INUPIAT HOUSE WELCOMES FIRST RESIDENTS THIS FALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 1997

Fairbanks, Alaska — There's nothing like a home cooked meal, especially for students away at college. For 19-year-old Inupiat Eskimo Fannie Suvlu of Barrow, the meal of choice most definitely includes a generous portion of caribou meat, an entree usually not listed on campus dining hall requisition orders.

At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fannie won't be homesick for traditional Native foods or the taste of caribou. The newly built Inupiat House, a family-style student residential facility, has freezer space big enough to hold whale meat, caribou meat, salmon and other traditional Alaska Native foods.

Part of the larder in the Inupiat House freezer this fall will include a contribution Fannie will bring with her from Barrow, some of the caribou her sister Bernadette, 15, hunted and killed for the Suvlu family in August. That's welcome news to Inupiat House resident Gladys Mekiana, one of about 800 first-time students expected on the UAF campus this fall.

"I'll miss all the people in the village," said the 18-year-old student from Anaktuvuk Pass, a community of about 250 people in the Brooks Range. "But I'll also miss the activities and the traditional Native foods."

Having traditional foods is only one of the advantages students from rural Alaska villages will experience while living at Inupiat House, which will be

officially dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 20. The 8,800-square-foot-building is designed to meet the special transitional needs of rural students.

According to Rural Student Services Director JoAnn Ducharme, many students who come to UAF are leaving their villages for the first time.

"It can be tough for students who have grown up knowing everyone else in their community on a first-name basis to come to a large campus setting like Fairbanks. What we do at RSS and what living in Inupiat House will do, is bridge the gap from what is familiar to what is new. The activities and foods they're used to helps them feel more comfortable about all the new challenges they face and helps them focus on learning," Ducharme said.

Groundbreaking for Inupiat House took place last summer. The 25-person facility includes a common lodge area, a visiting parent's apartment, computer laboratory and laundry facilities. The large kitchen will allow students to prepare the occasional caribou dinner, but residents must choose one of the three meal plans offered at the UAF dining commons, a requirement for on-campus living.

Construction of the $1.8 million Inupiat House is the result of a partnership between UAF and the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. to provide new student housing. ASRC, with funding from the Arctic Education Foundation, designed, financed, constructed and furnished the facility, which meets shared UAF and ASRC goals to improve the recruitment, retention and graduation of Alaska Native students. A $1 million endowment for continued Inupiat House maintenance and support has been made through ASRC.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Media are invited to the ribbon-cutting and tour of Inupiat House on Columbia Circle Aug. 20, 1:30 p.m. ASRC President Jacob Adams and Arctic Education Foundation Manager Flossie Hopson Anderson are among the dignitaries participating in the event.

CONTACT: Rural Student Services Director JoAnn Ducharme, (907) 474-7871, or UAF Public Information Officer Debra Damron, (907) 474-7122.

DPD/8-14-97/98-007med.adv.