2024 Fall IAIA President’s Convocation

In a moving ceremony that started with a Four Directions Blessing, the 2025 Spring President’s Convocation, helmed by Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation), celebrated resilience, Ancestral connections, cultural awareness, and the power of art to transform and sustain. 

During the Four Directions Blessing at the Dance Circle, a light snow started the Convocation on a note of serenity.  

The celebration, which included a lunch prepared by Café Bon Appétit staff moved to the Gymnasium where Dr. Robert Martin spoke, updating students on recent events in the news and assuring listeners that despite changes in public funding passed by the new Administration in Washington, D.C., IAIA was strong, resilient, and in a safe place. 

Dr. Martin encouraged students to hold space for Ancestors whose sacrifices enabled Tribal Colleges and Universities like IAIA to educate the next generation of artists and cultural leaders. 

Board Chair Beverly Morris (Aleut), producer, director, and owner of Chain Reaction Productions introduced keynote speaker, multidisciplinary artist Shane Hendren (Navajo) ’23. 

Hendren gave an emotional speech, citing the fact that conflict and political upheaval are not new and have been the matrix from which IAIA rose and thrived from its very beginnings. He, too, exhorted students to honor the Ancestors whose spirit is the connecting thread from past to present.