Indigenous Student Center

The Indigenous Student Center serves Indigenous students by providing academic, professional, and social opportunities focusing on collaborative partnerships, programming, and community building at UW-Madison and beyond. The ISC is one of four identity centers within the Multicultural Student Center.

The ISC centers the voices, experiences, and dynamic lives of Indigenous students. The center serves as a space to study, hold programming, and to hang out. The center is home to six student organizations – Wunk Sheek, American Indian Science & Engineering Society, Alpha Pi Omega Sorority Inc. – Lambda Chapter, MadTown Singers, Indigenous Law Student Association, Indigenous Graduate Students, and Tribal Libraries, Archives, & Museums.

The ISC was established in 2009 under the management of the American Indian Studies Program. In September 2021, stewardship was passed to the Multicultural Student Center and the first ISC professional staff position was created.

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Given the rich diversity of our Indigenous community, the Indigenous Student Center strives to make UW-Madison a place where all of our identities are celebrated. Our community includes students, staff, faculty, and alumni from various tribal backgrounds, experiences, and academic interests.

No matter where you are coming from and where you are at in your connection to community and identity, this space is for all Indigenous students.

The Indigenous Student Center within the Multicultural Student Center is focused on creating a sense of belonging for Indigenous students in a culturally appropriate way. 

At the center, you can connect with UW-Madison resources that enhance your academic success, learn about culturally relevant activities, and create a support network with other students who identify as Indigenous. We are truly honored to be part of and to support your personal and academic journeys.

This statement was adopted with permission from our relatives at the Native American Academic Student Success Center at University of California – Davis.

The Indigenous Student Center, formerly known as the American Indian Student and Cultural Center (AISCC), was established in 2009 under the management of the American Indian Studies Program. In September 2021, management of the AISCC was transferred to Student Affairs, specifically the Multicultural Student Center, to expand the capacity to meet Indigenous student needs, and the inaugural Program Coordinator, Bobbi Skenandore, was hired. In the summer of 2022, the AISCC was renamed as the Indigenous Student Center. Read below for a more detailed history of the ISC.

• Fall of 1972: The first proposal for and Inter-Tribal Cultural and Service Center was submitted by Wunk Sheek. But to no avail at the time because UW officials feared that requests a Native American “ethnic center” meant increasing the budget normally allocated to the Afro-American Center.
• 1974 – Wunk Sheek and Mecha de UW-Madison are given office space in 710 University Avenue.
• July 1988: The Interim Multicultural Student Center (IMSC) was founded in 1988 with Candace M. McDowell appointed as founding director. The IMSC was located in Memorial Union and focused on the needs of five targeted American minority groups: Afro-American, American Indian, Chicano, Asian American, and Puerto Rican students.
• 2008 – The second proposal for an American Indian Student and Cultural Center was submitted to Provost Patrick Farrell and was accepted.
• 2009: The building at 710 University Avenue where the Wunk Sheek and Mecha offices were located is demolished. Wunk Sheek moves to 216 N. Brook Street as part of the American Indian Student & Cultural Center (AISCC), which is overseen by the American Indian Studies Program. The AISCC housed the following student-run organizations at the time: Wunk Sheek, Ojibwe language group, Wunk Sheek Drum, Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
• Fall 2021 – Stewardship of the AISCC was transferred to Student Affairs, specifically the Multicultural Student Center, to expand the capacity to meet Indigenous student needs, and the inaugural Program Coordinator, Bobbi Skenandore, was hired. 
• 2022 – After reviewing feedback from students, staff, and faculty during the summer of 2022, the AISCC was renamed the Indigenous Student Center. In the Fall of 2022, two ISC COUSINS (programming assistant interns) were hired to help the ISC AUNTIE.
• 2023 – In the fall, construction began of the Irving and Dorothy Levy Hall, a new academic building that will be located adjacent to the ISC. This construction will not include demolition of the ISC house. Relevant information about campus development of the block and its potential impact on the ISC house is updated on the Student Affairs website. If you have questions or feedback, please contact Argyle Wade, chief of staff for the vice chancellor for student affairs, who is the Student Affairs lead on this work.