Sangrey-Billy honored at American Indian College Fund event

Press release

DENVER - Stone Child College President Cory Sangrey-Billy was awarded the Tribal College and University Honoree of the Year by The American Indian College Fund in an online ceremony April 5.

The ceremony also honored 35 tribal college and university students of the year and 36 Coca Cola First Generation Scholars.

Sangrey-Billy received a $1,200 honorarium sponsored by The Adolph Coors Foundation for her dedication to her tribal college community.

Born and raised on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation in Montana, where Stone Child College is located, Sangrey-Billy said it was her grandmother, Dorothy Small, who modeled the value of an education and was a driving force for her to get her own education.

"My mom was a high school student when she had me and my grandparents helped to raise me," Sangrey-Billy said.

Her grandmother organized with others in the community to create their own school district and get Native students out of the Bureau of Indian Affairs School, and later served on the newly formed school's very first school board.

"She always pushed us to go to school and get our education. Both of my parents have their bachelor's degrees, and my brother has a bachelor's degree. Grandma always said that if you want a good life for yourself you have to have an education," Sangrey-Billy said.

She followed her grandmother's advice and interned at the TCU her senior year, then graduated from Montana State University-Northern in Havre, 25 miles from home.

Although going to college was a foregone conclusion, she said, becoming a college president was never on her radar. It was a role she grew into.

"I started my work journey with a couple of different jobs. I worked at Saint Labre Indian School and at the Montana United Indian Association in Billings and a few other places, and then I came back home," she said.

Sangrey-Billy has a master's degree in information technology and has done some doctoral work.

"Whenever I finished a project, I found myself looking for what I wanted to do next and how could I give back more to my community," she said.

It was when she took her first job 20 years ago at Stone Child College that "I started working here and building relationships with students and seeing the impact I could make. ... I knew I wanted to do this and wanted to stay here."

Sangrey-Billy started at Stone Child College as a Native American vocational technical education program coordinator and then became an academic dean in 2006. After the death of the Stone Child College's president Nate St. Pierre in 2017, she was named interim-president, a role she held for a year before a search committee was assembled. She applied for the position and officially was named president.

"What helps me is mentors and a community of people who want me to succeed," Sangrey-Billy said, adding that that applies to everything - whether working to tell the story of the tribal colleges and universities - TCU - and how it helps the community, working with accreditors, building new curriculum to serve the community's needs, providing student services, and more.

"It takes a special person to work for a TCU. You aren't in it for the money," she said, noting educators earn more at non-tribal colleges and universities. "(A TCU) is a different kind of organization and you get a different feeling when you help your community."

It is her goal to continue the tradition of providing students with education about their cultural values, men's values, women's values, and the traditional ways of the Chippewa Cree people, she said.

"Knowing who you are, where you come from, and speaking your language gives us power," Sangrey-Billy said. "It's a big goal of mine to continue to offer this."

To assist in cultural education at Stone Child College, Sangrey-Billy has two elders teaching Cree language and writing to build tribal members' fluency. Both are her grandmothers and retired teachers. She said this is more important than ever because the community lost Cree-speaking elders to COVID-19.

Sangrey-Billy said she counts cultural proficiency programs and creating a bachelor's degree program in elementary education as her biggest achievements. Stone Child College is now partnering with three other TCUs to build a bachelor's program for educators for pre-school through third grade.

"What matters to me is educating people who want to stay in the community. Two of our students are going to the University of Montana (U of M) for social work. We are trying to give people information they need that help them do better in their jobs, such as providing case management classes for social workers and anthropology classes for students who go on to U of M," she said. Stone Child College is also working on a strategic plan and is inviting student/community members/faculty and staff provide to participate in the process by providing input about how the tribal college can improve and build its five-year plan.

Sangrey-Billy is busier than ever during the pandemic, she said.

"We made sure when COVID hit that faculty, students, and staff had everything they needed to go virtual," she said. When the number of cases increased on the reservation, the college offered virtual classes and synchronous learning. "We had the highest number of completers after spring semester because we offered financial incentives to stay in school, offered laptops, and provided workshops such as moccasin-creating workshops, online games, and more to keep students engaged".

To ensure Stone Child College was harnessing the best practices in online learning, the college hired a marketing firm last fall to help transition to online for almost all-virtual programming, other than labs, which were held on campus. She believes fall enrollment at Stone Child College was up 14 percent last fall and could be attributed to the marketing campaign.

To supplement online learning, Stone Child College also offers regular advising for students to ensure that they have the support they need academically and otherwise to ensure their success. Stone Child College has 12 full-time faculty members that provide advising. Other staff members also operate as co-advisors to mentor students.

Sangrey-Billy said it is important to meet students where they are.

"A van driver might be a student's only point of contact. We are trying to help our staff help our students," she said. "We do have an early alert system when students are not doing well academically, but we want to implement a system to help when they are struggling physically or mentally. We are changing the whole culture of offering counseling/speaking with people."

In addition to creating a retention committee, Stone Child College co-advisors reach out to students and check in during mid-terms. There are also targeted times when co-advisors talk to students throughout the semester.

Doing well in the first year of college is important to student success, and Sangrey-Billy said Stone Child College focuses on providing students with a strong start in their first year. The college is part of the Achieving the Dream program and last fall had 308 students in the program-most from local high schools.

"When we first started the program, Stone Child College started with data collection, but did not have an information researcher, she said. "...Our student database was not that good, and we hired an IR analyst and consultant to help us build that baseline data for us. We used first-time entering freshmen surveys and other tools we had never used before. We learned how to track data and plot where we need to be, how to get there, and tie in student support services to success. We track data in a way that is meaningful for us and have a data coach and shoot ideas off of her-and the coaches we choose have extensive knowledge. Stone Child College has been with its original coach since the start of the program," she said.

Sangrey-Billy continues to grow Stone Child College's menu of options to meet the diverse needs of its community.

"Every student is unique, and we want to provide education to all students," she said "... We give students a sense of structure here that they might not have at home," she said.

As she continues to build the college to allow for the personal and professional success of others, Sangrey-Billy credits her success to the encouragement from her family in her early years and her husband and children today.

"If was not for the support from my husband, Cameron, and my children, Payson and Presleigh, I would not be where I am today."

Numerous students also were honored in the ceremony. Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarships are awarded by the American Indian College Fund and The Coca-Cola Foundation to students who are the first in their families to attend a tribal college or university. The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded more than $5 million to the College Fund since 1990 to assist more than 400 first-generation Native Americans in their college education. The scholarship is renewable throughout students' college careers if they maintain a 3.0 grade point average and are active in campus and community life.

Tribal College and University Students of the Year are named each year by the leadership of their tribal college and universities. Each outstanding student receives a $1,200 scholarship sponsored by the Adolph Coors Foundation.

The 2021 Coca Cola First Generation Scholars are:

Aaniiih Nakoda College - Ester Talks Different

Bay Mills Community College - Crystal Willis

Blackfeet Community College - Tomi Calf Robe

Cankdeska Cikana Community College - Starla Littlewind

Chief Dull Knife College - LeVonna Graham

College of Menominee Nation - Dallas Hawkins

College of the Muscogee Nation - Jamie Artussee

Diné College - Shinaya Todacheenie

Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College - Daphne Shabaiash

Fort Peck Community College - Marissa Follet

Haskell Indian Nations University - Makayla Sloan

Ilisagvik College - Haley Fischer

Institute of American Indian Arts - Elizabeth Lukee

Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College - Jennifer Curtis

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Com. College - Lydia DeNasha

Leech Lake Tribal College - Ean DuBois

Little Big Horn College - Patricia Bighead

Little Priest Tribal College - Mariah Rave

Navajo Technical University - Bernice Coan

Nebraska Indian Community College - Shiloh Tikluk

Northwest Indian College - Michael Howling Wolf

Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College - Riannon Charging

Oglala Lakota College - Trista Geffre

Red Lake Nation College - Michael Iceman

Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College - Chyann Haas

Salish Kootenai College - Annie Evans

Sinte Gleska University - Mackenzie Bechtold

Sisseton Wahpeton College - Jerald Red Buffalo

Sitting Bull College - Kaylie Trottier

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute - TiShai Yazzie

Stone Child College - Martin Horn

Tohono O'odham Community College - Shaylene Celaya

Turtle Mountain Community College - Robert Upton

United Tribes Technical College - Aubrey Walters

White Earth Tribal and Community College - Emily Woods

University of New Mexico - Kelly Thomas

The following students were chosen by their tribal colleges and universities to as the 2021 Tribal College and University Students of the Year:

Aaniiih Nakoda College - Xavier Hawley

Bay Mills Community College - Trinity Bowen

Blackfeet Community College - Ryana HeavyRunner

Cankdeska Cikana Community College - Brittany Omen

Chief Dull Knife College - Veronica TwoMoons

College of Menominee Nation - Markie Miller

College of the Muscogee Nation - Jamie Artussee

Diné College - Triston Black

Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College - Taria White

Fort Peck Community College - Michael Cooper

Haskell Indian Nations University

Autumn Wano

Ilisagvik College - Haley Fischer

Institute of American Indian Arts - Bryson Meyers

Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College - Justin Smith

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Com. College - Jody Quaderer

Leech Lake Tribal College - Kalene Humphrey

Little Big Horn College - Cailei Cummins

Little Priest Tribal College - Trey Blackhawk

Navajo Technical University - Amber Billie

Nebraska Indian Community College - Donna Pike

Northwest Indian College - Jasmine Higheagle

Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College - Brianna Danks

Oglala Lakota College - Charlie White Eagle

Red Lake Nation College - Salena Beasley

Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College - Miino Pelcher

Salish Kootenai College - Michelle LaRoque

Sinte Gleska University - Kristin Cox

Sisseton Wahpeton College - Jerald Red Buffalo

Sitting Bull College - Christina Walking Elk

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute - Kamren Apache

Stone Child College - Sean Henry

Tohono O'odham Community College - Jessica Garcia

Turtle Mountain Community College - Ivie Frederick

United Tribes Technical College - Ayanna Maynard

White Earth Tribal and Community College - Nicole Dewey

The American Indian College Fund has been the nation's largest charity supporting Native higher education for 31 years. The College Fund believes "Education is the answer" and provided $9.25 million in scholarships to American Indian students in 2019-20, with scholarships, program, and community support totaling over $237 million since its inception. The College Fund also supports a variety of academic and support programs at the nation's 35 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators and is one of the nation's top 100 charities named to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, people can visit http://www.collegefund.org .