Actively recruiting and retaining Native American students should be a main priority of universities, including Iowa State, said an influential educator of American Indian studies Monday night.

Leigh Jeanotte, director of Native American programs at the University of North Dakota, spoke to a crowd of approximately 50 people at the 8 p.m. lecture in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Jeanotte, a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa of North Dakota, spoke as part of the 31st annual Symposium on the American Indian, which runs through Saturday.

Jeanotte began his lecture by quoting national statistics that place Native Americans at the “bottom of the list” in educational accomplishments.

“We were the first people here in this nation, and we’re last in statistics,” Jeanotte said. “Institutions have to commit themselves to doing things for American Indians.”

Jeanotte emphasized the importance of making American Indian students feel welcome on university campuses, denouncing the policy of “treating everyone equal.”

“If you’re doing that, you’re really missing the boat,” Jeanotte said. “You have to build [students] up, then you can treat them equally.”

Jeanotte said the educational outlook for Native Americans has greatly improved in the past 30 years.

“There was a lot of fear associated with education in the past,” Jeanotte said.

Jeanotte said this fear can be attributed to the governmental bodies that were responsible for the education of Native American children.

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs managed education, and the bureau was part of the Department of the Interior,” Jeanotte said. “The Department of the Interior is plants and animals. Where does that put us?”

Devery Fairbanks, temporary instructor of sociology, said Jeanotte’s work can serve as a good example to ISU educators, even though the university has a comparatively low Native American enrollment.

“The University of North Dakota is a brilliant example of what happens when universities dedicate attention to American Indians,” Fairbanks said. “It lets us set some goals of our own.”