Students signed up for the Navajo Nation Study Service Term were informed on Monday that they are no longer going to Arizona. Instead, they will be spending May Term locally, with most of their time at Camp Friedenswald in Michigan, focusing on the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi and the Miami Tribe.

This abrupt change comes after a fire at Diné College on April 14, where the group was going to fulfill the study portion of their SST experience. The fire caused significant damage to their Student Union Building, and there is an ongoing investigation into the cause. Last week, AZ Family News reported that the police had identified two suspects in the fire and arrested one. Their names were not released to the public. 

This was not the first challenge this SST group faced. Several weeks ago, the group was informed of the closure of the Peace Academic Center, on land of the Hopi Tribe, where the group was going to fulfill their service requirement. Formerly operated by Mennonite Education Agency, which announced on March 14 that PAC had closed back in October, and the land and facilities were being transferred back to the Hopi Tribe.

The original plan had the SST group spending six weeks in Arizona, fulfilling two of their required Global Studies courses. This new plan will only fulfill one of these courses, meaning students will have to take another class on their own time in subsequent semesters. The May Term trip will still be followed by an online capstone class this summer with Sarah Augustine, a Tewa woman who is the co-founder and executive director of the coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and speaker at Goshen College’s 127th Commencement Ceremony.

Directly after the fire at Diné College, the campus closed, and courses went online. With the closure, it was not going to be feasible for the SST group to spend the three weeks taking classes and living in the dorms like they had originally planned. Jerrell Ross Richer, professor and chair of the economics department at GC, who is also the co-director of the global engagement program, said, “We have had to take what we’re calling a pivot — like a massive pivot.”

Anna Groff, assistant professor of communication, and Danaé Wirth, assistant professor of education, are the faculty leaders for this SST group with eight students.

“Our students and the SST office have been incredibly understanding and supportive of our decision and it has brought a new level of excitement about the possibility of a localized SST,” Wirth said. “Although there is a profound sadness and heartfelt concern for our Navajo Nation partners, we look forward to working with local tribes and strengthening relationships with our Indigenous neighbors.”

One of the students is Jill Yoder, a junior environmental and marine science major, who said, “I’m definitely really disappointed — I was excited to go to … a region that I’ve never been to before. … but then also, I know that, like, that’s nothing compared to what the people [who] were directly impacted by the fire [are] experiencing right now.”

Groff said, “The cool thing is Danaé Wirth … has had so much traction with connections with the Miami and with the Pokagon band at the Potawatomi. … We’re having a lot of luck with setting things up last minute here, and so that feels really positive.

“On the other hand, … it’s not the same, and we won’t be able to do the same kind of cultural immersion that we would have been able to do if we could have stayed at Diné College and had host families.”

Yoder expressed gratitude towards the SST leaders for their hard work and said, “I’m still looking forward to it, even though it wasn’t what I expected.”

Ross Richer has hopes that this group can be pioneers for future programs and emphasized this opportunity to create a localized SST experience. “I really appreciate the way that Anna and Danaé have pivoted and just come up with a new program and maybe in the end, we’ll look back and say, well, this is exactly what we should have done anyway.”

 

Tyson Miller, executive editor, contributed reporting to this story.