There’s no place like Haskell Indian Nations University, the university’s commencement speaker said, speaking from experience.
Haskell’s spring 2025 and summer 2025 graduates were surrounded by family, friends, faculty, staff and community members inside Coffin Sports Complex on campus Friday.
Lois Stevens, educator and researcher, related, as a 2012 Haskell alum herself.
She named Manny King, Carrie Cornelius, Nanabah Allison-Brewer and several more as continued supporters today.
“The word ‘community’ is a word thrown around a lot in Indigenous circles,” Stevens said. “It’s hard to create community. It’s harder to sustain it. But I wouldn’t be here without the community Haskell created for me.”
The Trump administration on Feb. 14 made sweeping, indiscriminate cuts to federal employees nationwide, including nearly 40 Haskell staff and faculty. The university community responded, pressing forward.
“Now, we should acknowledge that we are facing a new administration that is attempting to silence us again. Haskell was at the front line of the first wave of the oppressive attack. But yet again, here we are,” Stevens said before the crowd erupted into cheers.
Haskell Student Government President Angel Ahtone Elizarraras, who’s among the Class of 2025 graduates, facilitated throughout Friday’s ceremony. SGA helped keep students informed and lead them in pushing back against the federal cuts, and Ahtone Elizarraras, Wichita Tribe of Oklahoma, spoke at a recent Lawrence community meeting.
“Truly Haskell is one of a kind, and the students here are very resilient, and I’m proud to see you all,” Ahtone Elizarraras said Friday. “This semester has been a lot. I’m proud of you.”
Haskell President Frank Arpan, Yankton Sioux Tribe, praised students for who they are and will continue to be.
Nearly 180 students earning degrees in media communication, elementary education, Indigenous and American Indian studies, environmental science and more were recognized in Friday’s ceremony.
“You have persisted to this day, but to persist for our Haskell graduates, that’s not good enough,” Arpan told graduates. “You all will succeed. You all will be agents of change. You all will lead Native populations into the future.”
Arpan announced Tyler Moore and invited him onstage to be recognized as Haskell’s 2024-25 Student of the Year. Besides maintaining a 4.0 GPA, the Student of the Year “demonstrates high integrity” and embodies “invaluable character,” Arpan said.
Moore, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is also the 2024-25 Haskell Brave.
Additionally, the American Indian College Fund (AICF), a nonprofit organization that provides financial support to Native American students, at the end of each year awards one Haskell student for their accomplishments and contributions to the school.
Arpan named Star Her Many Horses, enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the 2025 AICF Student of the Year and also invited her on stage for recognition.
The 2025 Commencement Powwow is set for Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at the Coffin Sports Complex on Haskell’s campus. Grand Entry will be at 7 p.m. Friday and at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday.
Learn more about the powwow on a flyer posted to Haskell’s Facebook page.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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