[00:00:00] Speaker A: Fort Lewis College formally welcomed its new president, Heather Shotton during an investiture ceremony.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: I stand before you a Wichita Kiowa Cheyenne woman, a descendant myself of boarding school survivors leading this institution.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Shawton becomes the 11th president of the college during a time of reckoning with its history as a former federal Indian boarding school. She has over 20 years of experience in academic leadership.
The ceremony began with Kiowa Black Leggings, Warrior Society and Otto Masuria Singers and Gordon Yellowman Cheyenne Peace Chief. Opened with a blessing.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: We thank you Niash for the gift of woman, leadership and wisdom.
Offer a blessing for our college president Istaneo.
Thank you for her dedication, commitment and ability to lead.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: While Shotten began her role as president last July, the ceremony formally conferred the position.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: When President Shotten came on board, she immediately knew what we needed.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: This is Ernest House Jr. He's a member of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe and he's on the board of trustees at Fort Lewis.
[00:01:17] Speaker C: But to get us as an institution to the next level, we needed something stronger. And that someone was Dr. Heather Shotton.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: In 2019, Fort Lewis began a formal effort to reconcile its past as a federal Indian boarding school. During the late 1800s. This led to state legislation mandating research into the institution's role in the government sanctioned cultural genocide of Indigenous people.
During this reconciliation process, Shotten began her role in diversity affairs which eventually led to her presidency.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: When I first met President Shotten, it was related to our reconciliation and awareness work focusing on federal Indian boarding school era.
Not the most uplifting time frame to start with and obviously a very dark and difficult history for us as Native people across this nation we call Turtle Island.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: Shawton first came to Fort Lewis as a parent of a student.
Her daughter salone graduated from Fort Lewis in 2024.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: I've never seen an Indigenous person in a role like this. And now she's creating pathways for others to follow.
Not just for our family, but for the students here at Fort Lewis College and for so many others beyond it.
And that's why I know this campus is in really good hands.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Just over 40% of Fort Lewis student body is Native American and are first generation college students.
Shawton's identity and lived experience mirror the experience of many students on campus.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: One of the things I love about higher education is the hope that it represents its transformative power to create new possibilities.
Together we have an opportunity to shape what comes to be in right relationship with this land and the people of this place.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: And for the first time in Fort Lewis history, Shotten, the 11th president is a descendant of Native American boarding school survivors.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Fort Lewis was part of a system designed to erase Indigenous identity and to undo tribal nations. That part of our history is painful.
It's painful for so many communities and so many families.
And yet today I stand before you a testament to the strength and resiliency of Indigenous people, of people who refused to disappear.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: This story was originally produced for KDUR and Rocky Mountain Community Radio. You can learn
[email protected] and rockymountaincommunityradio.org.
