The Five College Consortium in western Massachusetts has received a $2.5 million grant to enhance Native American studies.
The grant from the Mellon Foundation will pay to develop expanded curriculum, hire more faculty, recruit more Native American students and put on special programs, according to UMass Amherst professor Laura Furlan, the chair of the Five College’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Committee.
She said the grant will enable the educators to "do things we haven't been able to do."
" I am really excited," said Furlan.
The grant is one of the largest to be shared among the Five College campuses - Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and UMass.
It comes as Massachusetts this year will mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims in Plymouth.
