肯尼迪•皮特在华盛顿出席2023年白宫部落青年论坛。 分。 ，她作为美国印第安人青年委员会全国代表大会的联合副主席参加了该活动。 在申请埃默里大学的前一个月，肯尼迪·皮特从未听说过这所学校。 现在，她是埃默里文理学院的大四学生，主修人类健康和社会学，并着眼于妇幼公共卫生领域的职业生涯，可能会获得法律学位。 但是，如果没有高中时参加的大学视野项目，pete在emory的经历或她为帮助建立一个本土学生的校园社区所做的工作都不会取得成果。 从亚利桑那州的橡树泉获得了苹果的信心，但在马里兰州的盖瑟斯堡长大，pete is diné（navajo）。 她是tódíkózhí（咸水族），为díbézhí（害群之马族）而生。 当她在马里兰州贝塞斯达的霍顿军火学校上学时，她是唯一一个土生土长的美国学生。 作为一名初三学生，pete于2018年6月参加了罗切斯特大学的“大学视野”项目。 这次聚会是一个针对美国本土高中生的大学预科项目，帮助他们完成大学选拔和录取过程。 活动的重点是大学预科技能，如建立简历、写作、建立网络和进行模拟面试，同时让学生意识到学校可能很适合或有一个现有的、支持性的本土社区。 皮特还记得这是她第一次能够与同龄的本土学生建立联系。 pete说：“在我完成这个项目的过程中，他们真的建立了我的信心，让我能够探索和反思我可以把技能带到应用程序的前沿。”。 然后，在大四的时候，pete的大学辅导员建议emory可能很适合她，因为她对公共卫生和医疗保健领域很感兴趣。 皮特说：“我的辅导员向我简要介绍了（公共卫生学院）的项目和简介，一看到校园，我就爱上了它，也被这里装饰过的教职员工所吸引。”。 “我觉得有很多资源可以用于公共卫生领域的各种不同职业，即使是那些我没有意识到的职业。 埃默里很快就登上了顶峰。 “随着pete在emory找到了自己的道路，她在大学视野项目中获得的信心继续得到回报。 11月，一群参与埃默里本土学生协会的学生参加了在国家民权和人权中心举行的小组讨论。 two thousand and twenty-three。 小组成员包括（左-右）肯尼迪·皮特、特雷·哈普和西耶拉·塔拉维拉·布朗，贝丝·米歇尔（右二）也出席了会议。 在进入已经被医疗保健领域所吸引的emory时，pete获得了实践经验，在大二到大三的夏天，她在印度卫生服务机构实习后，她对妇幼保健越来越感兴趣。 在那里，她参与了一个患者旅程图项目，主要分析产后出血妇女在过去五年中的经历，以更好地了解她们护理过程中的因素如何影响她们的健康结果。 pete还研究了美国原住民/阿拉斯加原住民社区的孕产妇健康状况，为测绘项目提供依据。 她说：“在对这个项目进行了如此深入的研究，并了解了更多关于美国原住民和阿拉斯加原住民社区所经历的不成比例的孕产妇和婴儿死亡率的信息后，我觉得公共卫生领域是我非常热衷的领域，我想尽可能多地学习，继续努力改善原住民社区的健康状况。”。 “我还发现自己在努力识别和了解可能导致这些不良健康结果的系统性障碍，以及我们如何以尊重部落社区多样性和每个人面临的独特挑战的方式改进护理系统。 后来她对法学院产生了浓厚的兴趣。 佩特说：“我作为美国印第安人全国代表大会青年委员会的联合副主席参加了该大会，这使我有机会在宣传和政府政策领域工作，处理印度面临的问题，特别是对土著青年产生重大影响的问题。”。 具体来说，pete的兴趣是儿童福利、心理健康、教育准备、药物使用障碍以及环境和资源保护。 由于这段经历，皮特对在政府和国会工作有了更多的了解，并看到了法律和政策背景如何对保护部落国家的权利和主权有用。 2023年5月，kennedy pete和sierra talavera brown 23c在土著和土著毕业生庆典上。 与本土学生建立社区从皮特在埃默里大学的第一年到最后一年，她一直是这里建立一个更显眼、更有发言权的本土社区不可或缺的一部分。 她回忆道：“当我第一次来到埃默里时，我是这一年唯一认识的本地学生。”。 “我感到犹豫不决，不知道该往哪里看。 当时还没有一个社区，但贝丝·米歇尔联系了我，说有一群本地学生试图为本地和联盟学生、教职员工和校友开发这个中心，我欣然接受了。 米歇尔[12ph（托霍诺·奥德姆）]担任埃默里新成立的美洲原住民和土著研究中心的高级副主任。 “我在2020年8月通过zoom与肯尼迪会面。 得知肯尼迪选择了埃默里，我很兴奋。”米歇尔说。 作为美国本土学生协会（nasa）的联合主席，她的贡献将继续对未来的课堂产生积极影响。 皮特与美国国家航空航天局和美国原住民和土著研究计划（naisi）的合作重点是为土著学生创造一个支持和包容的氛围，这是一项细致入微的努力。 社区的一个方面是提供一个环境，让学生可以很容易地找到资源和团结。 关于美国国家航空航天局，pete说：“对于小组中的学生，我们希望给他们一个环境，让他们可以作为在emory工作了三四年的资源来找我们。 ……我不想让任何其他本地学生觉得他们是唯一的学生，这会影响他们的体验。 “除了在物流和资源方面的工作外，放松和建立联系的机会也是无价的。 她说：“有一些有趣的活动，比如参加乔治亚州的蜂群运动会，为汤普森兄弟加油，这些有成就的本土运动员让我们联系在一起，谈论我们的经历和成功，并在我们自己和参与支持我们的教职工之间庆祝这一点，这是至关重要的。”。 同时，奈斯更加注重长期目标。 该委员会由教职员工和学生组成，致力于策划更大规模的活动，开发资源，更加重视聘请本土教授，并与本土组织建立更多联系，包括其他学校和非营利组织。 pete说：“我们展望未来5年、10年或15年埃默里的本土社区，我们希望（社区）不断发展。”。 米歇尔认为皮特是推动这一愿景向前发展不可或缺的一部分。 “我为肯尼迪感到骄傲，很荣幸能在她就读于埃默里学院期间担任她的导师之一。 米歇尔说：“她不仅是一位杰出的校园领导，而且还是一位好亲戚。”。 米歇尔补充道：“在我们的部落社区，做一个好的亲戚是在几代人之间提供支持，帮助其他人理解我们的主权国家和我们的担忧。”。 “她走在埃默里可能从未有过代表的地方，比如白宫部落青年论坛。 她正在推进始于克拉玛斯·亨利19世纪的愿景。 她为我们的校园带来的丰富知识继续改变着空间，以确保更多的本土和土著学生能够在埃默里茁壮成长。 肯尼迪·皮特（左）和贝丝·米歇尔[12ph（托霍诺·奥德姆）]，埃默里美洲原住民和土著研究中心高级副主任。 与大学的muscogee教学合作就是这样一个长期目标和重要事件。 pete在2022年和2023年期间作为志愿者和与会者为muscogee社区服务。 pete说：“参加2022年的第一次muscogee教学是我在emory经历的最感人的时刻之一，尤其是作为一名以前从未在校园里举办过类似活动的本地学生。”。 她指出，包括非本土emory学生、教职员工在内的广泛参与是这种影响的一部分。 根据埃默里2021年的土地承认声明，该声明承认了muscogee（creek）人“他们在埃默里牛津和亚特兰大校区所在的土地上生活、工作、创造知识并培育了这片土地”。 pete说：“能够向muscogee部落领导人学习他们在传统家园的历史和教义，不仅仅是在一个特定的时间点进行社区建设的一个时刻，而是emory作为一个机构的承诺和承诺，继续创造一个让土著声音被听到、优先考虑并成为未来社区建设的焦点的环境。”。 emory已经在与2023年秋季成立的美国原住民和土著研究中心建立这一承诺的基础上。 该中心由2美元的资金支持。 400万梅隆基金会拨款给埃默里大学和莫斯科吉民族学院。 作为美国国家航空航天局的一员，pete参与了该中心的启动，包括听取教师候选人的演讲、提出问题和提供反馈的机会。 她说，这些在整个过程中提供反馈的机会“对于确保这些候选人在土著研究领域工作时考虑到土著学生群体的声音非常重要，并对土著学生的代表和支持方式产生巨大影响”。 正如pete所解释的，这些活动和倡议并不是本地或土著学生和教师独有的。 它们与emory社区的各个角落都相关。 佩特说：“对于埃默里大学的任何学生、教授和教职员工，我想让他们知道，欢迎每个人参加这些活动，并[可以]访问我们网站上提供的资源或我们主办的演讲者。”他要求社区成员传播有关活动的信息，即使他们不能参加。 “你不需要什么都知道。 你可以随心所欲地来，在那里是支持的象征。 照片由kennedy pete和beth michel提供。 照片由kennedy pete和beth michel提供。
kennedy pete at the 2023 white house tribal youth forum in washington, d.c., which she participated in as co-vice president of the national congress of american indians’ youth commission. a month before applying to emory university, kennedy pete had never heard of the school. now she’s a senior in emory college of arts and sciences, double majoring in human health and sociology and eyeing a career in the maternal and child public health field, likely paired with a law degree.but none of the experiences pete has had at emory or the work she’s done to help build an on-campus community for native students would have come to fruition without the college horizons program, which she attended in high school.acquiring the confidence to applyfrom oak springs, arizona, but raised in gaithersburg, maryland, pete is diné (navajo). she is tódík’ózhí (salt water clan), born for díbézhíní (black sheep clan). while she attended holton-arms school in bethesda, maryland, she was the only native american student. as a rising high school junior, pete attended the college horizons program at rochester university in june 2018.the gathering is a pre-college program for native american high school students that helps them through the college selection and admissions process. activities focus on college-preparatory skills such as building resumes, writing, networking and conducting mock interviews, along with making students aware of schools that could be a good fit or have an existing, supportive native community. pete also remembers it as one of the first times she’d been able to connect with native students her own age.“as i went through this program, they really built my confidence up and allowed me to explore and reflect on the skills i can bring to the forefront of my application,” pete says.then, senior year, pete’s college counselor suggested that emory might be a good fit thanks to her interest in the public health and health care fields. “my counselor gave me the rundown of the programs and rollins [school of public health], and once i saw the campus, i fell in love with that and was drawn to the decorated faculty here, too,” pete says. “i felt like there were a lot of resources for all the different careers in public health, even the ones i hadn’t realized existed. emory moved its way to the top very quickly.” the confidence she gained during the college horizons program has continued to pay dividends as pete has found her path at emory.a group of students involved with emory’s native student association attended a panel discussion at the national center for civil and human rights in nov. 2023. panelists included (l-r) kennedy pete, tre’ harp and sierra talavera brown, with beth michel (second from the right) also attending. gaining hands-on experiencewhile she entered emory already drawn to health care fields, pete became increasingly interested in maternal and child health after interning at the indian health service the summer between her sophomore and junior years. there, she worked on a patient journey mapping project, primarily analyzing the experiences of women who suffered from postpartum hemorrhage over the previous five years to better understand how factors in their journey of care may have contributed to their health outcomes.pete also researched the state of maternal health in native american/alaska native communities to inform the basis of the mapping project.“after working so intensely on this project and learning more about the disproportionate rates of maternal and infant mortality that native american and alaskan native communities experience, i felt that this area of public health was something i was incredibly passionate about and wanted to learn as much i could to continue to work to improve health outcomes in native communities,” she says.“i also found myself seeking to identify and understand the systemic barriers that may contribute to these adverse health outcomes, as well as how we can improve systems of care in a way that respects the diversity of tribal communities and the unique challenges each of them face.”her burgeoning interest in law school came later. “my involvement with the national congress of american indians as a co-vice president of their youth commission has opened my eyes to work in the advocacy and government policy realm regarding issues facing indian country, especially issues that heavily impact native youth,” pete says. specifically, pete’s interests are in child welfare, mental health, educational preparation, substance use disorders, and environment and resource protection. thanks to this experience, pete has learned more about working in government and congressional spaces and has seen how a background in law and policy could be useful for work protecting the rights and sovereignty of tribal nations.kennedy pete and sierra talavera-brown 23c at the celebration of native & indigenous graduates in may 2023. building community with native studentsin the time between pete’s first and last years at emory, she’s been an integral part of building a more visible and vocal native community here.“when i first got to emory, i was the only native student i knew of in my year,” she remembers. “i felt hesitant and i didn’t know where to look. there wasn’t a community yet, but beth michel reached out to me about a group of native students trying to develop this hub for native and allied students, faculty, staff and alumni, and i jumped on that.” michel [12ph (tohono o’odham)] serves as senior associate director at emory’s newly established center for native american and indigenous studies. “i met kennedy by zoom in august 2020. i was excited to learn that kennedy chose emory,” michel says. “as the co-president for the native american student association (nasa) on campus, her contributions will continue to have a positive impact for future classes.”pete’s work with nasa and the native american and indigenous studies initiative (naisi) is focused on creating a supportive and inclusive atmosphere for indigenous students a nuanced endeavor.one aspect of community is providing an environment where students can easily find resources and solidarity. regarding nasa, pete says, “for students in the group, we want to give them an environment where they can come to us as resources who have been at emory for three or four years. … i don’t want any other native students to feel like they’re the only ones and to have that affect their experience.”in addition to working on logistics and resources, opportunities to relax and bond are priceless, too. “having fun events such as attending georgia swarm games to cheer on the thompson brothers, accomplished native athletes for us to bond and talk about our experiences and successes, and celebrating that among ourselves and with faculty who are involved in supporting us, is vital,” she says.meanwhile, naisi focuses more on long-term goals. that committee of faculty, staff and students works to plan larger events, develop resources and put more emphasis on hiring native professors and creating more connections with native organizations, including other schools and nonprofits. “we are looking ahead to the native community at emory in five, 10 or 15 years, and we want [the community] to be growing,” pete says.michel credits pete as an integral part of moving that vision forward.“i am so proud of kennedy and its been an honor to serve as one of her mentors during her time at emory college. she has distinguished herself not only as a campus leader but a good relative,” michel says. “in our tribal communities, being a good relative is providing support across generations to help others understand our sovereign nations and our concerns,” michel adds. “she walks in spaces that emory likely has never had representation in before, like the white house tribal youth forum. she is carrying forward the vision that began with klamath henry 19c. the wealth of knowledge shes brought to our campus continues to transform spaces to ensure more native and indigenous students can thrive at emory.”kennedy pete (l) and beth michel [12ph (tohono o’odham)], senior associate director at emory’s center for native american and indigenous studies.working with the universityemory’s muscogee teach-ins are one such longer-term goal and important event. pete has served the muscogee community during the 2022 and 2023 teach-ins as a volunteer and attendee.“attending the first muscogee teach-in in 2022 was one of the most moving moments i have experienced at emory, especially being a native student who had not had similar events like this held on campus previously,” pete says. she points to the broad attendance including non-native emory students, faculty and staff as part of that impact.the teach-ins began following emory’s 2021 land acknowledgment statement, which recognized the muscogee (creek) people “who lived, worked, produced knowledge on, and nurtured the land where emory’s oxford and atlanta campuses are now located.” “being able to learn from muscogee tribal leaders about their histories and teachings on their traditional homelands represented more than just a moment of community building at a singular point in time,” pete says, “but rather a promise and commitment by emory as an institution to continue to create an environment where native voices are heard, prioritized and a focal point of future community building.”emory is already building on that promise with the center for native american and indigenous studies, launched in fall 2023. the center is supported by a $2.4 million mellon foundation grant awarded to emory university and the college of the muscogee nation.as part of nasa, pete was involved with the center’s launch, including opportunities to listen to faculty candidates’ presentations, ask questions and provide feedback. these chances to give feedback throughout the process are “incredibly important to making sure that the native student body’s voice is taken into consideration when these candidates will be working in the area of indigenous studies and have an immense impact on how native students are represented and supported,” she says. as pete explains, these events and initiatives aren’t exclusive to native or indigenous students and faculty. they’re relevant to all corners of the emory community. “to any student at emory, professors and faculty, i want them to know that everyone is welcome at these events and [can access] the resources we provide on our website or speakers that we host,” pete says, asking community members to spread the word about events, even if they can’t attend. “you don’t need to know everything. you can come as you are, and being there is a sign of support.”photos courtesy kennedy pete and beth michel. .
