The California Indian Nations College (CINC) will hold its second annual Fire Gala fundraiser this Friday, May 17, at the Agua Caliente Resort in Rancho Mirage.
The formal event features dinner and entertainment. Native comedian Tonia Jo Hall is slated to perform, and guests are encouraged to wear traditional or formal attire for the celebration of Native culture; it’s all to benefit CINC, as it approaches its seventh year of providing higher education programs with a focus on indigenous culture.
President Celeste Townsend has been with CINC since its inception. She is an enrolled citizen of the Guidutikad numu Fort Bidwell Indian Community in Northern California and a descendent of the Shoshone-Paiute tribe of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Owyhee, Nev.
Along with founder Theresa Mike, Townsend helped develop the charter for the college in 2017, with the vision of a two-year accredited college focused on Indigenous culture and Native American language and values. Since its first class in 2018, the college has exceeded projected enrollment every year.
“When we began in 2017, we didn’t know how the demand would take place,” Townsend said. “We anticipated about 200 students (by) the time of accreditation in 2027. We were over 160 this spring, so we anticipate 200 this summer, which puts us far ahead of schedule.”
The accreditation process is lengthy and arduous. In 2020, CINC staff completed online training in accreditation basics. In May 2023, the eligibility committee of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges granted CINC eligibility to apply for candidacy. Townsend said CINC is in the second of three phases of accreditation and is gearing up for a site visit by the ACCJC.
Once accredited, CINC will become the first stand-alone, fully accredited tribal college in California. There are 37 tribal colleges and universities in the U.S., according to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.
As CINC’s vice president and chief operations officer, Shawn Ragan oversees academic student affairs and institutional effectiveness. Ragan said CINC is currently applying for ACCJC candidacy, which could be granted by fall 2025. The final step, full accreditation, can take two more years. Candidacy will allow CINC to operate independently and become what Townsend and Mike first envisioned—a full tribal college with curriculum and degrees that address Native culture and history. Until candidacy is granted, courses are accredited through College of the Desert and will transfer to California State University and University of California schools, as well as many private institutions.
“Our host, College of the Desert, has been amazing. (They) have provided us in-kind classroom space, and we have in-kind office space with (the University of California, Riverside’s Palm Desert Center),” Townsend said. “The caveat is that we’ve outgrown both locations.”
CINC offers an associate of arts degree in liberal arts. Within the degree, students can choose an emphasis in art and humanities; business and technology; or social and behavioral sciences.
CINC has already begun to tweak its curriculum to add more value for Native students, Ragan said.
“To make our classes ours, and not just the COD classes, we’ve added an additional student learning outcome focused on indigenizing the curriculum to address Native American issues,” Ragan said.
Comparable to an ethnic studies requirement, the Native American breadth requirement requires at least six units that deal specifically with Native American issues, including Native American literature, language, art history or Indigenous dance.
To grant more AA degrees, CINC will need to offer more classes. Of course, that will take more funding and faculty. Ragan said candidacy and accreditation will allow CINC to get regular government funding like other accredited schools in California.
“Once we get candidacy, we’re eligible for federal funding as a tribal college, once we get recognized by the Bureau of Indian Education,” said Ragan.
CINC was started with a grant from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. The college initially offered all classes free to students, since little state or federal financial aid was available. CINC students can access government aid as students of COD, but Ragan said the process of applying to both schools using two sets of applications is cumbersome.
One standout former student has already been tapped to join the faculty at CINC. Roseanne Rosenthal, now a Ph.D. candidate, will become the college’s first full-time faculty member next year, according to Townsend. Rosenthal was in the first graduating class at CINC. The self-described high school dropout enrolled at CINC to complete courses toward a bachelor’s degree in Native American Studies at UCR.
She said she never planned on teaching and initially pursued a career as a vocational nurse. She thought about pursuing a medical degree, but realized her doctoral work could have a much wider impact.
“I moved over to anthropology and critical medical anthropology, where I look at issues like mental health, or access to health care, (where I can) critically look at the systems and how they are functioning or not,” Rosenthal said.
In the past 10 years, she has fast-tracked her education with a renewed purpose after years away for formal education. “I don’t have time for gap years,” she said.
Rosenthal, whose lineage is Chiricahua Apache/Tewa, said Native schools and educators play a vital role.
“I first learned about myself by going to UCR and learning from the Native faculty there,” said Rosenthal, who plans to have her students use oral history and interviews with elders to help connect with their heritage.
Coming back to CINC is a full circle moment. Teaching allows her to spread the history she has learned—and she admits she loved teaching from her first day in front of the classroom. The process made her realize that she had something to give back.
“It’s common in most Native Americans … We go to school to go back to help our people,” Rosenthal said.
The California Indian Nations College’s Second Annual Fire Gala Fundraiser takes place from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, May 17, at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, in Rancho Mirage. Tickets start at $195. Get tickets via Eventbrite, or visit cincollege.org/firegala for more information.