Cuts and Confusion Threaten PSU’s Native Student Center

PSU’s Native American Student and Community Center (NASCC) opened just over twenty years ago, in October 2003, after many years of advocacy and organizing by Native students, alongside faculty, staff, alumni and community members. The center, which was envisioned as a welcoming “home away from home” for indigenous students according to an article marking the center’s 20th anniversary, serves as a hub for access to resources, community-building events, and a culturally specific safe drop-in space.

But the widespread budget woes that have plagued the entire university in recent years have not spared NASCC. According to adjunct and student members of PSU’s native community, the center has experienced drastic reductions in operating capacity due to reduced revenue. The center, which must supplement university support through event space rentals in order to stay afloat, is now facing a nearly $40,000 budget shortfall.

The reason? According to sources that contacted PSUFA to alert the wider university to the situation, in 2024 PSU failed to collect rental fees equal to that amount. In the months since, PSU, which is responsible for collecting rental fees while the center’s employees handle logistics, has only managed to recover around $2,000 of the outstanding fees. Meanwhile, NASCC workers have been left in the dark about when the funds will be recouped and what department or positions within the administration are ultimately responsible for this mess. This shortfall has compounded the effects of decreased rental demand during the weeks that Pres. Cudd installed riot police across campus in response to student anti-genocide activism.

This deficit has resulted in reduced open hours and chronic understaffing that students say are negatively impacting the community NASCC was intended to serve. A student with first-hand knowledge of the situation said that PSU initially suggested reducing the center’s open hours from Monday-Friday 9-5 to just Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 10-3. Student workers pushed back on this idea, noting that with such limited hours the center could not function as a meaningful resource for students. A compromise was reached to keep the center open three days per week from 9-5, but students and faculty say that’s still not enough. Furthermore, lack of funding has led PSU to reduce the number of student workers employed by NASCC from approximately 11-12 in 2023 to just 4 as of November 2024. The remaining workers report having taken on additional unpaid work, including many duties previously held by the center manager position. This position has been vacant since the last manager resigned in protest over police presence on campus and underpayment issues. According to sources, a student worker is currently filling the role of manager with no increase in their hourly wage to reflect their increased responsibilities.

What does this mean for PSU’s indigenous community? Individual students have complained to center employees about the loss of access to this space, as well as student and community groups that would normally utilize the space, including United Indigenous Students in Higher Education, American Indigenous Business Leaders, and mentorship programs facilitated by host nations. Moreover, PSU’s mismanagement and opacity in the situation has eroded trust with the native community. A faculty member with connections to the center said “this whole situation sends a message to our community,” and that “there’s no transparency,” and that “nobody knows how much PSU puts into the budget for the center.” One student told PSUFA that “they (PSU) know they messed up.”

From a wider perspective, the issues at NASCC once again call into question PSU’s administrative efficacy. It’s hard to know exactly what is going on due to the lack of transparency endemic across university leadership and operations, and that confusion has only added to the frustration expressed by native community members. Most critically, this story casts doubt upon PSU’s commitment to being a minority serving institution. This element of the university’s mission statement is especially urgent as federal initiatives seek to undermine and dismantle programs that benefit minoritized groups within higher education.

Everyone PSUFA spoke with emphasized the importance of NASCC to indigenous members of the PSU community. “Many indigenous students are first generation. So this place where we are likely to run into other native people (is important).”

“I was going around telling people ‘go to the center, everyone is welcome there!’ And promoting the resources. Then come to find out it's not even open all the time, and when you do go in there the lights aren’t on, the computer lab is locked. Its supposed to be a hub for native students”

“I’m speaking about it because a lot of people don’t know what’s going on. I want to see PSU not only fix the financial issues that are affecting everyone, but I also want more acknowledgement to the center.”