Gerald One Feather, a former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Photo Courtesy Sean Cridland

Gerald One Feather, a former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Colorado at Boulder on Friday.

One Feather received the Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the 2013 spring commencement ceremony. He was presented with a traditional doctoral hood and diploma by UC Boulder President Bruce Benson and Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano as a video highlighting his lifetime of public service to his tribe played on the jumbotron at Folsom Field.

One Feather, a former graduate student in the Department of Sociology at UC-Boulder, received a standing ovation from over 6,000 fellow graduates and 30,000 parents, relatives and others at the ceremony, his daughter, Sandra One Feather, said.

One Feather was 31 when he was elected president in 1970, the youngest in the tribe’s history. Over 16 years, he served on the tribe's executive committee as secretary, treasurer and fifth member.

He is the founder of Oglala Lakota College, which became the model for 26 tribal colleges around the country. He has been an instructor of Lakota language, history, leadership and cultural education at many colleges, including OLC.

One Feather has served on OLC's board of trustees for over 30 years. He was the first chairman of the board and was a representative on its graduate advisory committee and a founder of its Council of Elders. He also was the first president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Gerald One Feather receives his Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Photo Courtesy Sean Cridland