Article: Language Preservation Helps American Indian Students Stick with College

From http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/18/4346500/language-preservation-helps-american.html

Language preservation helps American Indian students stick with college
By Marisa Agha
March 18, 2012

Educators say that confronting cultural differences is one of the challenges facing American Indian students in higher education. CSU San Marcos, which counts about 40 tribes in its service area, has launched a new California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center aimed at strengthening relationships between the tribes and the campus. The center's ultimate goal is to boost the retention and graduation rates of American Indian students statewide.

Among the center's first efforts is a language preservation project with the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians in northern San Diego County, made possible by a $40,000 gift from the tribe. Through the project, staff members and students like Murphy have gone to the Pauma reservation to collect photographs and record the native language once predominantly spoken by tribal members.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/18/4346500/language-preservation-helps-american.html#storylink=cpy

Read a related post on the Spoken First blog at http://falmouthinstitute.com/language/2012/03/can-language-classes-help-keep-kids-in-school