A Force for Good – Wicahpi Chaddlesone Yankton
Wicahpi Chaddlesone-Yankton (she/her) is a junior here at Bridgewater State University studying political science with an international affairs concentration and two minors in Native American and Indigenous studies and English. She is involved in multiple different organizations, including Student Government Association (SGA) as the parliamentarian and the Indigenous Culture and Allies Association (ICAA) as the president.
It was Chaddlesone-Yankton who had the idea to bring the ICAA back after it had dissolved in 2018, when involved students had graduated. The goal for bringing the organization back to campus was to create a safe space for Indigenous students and encourage Indigenous youth to apply to the university. “We just hosted a group of local Indigenous high school seniors last week,” Chaddlesone-Yankton said. “We are currently working with Fred Clark to get financial aid support for local Indigenous youth.”
Through her involvement on campus, Chaddlesone-Yankton primarily focuses on unity, community, and connectivity. She states, “I hope to be a really strong leader for future Native American students.”
In addition to this, she wants to make sure that different organizations and students feel connected to the Student Government Association and wants to assist in “bridging the gap” between the SGA and campus organizations.
Chaddlesone-Yankton was part of student government in high school, which encouraged her to get more involved on campus. It was her mom who got her interested in reviewing constitutions, as her mom would always be looking through different constitutions back home. Since she has worked with the material previously, she knew what she was getting herself into when she went from her position in senate to parliamentarian, which is a position that primarily works with approving student organization constitutions and helping students to adjust them when needed
Chaddlesone-Yankton described many short and long term goals, such as graduation and looking into potential graduate programs. Chaddlesone-Yankton explained that she has many different things that motivate her, such as her family. She is originally from South Dakota, where she says she was raised to be super independent. Additionally, she says that it was her family, friends and colleagues that have so far motivated her to take on different leadership positions.
