Educator John Little advocates for more Natives in higher ed

“We’re in flyover country, and we get overlooked a lot,” said Little, the director of Native Recruitment and Alumni Engagement at the University of South Dakota. “I was at a conference last week, and they were telling us that South Dakota is kind of a joke because they get so few applicants from that state. The Dakotas in general.”

Little was one of 29 Bush Fellows announced this year, and one of five who are Native. The Bush Fellowship provides up to $150,000 for career professionals to learn new skills and expertise in order to become stronger leaders in their field.

Little said that he’ll work toward his long-term goal of getting Natives to dream about college here and across the United States. This will require him to research college fairs and college preparation programs from across the region.

“In South Dakota we don’t have a lot of prep programs for Natives and non-Natives,” said Little, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “There’s that shock factor when you leave your small community. Living in Minneapolis might be larger than living in all of South Dakota.”

Getting more Natives signed up for college is seen as a way to empower the next generation of leaders. At the same time, it’s an uphill battle. In a census review shared by the Postsecondary National Policy Institute, data showed that nearly 26% of Natives aged 18-24 were enrolled in college, compared to 39% of the overall U.S. population. Additionally, undergraduate enrollment dropped 40%, while graduate enrollment fell 18% for Native students.

Little says he was fortunate to have two parents, each with master’s degrees and the expectation that he’d go to college as well. His mother, in particular, stressed the importance of higher education, and over the course of a decade Little attained a bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University, a master’s degree from the University of South Dakota and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota.

As successful as he’s been in academia, Little says he wants to make sure support and resources are constant for future students at all levels of higher education.

“When I was an undergraduate, there was not a physical space for Native students on the campus, or a lot of mentorships for Native students,” he said. “And that has led me directly to want to help future Native students attending college. I really believe in the strength of Native students and communities and that they deserve opportunities to attend college/universities, and, when supported, they can be successful.”

Little’s passions include history, Native studies, the Lakota and Dakota languages and film. He wants other Natives to go to college to pursue their passions as well.

“The thing that impresses me most about John is that he’s very student-centered,” said Charles Luecke, who got to know Little while working at the 7th Gen Summer Program, a collaboration between Black Hills State University and the Indian University of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The eight-week program helps Native students transition from high school to college. Luecke worked as an adviser while Little went from being with the residential staff to director in less than two years.

“He was very much concerned about how we can best serve our students in the mission and prepare our participants for postsecondary entry and success,” added Luecke. “It was not an 8-to-5 job by any means. The thing that just sticks out the most about my experience with John: He was just always there and actively in the present.

Luecke has been active in education for more than 50 years, and Little has heard many students rave about him.

“You can feel the impact he has made,” said Little — both in their lives and careers. “I would love to make any type of impact like that,” he added. “I also want to be known as a person who gives back to their communities.”

Yet another admirer of Little is Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, director of Native Student Services at USD.

“I say this from a few different perspectives,” said Red Shirt-Shaw. “First, as someone who works with him professionally every day, and, secondly, as his wife.”

Red Shirt-Shaw said she knew Little from his professional and academic work before they met in 2016. Like her husband, she’s earned three degrees, including a master’s degree in higher education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership, policy and development (plus a minor in American Indian studies) from the University of Minnesota. She’s excited for what he’ll do with his Bush Fellowship over the next two years.

“His greatest passion is in helping Native students pursue success pathways, particularly in higher education, and he’s deeply passionate about changing the way the history is written about Native people,” said Red Shirt-Shaw. “He pursued all of his degrees in history to center telling better and stronger narratives about Native people by centering Native voices. As an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, it was important for him to do the work within the Oceti Sakowin [Great Sioux Nation], and he made this clear from the very moment I met him.”

While a great deal of energy will be spent getting Native students excited for higher education, Little says he’d like to fire up all prospective rural students from the Dakotas. He says this effort’s all about supporting them and giving them ways to develop personally and academically.

“I want to stress the reason why I do a lot of this work is the students,” said Little. “They’re the reason why I get up and want to go to work every day. It’s just really awesome to serve them, and I think I can learn about making something that’ll help South Dakota and Native students in the state as well too.”