Portland State Magazine Winter 2019

4 OREGON’S FIRST bachelor's degree program in Indigenous Nations and Native American Studies started this fall at the University. All students may enroll in the program, not just Native students such as Serina Fast Horse (right) , who graduated last year Magna Cum Laude in community development. She was presented with a blanket during a ceremony that honors graduating Native students regardless of their major. The new Native Studies degree was approved after years of effort and a petition signed by hundreds. A minor has been offered since 2002, but the long-term goal was always to establish a major, says Winston Grady-Willis, director of the School of Gender, Race and Nations, which houses the degree program. Photo by Shayla Naswood . Establishing Native studies PARK BLOCKS