AICMD was born in a time of national reflection. As the United States prepared to celebrate its Bicentennial, local Tribal leaders and educators in Humboldt County were confronting a sobering truth: few Native students were attending or completing college. In response, a group of Native American staff and community members at Humboldt—many of whom were involved in creating the Indian Teacher Education Project (now the Indian Tribal & Educational Personnel Program, or ITEPP)—came together to change that trajectory.
They built a program designed not just to open doors to higher education, but to honor sovereignty and empower future leaders through knowledge. In doing so, they established a foundation that continues to guide Cal Poly Humboldt’s partnership with Tribal Nations today.
“American Indian College Motivation Day is a reminder that we are not only recognizing past leaders who were looking out for us, but holding to our responsibility to look out for future generations,” says Special Assistant to the President for Tribal Relations & Community Engagement, Adrienne Colegrove-Raymond.
The first AICMD was coordinated by the Educational Opportunity Program and Student Support Services staff member Dolly Tripp, who helped guide the program’s early vision of connecting Native youth to college opportunities. Over the decades, thousands of students from Tribal Nations across Northern California have attended. Many of today’s Native faculty and staff at Humboldt first came to campus through AICMD as high school students.
Colegrove-Raymond herself represents that legacy.
“I am a product of AICMD,” Colegrove-Raymond says. “As a young girl from the Hoopa Reservation, I attended as a student. Years later, I was hired at Humboldt and became the coordinator of AICMD, where I continued to bring students to campus and involve the Council of American Indian Faculty and Staff in planning and implementation. To this day, I am proud to serve on the planning committee and help carry that work forward.”
What began as a local outreach initiative has become one of Cal Poly Humboldt’s most enduring traditions of service. For five decades, it has invited Native students—many of whom are the first in their families to consider college—to explore academic programs, connect with mentors, and imagine a future shaped by education and cultural pride.
The roots of AICMD run deep in Native history. Less than a century before the program’s founding, Native children were forcibly removed from their families to attend boarding schools designed to erase Indigenous languages and traditions. It was not until the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 that Tribal Nations gained the authority to direct their own education programs.
In that context, AICMD represented something profound: a grassroots community-led commitment to reclaim education as a tool of empowerment rather than assimilation. The program continues to affirm that higher education and Indigenous identity are not in conflict—they are intertwined sources of strength.
Today, AICMD is coordinated through the Office of Admissions in collaboration with ITEPP, the Indian Natural Resources, Science & Engineering Program (INRSEP), and the Office of the President. Each November, the event brings together hundreds of high school students, teachers, and families for a day of exploration, mentorship, and inspiration.
“Cal Poly Humboldt is committed to providing access to a polytechnic education to the youth of the North Coast and beyond,” said Chrissy Holliday, Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Success. “We continue to increase the number of new students who come to us as the first in their families to attend college, and much of that is due to our special visit programming, like AICMD. Students are looking for a place where they can learn and grow, but also a place where they feel comfortable, and can see themselves being successful and achieving the dreams they know will be life-changing for themselves and their families.”
The program’s impact is clear: Native American students now make up about 2% of Cal Poly Humboldt’s enrollment, and they graduate at higher rates than the campus average—58% compared to 47% for all students.
For those who have participated, including Virginia Hedrick (Yurok), who attended UCLA and has been named the first permanent woman Chief Executive Officer of the California Rural Indian Health Board, AICMD represents much more than just an event. It is a homecoming, a commitment, and a promise that education will continue to serve as a path to sovereignty. It bridges generations, honors ancestors, and uplifts the students who will shape the next era of leadership.
“Humboldt’s AICMD was truly an impact for me. Receiving instant admission that day was such a powerful moment—being able to celebrate that achievement with my classmates and community in real time filled me with pride and confidence,” Hedrick says. “It completely lifted the fear I had about whether I was ‘good enough’ for college. Meeting other Native students and representatives from different campuses also inspired me and helped me see the broader community I was joining in higher education.”