Political stop is homecoming for state officials

Monday's visit from Minnesota Department of Higher Education Commissioner Dennis Olson Jr. and lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan felt more like a reunion than a tour stop to promote proposals for the higher education budget Gov. Tim Walz and Flanagan released two weeks ago.

Both Olson and Flanagan greeted the audience of educators and students at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College by speaking in Ojibwe.

When Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe, told the crowd she is a member of the wolf clan she got a smattering of "woohoos" from the crowd.

"Yeah, what's up, wolf clan," Flanagan whooped back.

While Flanagan seemed at home at the Cloquet-based college, Olson literally was home. An enrolled member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Olson was born and raised in Cloquet.

He said he knew he was home as soon as he pulled in and saw the pine trees and walked into the FDLTCC building.

Olson talked about how important tribal colleges are.

"They feel like home because you see your culture here," he said. "You see Ojibwe culture, Native culture. You see Native staff and faculty and you just feel at home."

Olson previously served as the executive director of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. He also served as the director of the Office of Indian Education for the Minnesota Department of Education, working closely with tribal nations, urban American Indian communities, and multiple partner agencies and organizations to address key issues impacting Native American education in Minnesota.

Olson is the first Native American to be appointed commissioner of higher education.

Flanagan is the first Native American lieutenant governor.

"As the first Native woman to serve as lieutenant governor, I take the role very seriously," Flanagan said to applause from the crowd. "We're both trying to do good by the entire state of Minnesota, but especially do good by our own people and by the community."

She stressed how intentional she and Gov. Walz were in building the budget in partnership with people directly affected by its policies and the issues they were working on.

Both Olson and Flanagan stressed how the proposed higher education budget centers around students' needs.

Olson likes the idea of the greater investments in the state grant program, which could be used to help the many traditional and nontraditional students at FDLTCC with expenses outside of tuition, such as rent or childcare.

Flanagan stressed the unique opportunities students have and tribal and community colleges.

"There are multiple pathways to higher education and everybody needs to find the right fit," she said. "That is what we really want to lift up and emphasize in our budget."

Flanagan also talked about the proposed investment in tribal contract schools. Gov. Dayton had previously introduced dollars to help equalize funding for students at tribal contract schools, and the Walz/Flanagan budget introduces additional funding for tribal contract schools and connected that funding to the per-pupil formula, so it would increase with the formula.

"We also have investments in traditional healers, investments supporting our parents that are currently incarcerated, and dollars that are focused on ensuring that we fully fund a task force on missing and murdered indigenous women; and you can see, throughout our budget, that we listened to Indian Country and that it was a top priority for us," she said.

Flanagan admitted the budget they were promoting will not likely be the budget that is ultimately passed by the state Legislature, which features a DFL-led House and a Republican-led Senate.

"We know that the Legislature will add their own spin and add their own priorities to it," she said. "But we wanted to be crystal-clear that we believe investing in our students is our highest priority."

A question-and-answer session with audience members garnered many thanks for visiting, and a range of questions, not all of them about higher education.

Some wanted to know how they could help get the budget passed. Contact your legislators, write letters, tell stories, Flanagan said.

"We get a lot of facts and figures," she said. "Tell them your personal stories and narratives about the difference Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has made in your life and why it matters in the lives of students. Call, email, use social media, whatever you can do."