The public is invited to the feature presentation March 13 at UGA’s Russell Library.
February 22, 2024, Athens, Ga. ― Dr. Sandra Boham, president of Salish Kootenai College and an accomplished leader in American Indian higher education, will present the annual Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture on Wednesday, March 13 at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia. The lecture is sponsored by the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and the Russell Library and is free and open to the public.
Hailing from Jeannette Rankin’s home state of Montana, Dr. Boham has spent her career as an advocate for indigenous education and social justice. Under Dr. Boham’s leadership, Salish Kootenai College is the first tribal college in the country to establish a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and notably has the highest graduation rate of any tribal college or university in the country at 62%. (The average U.S. tribal college graduation rate is 21%.) In 2020, the American Indian College Fund named her Tribal College and University Honoree of the Year.
“If Jeannette Rankin were alive today, there is no doubt that she and Dr. Boham would be friends and colleagues advocating for indigenous education,” said Karen Sterk, CEO of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, the Athens-based nonprofit founded in 1976 with a bequest from Jeannette Rankin who was elected by Montanans as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress and was a longtime resident of Georgia. “Before her passing, Jeannette shared with Rankin Foundation co-founder and Athens’ resident Reita Rivers that she wished she had done more to advocate for Native Americans.”
Recently, the Rankin Foundation honored the late Congresswoman’s request with the establishment of the National Tribal Scholar Grant program that will award education grants to students attending tribal colleges around the country. The unrestricted non-tuition grants are dedicated to women and Two-spirit students at tribal colleges who are 25 and older, demonstrate financial need and are pursuing their first
associate or bachelor’s degree. The 2023 Montana pilot program awarded more than 50 grants to tribal college students in the state, most of whom are single mothers.
“Elevating the voices of all Americans is of high importance to the Russell Library,” said Sheryl Vogt, director of the Russell Library. “And we very much look forward to offering our podium to Dr. Boham, one of the premier educators in our country.”
The Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture will be held Wednesday, March 13 from 3 – 4 p.m. in Room 271 at the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries building, University of Georgia 300 South Hull Street, Athens, Ga. A reception will follow. Tickets are free but registration is requested at bit.ly/2024LegacyLecture. Parking is free for off-campus visitors as well. Guests should bring their license plate number to the front desk staff at the library’s main entrance to validate parking.
About the Jeannette Rankin Foundation The Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides unrestricted Scholar Grants to students who identify as women, non-binary or Two-spirit, are 35 and older and demonstrate financial need — from all states and backgrounds. The Rankin Foundation’s National Tribal College Scholar Grant and Emerge Grants in Georgia and Montana are eligible for qualified students 25 and older. Inspired by its namesake, the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, the Jeannette Rankin Foundation transforms futures through education. rankinfoundation.org
About the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies was established in 1974 by the Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc., Georgia General Assembly, and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The library’s original mission was to collect and preserve materials documenting the life and career of Richard B. Russell, Jr., United States Senator from Georgia from 1933 to 1971. The Library’s holdings have since expanded to include approximately 500 manuscript collections and more than 1,000 oral history interviews documenting modern (1900-present) politics and public policy in Georgia and an array of issues related to the American political system. The Russell Library enjoys a national reputation as one of the largest and foremost repositories for modern congressional papers. In 2014, the Russell Library received a Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities. l https://www.libs.uga.edu/russell-library