LU president top priority is attracting more First Nations students

Brian Stevenson’s top priority is to increase Aboriginal enrollment at Lakehead University.

“As you see the demographics in Northwestern Ontario, the fastest growing population is Aboriginal, yet they have the lowest university participation rate,” the university president said on Friday morning at the release of LU’s 2010-2011 Report to the Community.

The report, which can be found online, shows the success of students, faculty, alumni and staff as well as featuring financial statements and strategic directions.

The first direction Lakehead will take is to increase the Aboriginal participation with a couple of initiatives, including showing Aboriginal children that university is an option for them.

“I think that Aboriginal kids, many of them don’t think they have a chance of going to university and we want to show them they have a chance, they can change their lives and they can change the lives of their community,” said Stevenson, adding Lakehead specializes in attracting first-generation students.

About 60 per cent of  the school's graduates fit that description.

The university is boasting a two-part scholarship fund to attract Aboriginal students. The first part is to engage younger students starting as early as Grade 4 in outreach programs. Stevenson said they want to reach out to them around the age of 10 because that’s when kids are most impressionable.

“For every year they participate in our outreach programs, we’re going to put money away so by the time they finish high school, they’ll have at least one-year’s tuition fee,” he said. “The important thing is not only the money but the message they can go to university.”

The second part of the scholarship fund is aimed at Aboriginal and under-privileged adults who dropped out of high school, but want to further their education.

Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus had more than 7,700 students enrolled last year; 60 per cent of those students came from outside of the city. And with the announcement of the establishment of the school’s faculty of law, the university’s name is spreading further.

For fourth-year gerontology student Morgan Lowe, Lakehead University wasn’t a well-known name when she graduated high school. Now when she returns to her hometown of Stratford and wears her Lakehead sweater, people recognize the university’s name.

“I think the fact we have the law school now and it’s ever-growing and this year we have the most students we’ve ever had, Lakehead is really becoming a force to be reckoned with,” she said, adding her time at the university has been life-changing.

“As a student and an athlete, you get welcomed on so many different levels and it really makes you feel like you’re a part of it,” she said. “I can’t express how much it’s helped me grow accustomed to the different life I have here than at home. It’s really created a new life for me in a sense and I can’t express how much Lakehead has helped me.”