Jerry Shaw (Osage)

Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees

A sad victim of most public school systems is the minority student who, forced into an unnatural cultural setting to begin with, finds himself even "re-learning" a new history as recorded by white historians. For many youngsters, the dilemma of "shall I reject my heritage or not?" is difficult, if not impossible to resolve - and the after-effect is often an educational "turn off" by the student.

Jerry Shaw, an assistant instructor of minority studies at Wichita State University, heads up the Indian Center's student tutoring program and is determined to improve the educational process. The real need, he feels, is to "educate the non-Indian about the Native American culture." But the educational opportunities shouldn't be restrited to the youth; a popular class he teaches on the university level is Minority Studies 332 which teaches adults "the lifestyles of American Indians, their religion and the diversity of cultures."