Twenty-one Native American graduates were recognized at a special celebration June 19 at the House of Learning Longhouse on the Peninsula College campus.

“It was a great honor to be part of the very first Longhouse Graduation Celebration,” graduate Judi Villella of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe said.

The number of Native graduates at Peninsula College exceeds the national average, P.C. officials note. The graduation rate of Native students at two-year public higher education institutions in recent years has been at 1 percent. Of this year’s 484 students approved to graduate, 21 self-identified as Native (4 percent).

Graduates from many nations were recognized at the Longhouse event, including S’Klallam, Makah, Tlingit, Maidu, Ute and Citizen Potawatomi. Before family and community members that filled the Longhouse, Native graduates shared their degree and their tribal affiliation, and many shared their transfer plans after Peninsula College. Each was presented with a woven cedar pin that was created at a workshop led by P.C. student Jennifer James.

This year’s graduates include Jessica Humphries (Jamestown S’Klallam) and Jennifer White (Makah), who have been Peninsula College Longhouse Scholarship recipients.

Ben Charles, a spiritual leader and elder of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe opened the event and speakers included Peninsula College president, Dr. Luke Robins; Dwayne Johnson, Makah tribal member and member of the Peninsula College Board of Trustees; and Jennifer James, Makah tribal member and current P.C. student. Members of Klallam and Makah nations shared songs of recognition and thanks. Families brought potluck items to share, including traditional foods such as pickled kelp.

“There are many reasons that make it hard to want to continue going to school,” current student Jennifer James said. “The Native dropout rate is high. We need to celebrate these graduates and that’s why we wanted to make the cedar pins.”

“This is why we built the Longhouse,” Johnson said. He added that the graduation of so many Native students was a “remarkable achievement.”

For more information about the Longhouse and multicultural and inclusion services at Peninsula College, contact Leora Gansworth at Longhouse@pencol.edu.