Fort Lewis College Honored for Boarding School Reconciliation

Fort Lewis College in Colorado just earned national recognition for doing something many institutions avoid: facing painful history head-on and working to make it right.

The college's Board of Trustees received the John W. Nason Award for Board Leadership from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges this month. The honor recognizes their courage in leading truth, healing and reconciliation efforts tied to the school's past as a federal Indian boarding school.

From 1892 to 1909, the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School operated on the same grounds near Hesperus. Native American students were forcefully removed from their homes and stripped of their traditions under poor conditions, part of a cultural cleansing effort that scarred generations.

The college now sits on ancestral land of the Nuuchiu (Ute) people and connects to ceremonial spaces of several Indigenous nations, including the Jicarilla Apache, New Mexico Pueblos, Hopi and Navajo. That connection makes the reconciliation work even more meaningful.

The board didn't just acknowledge the past. They advocated for state legislation to research boarding school history, supported public release of findings and unanimously adopted a formal commitment to reconciliation as one of their five guiding directives.

"Our responsibility as trustees is not only to govern Fort Lewis College today but to shape a future rooted in truth and justice," Board Chair Janet Lopez said. She emphasized that this recognition affirms the importance of their ongoing work.

President Heather Shotton, the college's first Native American president and a citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, has led many reconciliation efforts alongside the board. She credited faculty, staff, students, community partners and Indigenous leaders who shaped the process.

Why This Inspires

This award matters beyond one college campus. It shows other institutions that confronting difficult history isn't just possible but worthy of celebration. The national recognition sends a message that courageous, values-centered governance means looking backward honestly to move forward justly.

The award itself honors John W. Nason, a higher education leader who helped 4,000 interned Japanese American students continue their college studies during World War II. His legacy of fighting educational injustice now extends through the work being done at Fort Lewis.

The board will be formally honored at AGB's Foundation Leadership Forum and National Conference on Trusteeship in Denver this March, where their model can inspire other institutions to begin their own reconciliation journeys.