Aloha kakou and welcome to the 2023-2024 academic year! My name is Randy Akee and I am an Associate Professor in American Indian Studies and the department of Public Policy. I also serve as the Chair of American Indian Studies this year after having spent the past year as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisors to President Biden in Washington, D.C.  I return to our newly established American Indian Studies Department (approved in Fall 2022) after many years of planning and coordinating efforts undertaken by our previous chairs Dr. Mishuana Goeman and Dr. Paul Kroskrity. We are all appreciative of their efforts and excited for this new era for our department, faculty, students, community members and staff.

Our curriculum is designed and taught by a distinguished and interdisciplinary faculty who collaborate with more than 20 different Native communities and countless community organizations. As much as the American Indian Studies Department at UCLA is devoted to the study of Indigenous peoples, as a land grant institution we are committed to directly engaging with and working for the Indigenous peoples of California and beyond. Among them, we have a particular commitment to the Tongva as the taraaxatom (Indigenous peoples) of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands).

We are encouraged by the continuing support for our students via recently announced Native American Opportunity Plan which covers all in-state systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees for our students residing in California who are also enrolled in federally recognized Native American, American Indian, and Alaskan Native tribes. (This plan applies to undergraduate and non-self-supported graduate students). To complement this initiative, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria will provide scholarship support to members of California Indian Tribes that are not federally recognized. These exciting opportunities help to increase the access and affordability of higher education in the University of California system.

We embark on this academic year with a renewed sense of the power and importance of scholarship in shaping research, teaching and giving voice to and strengthening communities. We anticipate a return to in-person seminars and welcoming esteemed and distinguished guests to our campus. Our investments in AIS’s undergraduate Major and Minor programs and its MA program are more important than ever. I am happy to welcome you all to our department and our wide array of courses and activities that continue to build upon the strong legacy of UCLA’s AIS program begun more than 50 years ago.