What happened in Orlando, FL?

(Hayward, WI) – March 19, 2024 - Lorraine Gouge, Roger Mustache Jr., Todd Van Deslunt, and Clarissa Bressette attended Achieving the Dream’s (ATD) 20th anniversary convening of DREAM. The conference, which took place February 19-22, also welcomed Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to talk about recruitment and retention strategies.

Todd, Peer Mentor Advisor & Writing Lab Coordinator, presented on peer mentor programs, establishing them, adapting them to post-COVID education, and catering them to the Tribal University setting. His presentation, “Mentor the Next Generation,” had about 150 people in attendance, and impressed the University’s ATD coach. Hallway questioners were in good abundance after the presentation as well. For the remainder of the conference, Todd put faces to names and met Zoom contacts in person.

For Lorraine, Retention Director, she was proud of the University earning the Project Success Partner Award, with Todd receiving the plaque at the Recognitions Luncheon. She also thought “it was neat to see other Ojibwe people receiving recognition at the conference. Like the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.” Roger, Retention & Student Success Initiative Assistant, treated the whole affair as a training session, scheduling himself for sessions that focused on student success and retention. Whereas Clarissa, Recruiter, listened to TCUs as they spoke about the systemic struggles they shared across the country. TCUs also spoke about how they are working hand in hand to alleviate such struggles.

“There are a lot of scholarships we learned about at DREAM that our students could apply for,” Clarissa said, reflecting on how the conference will help the University down the line.

Roger is excited to put what he learned about improving student orientations to the test. He hopes that soon enough the retention techniques and strategies he and the team learned about will increase our student count and maintain it at that higher level. Todd and Lorraine shared hopes and goals like his.

After a week of rainy weather that shifted to overcast and later turned Florida sunny in Orlando, the group came back home to their Hayward and LCO community. They’d met familiar faces and made new acquaintances. They worked with other TCUs, from coast to coast, to see to it that our students receive the best education while never having to travel far—while remaining close to home.