In May, the University of Arizona announced that the Native American Student Association would integrate into the Native American Initiatives under the Office of the Provost.
Along with this decision, other cultural resource centers consolidated into the Student Culture and Engagement Hub, which is part of a broader department known as Campus Community Connections.
As this decision was announced, the Office of the Provost released a written statement to the UA. “The new, unified structure will strengthen our ability to engage Native American students, faculty, staff and tribal nations through enhanced collaboration and impact,” the statement read.
Ahead of the university’s official announcement, Native American student organizations released a signed letter expressing concern over the possible changes to the NASA office and other cultural centers.
Addressed to President Suresh Garimella, Provost Patricia Prelock, the Arizona Board of Regents and other university leaders, the letter voiced alarm from the Native population on campus, arguing that recent actions left them to doubt the university’s commitment to Indigenous students and tribal nations.
“NASA continues to be the center of campus life for all Native American and Indigenous students and allies,” the letter stated. “Any attempt to eliminate NASA is a direct assault on the Native American student population as well as the Tribal Nations, which this university was founded to serve as part of its land-grant mission.”
Since the start of the fall semester, the university continued to make adjustments and establish their new student centers and consolidation, including appointing the new co-directors of the Student Culture and Engagement Hub: Dominique Calza and Kenneth Importante.
The university stated the new Student Culture and Engagement Hub is intended to strengthen all of the cultural resources offered on campus and to give all the student communities a chance to foster closer relationships with each other. However, some students remain uncertain about how the new integration of NASA will affect the space and opportunities for students in the future.
“Seeing that NASA was organized under NAI was pretty disheartening, because the administration that was at NASA prior had such a good way with students, and the way they cared for student success was unmatched,” Jasmine Lopez, vice president of Tohono O’odham Student Association and the 41st Miss Native American University of Arizona, said. “It really showed me a community and that was what inspired me to come here and become a Wildcat.”
Lopez and other students have expressed concerns with the changes in NASA since the beginning of the semester and the reorganization of the center.
“My biggest concern about NASA and NAI integration being imposed would be that the community that was built prior and that inspired people to come here would be lost,” Lopez said. “Now it’s just a lack of students, student engagement and student support.”
Other students expressed uncertainty about how the restructuring process has been handled.
“The restructuring in NASA hasn’t really been adequately discussed or communicated with students,” Daelyn Nez, this year’s Miss Native University of Arizona, said. “It also feels like leadership is trying to move forward with transforming NASA without waiting for students or addressing the concerns that many have raised.”
Nez feels that even in a student leadership position, the communication between the Native students and the university about the transition is limited.
“Many Native students are still unaware of the full scope of the changes and feel left in the dark,” Nez said. “We deserve transparency and accountability from the university that’s supposed to support us, given that it’s a land grant institution, the University of Arizona has a responsibility to ensure that the decisions affecting Indigenous students are not just made with us, but are also made for us.”
NASA and the other cultural centers will continue normal programming during the transition period. The university has also ensured that student workers and coordinators are to stay in their current positions throughout the upcoming academic year to maintain support and services according to their announcement.
Co-directors of the new cultural engagement hub, Calza and Importante, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
