Fall 2008: ISER lunch-time talk to take on graduates of Mt. Edgecumbe H.S.

For its next lunch-time talk, the UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) has chosen the topic "Recent Graduates of Mt. Edgecumbe High School: Why Did They Attend and How Has It Affected Their Lives?" The informal talk will be held in the ISER Conference Room on Thursday, April 3, noon-1 p.m.

When the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) established Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka in 1947, it was the only in-state public high school available for rural Alaska Native students. It drew students from hundreds of Alaska Native communities that had no local high schools, and many past and current Alaska Native leaders graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe. In 1983, when the state had built high schools in virtually all Alaska Native communities, the BIA closed the school. It was re-opened two years later as a state-run institution.

Diane Hirshberg, Assistant Professor of Education Policy, and Brit Delmoral, Policy Research Assistant, both of ISER, surveyed 130 people who graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe since it re-opened in 1985--asking why they chose to attend the school, what were their experiences there, and what effect it has had on their lives. Their project, to be discussed Thursday, was sponsored by the Rasmuson Foundation and the University of Alaska Foundation.

The ISER Conference Room is on the 5th Floor of the Diplomacy Building, 4500 Diplomacy Drive, corner of Tudor Road and Tudor Centre Drive. This event, as well as parking, is free and open to the public. Call (907) 786-7710 for directions or additional information.