Beyond the Asterisk

“Beyond the Asterisk is conceptualized as a tool for action in that it provides examples of successful student support practices and illustrations of responsive programming for Native American/Alaska Native/Indigenous students in higher education. Beyond the Asterisk is much needed for moving with intentionality to action that addressed the challenges and problems that currently exist for these students in higher education.

“Readers will feel invited by these Native scholars to witness or engage in the issues from a Native perspective and will even be tutored in that way of seeing and doing by the unapologetic use of concepts and language.

“I found this approach necessary if non-Native educators like me are to begin to reframe issues and dilemmas in culturally appropriate ways. If so, then Native/Indigenous students’ dilemmas and issues might then be addressed by non-Native educators in a multiculturally competent manner.”

The Review of Higher Education, The Journal of the Association for the Study of Higher Education

"Editors Shotton, Lowe, and Waterman accomplish their goal of moving Native American college Students "beyond the asterisk." This must-read text challenges academicians to go beyond the "American Indian research asterisk": exclusion from institutional data and reporting, omission from the curriculum, and nonexistence in research and literature. No longer should Native students be invisible in the academy. The contributors explore ways in which higher education professionals and institutions can serve Native students. A key strength of the collection is the inclusion of research by Native American student practitioners, faculty members, and non-Native allies "who are on the ground, in the trenches, working with the Native students every day." Definitions and the history of Native education in the US strengthen the book. The organization of this work suggests that the writers value Native students. Topics are varied and include first-year experiences, Native culture, the Native fraternity and sorority movement, Native American affairs, tribal college collaborations, indigenous faculty role models, and support from national organizations. All involved in academia need to understand Native students in higher education. Summing Up: Essential.

A.A. Hodge, Buffalo State College

CHOICE

“Within this important and long overdue addition to the literature, higher education faculty, and administrators, have important new resources for helping shift the landscape of Native American college student experiences toward success. The importance of this particular new text cannot be understated. It has been conceived, written, and edited by Native American higher education leaders and those who have made Native students a priority in their practice. My hope is that this book becomes a catalyst for new higher education practices that lead to direct, and increased support for, Native Americans and others who are vigorously working to remove the Native American asterisk from research and practice. This text also signals a renewed call-to-action for increasing the representation of Native students, faculty, and staff on our campuses”

John Garland