Dartmouth students, staff, and alumni will host dozens of high school students this summer to support Native Americans in the college application process.
From June 28 through July 3, Dartmouth’s Office of Admissions will host the annual College Horizons workshop. College Horizons is a nonprofit organization that supports the higher education of Native American students by providing college and graduate admissions workshops to American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students from across the nation.
Participants will work with college counselors, admissions officers, essay specialists, and more throughout the six days of programming.
“During their week-long stay, College Horizons participants will be immersed in workshops on the admissions and financial aid application processes, and will have the opportunity to experience life as a student on the Dartmouth campus,” says Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris ’84. “Our admissions staff will also have the opportunity to work with an extraordinary group of young scholars and help them on their path to higher education.”
Representatives from about 40 colleges will also travel to Hanover to participate in the workshop.
The College has long been a leader in Native American education. In 1972, Dartmouth established one of the nation’s first Native American studies programs. At the time, there were about 20 Native students at Dartmouth. In 2012, 155 undergraduates at Dartmouth identified themselves as Native Americans. In the past 40 years, more than 900 Native Americans have graduated from the College, which is more than the combined number of Native American graduates from all others Ivy League institutions during that same period.
“Dartmouth has had a long and valuable connection to the College Horizons program and so I am thrilled that we are once again able to serve as a host institution for their important summer program,” says Laskaris.
Carmen Lopez ’97 is the executive director of College Horizons and Hillary Abe ’08 serves as coordinator of recruitment and alumni affairs at the organization. Both Lopez and Abe have been leaders within the Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth (NAAAD).
