the native student population as a whole ebb and flow with time.
Trey said the effort of Indigenous student recruitment and participation is reliant on the administration.
“We have been in a period in the last few years where the administration has not really seemed to value American Indian representation on campus. I think it is kind of tricky, you know? I think there are maybe students who self-identify, or maybe have heritage, or maybe check the box in terms of admission, but then you know we will never see them again,” Trey said.
He said the university seems to push the American Indian studies program under the rug because they never wanted to update the curriculum and never wanted to learn about the importance of a tribal community for Indigenous students.
Trey was the advisor for the Native American Student Association before it disbanded due to the lack of Indigenous students on campus.
As Trey speaks, he glances up. The light reflects a quiet disappointment etched in the corners of his eyes, a feeling of resentment slowly rising to the surface. It seems to be the look of somebody who has been let down one too many times.
“It’s pretty heartbreaking, you know? To have an administration come in and not just not care about the curriculum, but also come in contact with native people and uh. Treat them badly. I mean there’s no other way to put that,” Trey said.
UNC Asheville’s neighboring school, Western Carolina University, has a 90.91% percent difference in its enrollment of Indigenous students.
Western currently provides a plethora of experiences for its Indigenous student population to benefit from. The university currently has programs such as the Digali’i Native American Student Organization, a Cherokee center, and campus scholarships and grants for Native American students.
Western currently has 94 enrolled Indigenous students who are legally registered with a tribe. UNC Asheville has eight.
“The thing with Western is, I mean I went to Spring County High School, so very close, but half of our graduating class ends up going to western because it’s cheap. You know they have the $500 like tuition guarantee promised, and kids can commute very easily. I commute from Cherokee to UNCA at least three days a week, just because it is so expensive over here, I am saving money just putting $80 in my car. They also have a lot of cool programs at Western and they definitely have a higher Native student population, but I mean, I can say that about any school in the state besides here,” Delaney said.
Delaney took an Intro to Indigenous Film Studies class this semester. She said there was an individual who claimed to be Cherokee but was never enrolled in any of the three tribes.
She said he went to a Cherokee language class and asked her in Cherokee if she knew a childhood friend of hers.
“Of course I didn’t understand him because I just never wanted to learn Cherokee, but after I figured out what this kid was asking me, I immediately called my friend from back home to ask him who he was. I was excited to finally maybe have someone on campus. Apparently this language class was a part of some summer program, and my friend told me it was a, ‘My great great grandmother was a cherokee princess’ situation.”
Like most individuals raised in native communities, Delaney explains how she values traditions, cultural values, and close-knit relationships. She said the value of community plays a central role in her life, and most events she participates in are steeped in cultural traditions passed down through several generations.
Delaney’s shoulders start to sink in, and her eyes become hollow. She still reflects on her mother’s kitchen table.
Delaney has yet to find a community at school.
“If you don’t see someone who shares one of your identities, you do feel alone. And that is something that happens to staff and faculty too, so they leave. I mean there are other reasons too, but it does contribute to it. So I mean you wind up having the situation we are in now where there may be students here, there may be some staff here, but they are not super well connected and they are not finding each other,” said Carlton Smith, previous head of Multicultural Affairs at UNC Asheville.
Carlton started his position at UNC Asheville in 2022 as head of the Multicultural Affairs Office and only stayed one year. He did not gather any information prior to accepting the position to determine the number of Indigenous students the university currently has.
He was originally just excited to dive headfirst into a new role, eager to immerse himself in the challenges and opportunities this new position presented.
A sense of purpose and determination burns off of Carlton.
If you aren’t looking close enough, you almost don’t notice the way he is nervously fiddling with a ring on his left ring finger.
Carlton worked with Indigenous students in his previous position at Cornell University. He said that he was the on-campus advisor for the Indigenous student group NASAC.
When Carlton first accepted the role, he was originally told there were no Indigenous students currently active on campus, and there would be no way for him to track down Indigenous students on campus.
He was then told about the land acknowledgment.
“The land acknowledgement, in both forms long and short, when I first went to Cornell is the first time I have seen a school do it. Now at the time, the first time I saw something like this, I thought it was awesome. I thought it was a good step, a good first step, and that is where I stopped,” Carlton said. “What I think we have done here, is that we have taken that first step and said we have done it. We are done now. We have a land acknowledgement, that’s it.”
Carlton said the UNC Asheville land acknowledgment was created in conjunction with the Cherokee as a form of a statement that recognizes Indigenous peoples and cultures. It is read at every major on-campus event.
Some events include the commencement ceremony, convocation ceremony, first-year firelight ceremony, major conferences, and certain camp programs.
Staff and faculty members are also encouraged to include the land acknowledgement in their email signatures.
It was read on Delaney’s very first day of class on campus.
“I mean they are not doing anything. From not promoting Indigenous students on campus, not giving scholarships, not promoting Indigenous students to come here. So what is the point in having a land acknowledgement if you are not doing anything as a university? I mean they don’t even acknowledge me,” Delaney said.
