Haskell celebrates about 175 graduates in packed commencement ceremony

With families filling the Coffin Sports Complex to standing-room only, Haskell Indian Nations University sent about 175 spring and summer graduates into the next stage Friday morning, and one of the most visible moments came when Elijah Childs, who earned an American Indian Studies degree, held his child during the ceremony.

The scene on Haskell’s Lawrence campus was presented as more than an academic finish line. The university framed the Class of 2026 as students carrying knowledge, leadership and responsibility back to their nations, families and communities, a message that fit a campus built around Indigenous education and public service. Miss Haskell Angelina Giago told graduates that this was their new chapter and that the people around them would keep supporting them long after the ceremony ended.

That sense of continuity runs deep at Haskell. The school opened in 1884 with 22 American Indian students as the United States Indian Industrial Training School, and the Kansas Historical Society traces its early years as a boarding school before it became Haskell Indian Nations University. Its mission is to build leadership capacity and provide academic excellence, cultural and intellectual prominence and holistic education for Indigenous communities, which helps explain why commencement at Haskell feels tied to ancestry, sovereignty and what graduates will do next.

The celebration came after a difficult year on campus. In February 2025, about 35 probationary employees, roughly 23% of the total staff, were terminated. The Haskell Board of Regents said those cuts jeopardized the university’s ability to fulfill its educational mission. A Haskell Foundation emergency fund later opened, and by Feb. 25 it had raised about $57,485 toward a $350,000 goal. Students and supporters answered with a Hands Off Haskell protest.

Victoria Kitcheyan, a Haskell alumna from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska who holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the university, tied that history to the next generation of leaders. She has gone from Haskell graduate to tribal council member and former tribal chairwoman, a path that mirrors the institution’s larger purpose of preparing people to lead at home. Her message to graduates centered on honoring the sacrifices of their ancestors, holding systems of power accountable and serving as good relatives in the communities they return to.

Haskell’s graduation weekend also included a May 8-9 powwow, with Friday’s program set to include a Gourd Dance and Grand Entry and Saturday’s schedule adding more dances and a dinner break. By the time the last names were called at Coffin Complex, the ceremony had become a reminder that Haskell still sends Native students back to their nations with degrees, family ties and a clear civic role.