Fort Lewis College Names First Indigenous President

A Wichita, Kiowa, and Cheyenne woman now leads the very college that once operated as a federal Indian boarding school designed to erase Indigenous culture.

Heather J. Shotton officially became the 11th president of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, this month. She's not only the college's first Indigenous president but also a descendant of boarding school survivors herself.

Her investiture ceremony opened with a blessing from a Cheyenne peace chief, followed by performances by the Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society and the Otoe-Missouria Singers. It was a powerful contrast to the college's early history.

The reconciliation journey began seven years ago when Native American professor Joslynn Lee called for the removal of clock tower panels that whitewashed the boarding school era. One panel read "The children are well-clothed and happy," a statement that ignored the reality of what Indigenous students endured.

Those panels came down in 2021. But Fort Lewis didn't stop there.

The college partnered with two Colorado Ute tribes to commission a full historical investigation. The 2023 report revealed disturbing truths: children at Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School faced poor living conditions, health problems, and physical and sexual abuse between 1892 and 1910.

Reading those findings was painful for students like Matthew Schaeffer, then a senior. The brutal details hit hard, even though he knew the college's history. Now he works as the college's tribal nations coordinator, part of a reconciliation team that has quadrupled in size just this past year.

The Ripple Effect

The reconciliation work is reshaping the entire campus culture. First-year students now learn about the college's boarding school history in their orientation classes. The college hosts tribal leader convenings and exhibits Native American art throughout campus.

Fort Lewis has expanded its language programs to teach and preserve Indigenous languages. The college now trains community members as certified Ute language instructors and operates an Apple-funded audio studio to preserve Indigenous storytelling traditions.

Native American students make up more than a quarter of the college's enrollment, and the support services for them have grown significantly. Last year, Fort Lewis secured a three-year, nearly $1 million grant to further expand leadership programs.

"It really has been a collaborative process that has focused on responsibility and healing," Shotton told Inside Higher Ed. She calls it the most meaningful work of her career.

The college's Board of Trustees made reconciliation a priority in its five-year strategic plan, ensuring the work continues for years to come. It's not a box to check but an ongoing commitment to truth and healing.

As Shotton stands at the helm of an institution once designed to erase her culture, she represents how far Fort Lewis has come and how transformation is possible when institutions face their past honestly.