The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2 - 96

Verna J. Kirkness * Ray Barnhardt

adaptations in the interest of our future wellbeing. Consider, for example, the efforts to entrench English-only (or French-only) language
policies in an attempt to impose unilingualism on an increasingly multicultural society,
or the various resource extraction policies and
practices that we adhere to while depleting
limited resources with little consideration for
the needs of future generations. These are but
two examples of where we, like the monkey,
attempt to ignore the consequences of our
infatuation with the status quo. In this paper
we will examine the extent to which similar
head-in-the-sand, hand-in-the-coconut myopia
is evident in the policies and practices of universities in Canada and the United States with
regard to the educational opportunities for
First Nations (Native/Indian/Indigenous/Aboriginal) students. While universities generally
have adopted the political rhetoric of "equal
educational opportunity for all," many of the
institutional efforts to convert such rhetoric
into reality for First Nations people continue to
fall short of expectations. Why is this so?
If we are to address this perennial issue in a
serious manner, we have to ask ourselves some
hard questions:
* Why do universities continue to perpetuate
policies and practices that historically have
produced abysmal results for First Nations
students, when we have ample research
and documentary evidence to indicate the
availability of more appropriate and
effective alternatives?
* Why are universities so impervious to the
existence of de facto forms of institutionalized
discrimination that they are unable
to recognize the threat that some of
their accustomed practices pose to
their own existence?
96

* What are some of the obstacles that must
be overcome if universities are to improve
the levels of participation and completion of
First Nations students?
There are no simple or single answers to
these very complex questions, but those of us
who are associated with universities in one
form or another must continue to seek effective
solutions, and along the way, we must be prepared to set aside some of our most cherished
beliefs and free ourselves to consider appropriate alternatives. Let us take a look at some of the
issues we are likely to encounter in this quest,
and some of the policy and practice options we
may need to consider along the way.

COMING TO THE UNIVERSITY
VS. GOING TO THE UNIVERSITY
First, let us take a look at what attending the
university can mean from a couple of different perspectives, one coming (the institution's
perspective of the student) and the other going
(the student's perspective of the institution).
From the vantage point of the university, students are generally viewed as "coming" to
partake of what the university has to offer.
From this perspective, it is presumed that the
university is an established institution with
its own long-standing, deeply rooted policies,
practices, programs and standards intended to
serve the needs of the society in which it is embedded. Students who come to the university
are expected to adapt to its modus operandi if
they wish to obtain the beneﬁts (usually translated to mean better, higher paying jobs) of the
knowledge and skills it has to offer, the desirability and value of which are presumed to be
self-evident. From this point of view, when
particular clusters of students, such as those
from First Nations backgrounds, do not readily

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2

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