Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World

A federal grant will allow the Muscogee Nation to fund the master plan for its college campus in Okmulgee, with a stadium expansion, a makers lab and a clock tower plaza.

The $334,264 award, from USDA Rural Development’s Distance Learning Grants Program, announced Monday will fund a STEM building with multimedia display screens, according to College of the Muscogee Nation President Monte Randall.

The building will include a Maker’s Space Lab, a communal learning environment with tools and components allowing students to enter with an idea and leave with a completed project.

“As students become more technologically astute, CMN must continue to grow and build an institution that keeps pace with college community needs and accommodate instructional and student learning,” Randall said in an interview Thursday.

The grant also will fund more seating at the campus’s basketball facility, he said, and a planned clock tower and surrounding plaza will create a new space for social gatherings and cultural events.

“The visibility of the clock tower, located at the heart of the campus, will create a positive atmosphere of pride for our students, faculty, staff and tribal members,” Randall said.

The College of the Muscogee Nation is a tribal education provider that is open to both tribal and nontribal citizens. It offers a variety of Indigenous-focused certificates and associate-level degrees in subjects including Native American studies, gaming, criminal justice and natural resources.

The newly awarded federal funding will “support our mission of providing a positive learning environment supported by teaching excellence and will offer exemplary academic programs,” Randall said.

The USDA announced the Muscogee Nation grant among $24 million awarded to projects also within the Cherokee Nation and the Choctaw Nation.

“While our grant award amount is considerably less than our fellow tribal nations, we have a long history of leveraging our resources to endure as leaders in education,” Randall said.

Students are encouraged to speak their native languages on campus at the College of the Muscogee Nation. They can also receive a certificate in Mvskoke language studies.

The College of the Muscogee Nation was named Tuesday as the ninth member of the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium — or THE Consortium. Its members — Langston University, Northeastern State University, OU-Tulsa, OSU-Tulsa, Rogers State University, Southern Nazarene University-Tulsa, Tulsa Community College and the University of Tulsa — collaborate to assure degree completion among students.

“We are proud to include College of the Muscogee Nation in THE Consortium as we continue to increase higher education opportunities in the region,” Laura Latta, executive director of THE Consortium, said in a statement.

This story is co-published by the Tulsa World and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Oklahoma area.

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