Throughout history, Native Americans have served as great leaders, healers, political activists, and advocates for their people. We invite the FNU Community to join us in celebration of National Native American Heritage Month.
Our campus is located in Kentucky, an area that many different tribes once called home, including the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, and the Shawnee. The archeology in Kentucky, such as rock art, cave paintings, arrowheads, and ancient pottery shards, are evidence that Indigenous Americans lived throughout the state prior to European contact (Source: visitlex.com).
As part of our Versailles, Ky., campus ribbon cutting ceremony in 2022, FNU held a land acknowledgment ceremony. Land acknowledgments recognize Indigenous Peoples who are the original stewards of the lands we now occupy. Versailles is the traditional territory of the Shawnee and Cherokee people.
FNU Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech, Ph.D., PMNHP-BC, APRN, with Native American elders Helen Danser and Venus Evans.
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we invite you to learn more about two Cherokee women and their impact on our country, as well as Brandon Locklear, RN, BSN, a Native American Lumbee and FNU student from Robeson County, North Carolina.
Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) was the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation, an Activist, a Writer, and a Professor at Dartmouth College. She also served as an advisor to the U.S. Government on tribal affairs. In 1993, Wilma Mankiller was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 by President Bill Clinton. During her tenure as chief, she accomplished the following:
- Dramatic decline in infant mortality
- Tribal employment doubled
- Increased the number of tribal health clinics
- Development of several programs for Cherokee youth
Mary Golda Ross (1908-2008) was a Cherokee woman who earned her master’s degree in astronomy and mathematics from the University of Northern Colorado. She later joined Lockheed Martin aircraft corporation in 1942. She helped to design the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter jet that came very close to breaking the sound barrier. She later joined Lockheed Martin Missile Systems Division (Skunk Works), a top-secret division that paved the way for space travel. She also helped to write NASA’s Planetary Flight Handbook.
FNU Student Brandon Locklear, FNP
FNU Alumni Brandon Locklear, FNP, works in acute hospital environments, assisting underserved communities that are facing nursing shortages. He graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) in May 2023.
He treats adult and elderly patients, and many suffer from chronic diseases such as heart disorders, diabetes, and lung diseases. Locklear strives to give back to his community by being a light in a dark place for his patients. He educates his patients about their chronic conditions and provides them with the skills they need for a better quality of life.
Locklear, a Native American Lumbee from Robeson County, North Carolina, provides culturally competent care to help the underprivileged people in his hometown. He says the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is culturally rich and undeniably unique. He notes this region of North Carolina has experienced a significant amount overdoses, suicides, mental illnesses, heart disease and diabetes. Locklear, as a native, hopes to help his people overcome these challenges.
READ MOREWe encourage you to learn more about Native American Heritage Month by visit these sites:
- https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/
- https://www.ncai.org/initiatives/native-american-heritage-month
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a priority at Frontier Nursing University. Patients are more receptive to care from a health provider who understands their culture and socioeconomic background. We want to build a culture that is inclusive and caring for all.
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).