August 20, 2018
Pauline Alvarez, a graduate of CSUN and of UCLA, will join the American Indian Studies Program as its first Outreach Coordinator this semester, in addition to being an AIS instructor. As Outreach Coordinator she will work with Native students enrolled at CSUN and with prospective students in the CSUN region, including students at community colleges. She also will work with community organizations, such as United American Indian Involvement in downtown Los Angeles and the American Indian Education Office with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
"When Pauline was an undergraduate at CSUN, about three years ago, she was a leader with the American Indian Student Association," said Dr. Scott Andrews, director of the American Indian Studies Program. "She knows our campus and our students very well. I am excited to have her helping AIS reach Native students enrolled at CSUN. There are many Native students at CSUN that we never see in AIS. Perhaps they don't know about us or about AISA. Part of Pauline's job will be to find them and let them know about our programming and our classes. We also want to increase the number of Native students enrolled at CSUN, and Pauline can help us do that. She is smart and creative. I look forward to seeing how she shapes this new position."
Ms. Alvarez also will work with community organizations to reach prospective CSUN students and to raise awareness of CSUN in the native community. More than 200,000 American Indian people live in Los Angeles County, which makes it the largest urban center for American Indians in the United States.
Part of Ms. Alvarez's job will be to work with the American Indian Student Association with its various programs and events, which are designed to educate the campus community about American Indian topics and to foster a sense of community among students interested in American Indian Studies. AISA membership is not exclusive to students with American Indian heritage, but a major benefit of the student group is helping with recruitment and retention of Native students.
Ms. Alvarez is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community (in Arizona) and is also of Tohono O’odham descent. She was born and raised on unceded Tongva lands (Los Angeles). She earned a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in American Indian Studies from CSUN and an M.A. in American Indian Studies from UCLA. She is the creator and editor of the zine Indigenous Ink. Her academic and political interests include the construction of Indigeneity, Indigenous urbanization, tattooing, tribal sovereignty, and Native feminisms.