UC Irvine’s Indigenous Identity Commission aims to offer a supportive space for Indigenous students on campus. The commission is under the Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine’s (ASUCI) Internal Vice President (IVP) Office, along with the Council on Diversity & Equity (CODE).
Second-year political science student Jayla Pete leads the Indigenous Identity Commission and hopes to utilize its resources to create a positive space at UCI for Indigenous persons.
“We do a lot of advocacy work for Indigenous students because [ASUCI] honestly hasn’t been a great space for Indigenous students,” Pete told New University. “In general, UCI is not the best [at] welcoming Indigenous students, so we’re just trying to offer a space to be like a welcoming figure.”
Pete addressed why she thinks it’s important to have encouraging spaces for Indigenous students at UCI.
“[Higher education] has constantly excluded Indigenous people and BIPOC people in general. So, it’s important to host these spaces because, even now, many Indigenous students feel excluded from higher education, and that also leads to [higher] dropout rates and not great retention rates,” Pete said. “I’m fortunate to have found an Indigenous community, but a lot of students who haven’t, they feel like they just want to go back home.”
According to the Post Secondary National Institute’s 2023 findings, 42% of full-time Indigenous students have graduated from four-year colleges within six years, which is 22% lower than the national average. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that, as of 2021, Indigenous students make up 0.7% of college enrollment in the United States.
According to UCI Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning, eight of the 6,230 freshman students enrolled at UCI reported themselves as Indigenous-identifying in the 2024 fall quarter.
As a part of its efforts to create an inclusive space, the commission recently hosted a Native Knowledge Hub for Native American Heritage Month. The commission set up a booth on Ring Road and taught students about Indigenous heritage by asking them trivia questions. They also asked students what they would like to learn about Indigenous culture in hopes of applying that information to future educational workshops hosted by the commission.
The commission itself is relatively new and has undergone a few changes in ASUCI over the last three years. It initially began under the Office of the Student Advocate General as the Native American Program, with a director overseeing the program in 2022. It later moved to the Office of the President as the Native Indigenous Identity Commission, also with a director in 2023. It recently established itself as the Indigenous Identity Commission under the IVP Office and CODE in June of this year, with Pete presiding over it as its commissioner.
Pete explained what she would like to see as a result of the commission growing and developing in the upcoming years.
“I hope there will be more positions for Indigenous students within [ASUCI] in terms of input and advocacy,” she said. “[And] again, just to have a space for Indigenous to finally feel welcome to be at UCI and want to stay here.”
Pete shared that she feels organizations such as the American Indigenous Student Association (AISA) and the Student Outreach and Retention Center’s Native American Recruitment Program are beneficial resources for Indigenous students. AISA works to support students both academically and socially at UCI and can be visited during their weekly office hours at the Cross-Cultural Center. The Native American Recruitment Program offers financial workshops and events for Indigenous students, recently hosting an event to help Indigenous students relax before finals.
Pete currently serves as AISA’s Campus Relations Officer and the Native American Recruitment Program’s outreach coordinator.
For those interested in getting involved in the Indigenous Identity Commission, rolling applications are currently open for internship positions. Pete touched on what she hopes for interns to accomplish.
“Although events are great, to increase [commission’s] presence, I believe we should be doing more policy research, seeing what policies are harmfully affecting Indigenous students and what policies we can also create to welcome Indigenous students in [ASUCI] spaces and, in general, UCI,” said Pete. “I am expecting interns for that position, so anyone [who’s] interested, please reach out.”
Writer’s Note: UCI sits on Tongva and Acjachemen land.
Laiyla Santillan is the 2024-25 Editor in Chief. She can be reached at laiylas@uci.edu.
Edited by Jaheem Conley.