"The average Yale student comes to college from a public school east of the Mississippi. In traveling to New Haven, these Elis leave behind family and friends.

A select few also leave behind their tribal nation.

“I come from a very distinct background,” Chris Brown ’15 said. “It’s complete sand and desert, painted valleys and rock walls. I live on a table-top mesa. Coming here is very different.”

When at home, he often travels to visit his grandmother on the Navajo reservation, where she lives, raising horses, sheep and cattle.

For students like Brown, finding a home on campus where they can explore and celebrate their heritage is crucial. For this reason, most Native students celebrated this Tuesday, when a press release from the Office of Public Affairs and Communications announced that Native Americans would have their own cultural center by next fall.

The Class of 2015 boasts the largest number of Native Americans in Yale’s history: 40 current freshmen declare themselves to be primarily Native American. Before this freshman class arrived on campus, Yale College had only 23."

Get the Story:
A Native Place (The Yale Daily News 11/11)