Native American undergraduate students from across the country participated in the Native American Graduate Horizons Conference at UC Berkeley this summer.  Students attended workshops and met with faculty, deans, and admissions officers representing graduate and professional programs at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Arizona State University, University of New Mexico, and many more.  More than 140 faculty and students gathered from July 17 to July 21 to participate in this "crash course" on issues facing Native American college students as they navigate graduate and professional school. 

A diverse committee of campus departments, schools, and colleges worked together to assure the success of this event. Led by UC Berkeley Co-chairs Diana Lizarraga (NERDS Director) and Carmen Foghorn (American Indian Graduate Program Director) more than $50,000 in donations was raised for the conference - held for the first time ever in California. Major supporters included the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion and the Rumsey Yocha-De-He Community Fund. More than twenty undergraduate volunteers from UC Berkeley's NERDS program provided vital logistic support throughout the event. Keynote addresses were delivered by well-known Native American educators Professor Donna Nelson from Oklahoma University and Professor Jack D. Forbes from UC Davis.

Source: The PDP Quarterly. Issue #3, September '09