Wednesday, April 11, 2018// The Statement
7B

C

heyenne Travioli is more than just a leader in
the University of Michigan’s Native American
community. Though she’s a leader on Martha Cook

Residence Hall’s Multicultural Council and a champion of
underrepresented minorities, Travioli’s most remarkable trait
isn’t just her academic and community excellence. Through
her life, Travioli has shown a remarkable sense of wisdom.

Named after her reservation, Travioli is a member of the

Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, part of the Lakota Nation. But for
Travioli, like many other natives, these reservations aren’t a
safe home.

“Not all reservations are the same, not all are as

bad,” Cheyenne said. “There’s not many resources. My
reservation, I haven’t gone out there since I was a little girl,
because it’s pretty bad.”

As run-down as life on her reservation was, Travioli hasn’t

forgotten because according to her, these poor conditions
were due to a lack of awareness by the public.

“(Reservations) are put off in the corner,” Travioli said.

“They were built that way so non-Natives wouldn’t have to
interact with Natives.”

Because of her experiences, Travioli, an LSA senior,

has designed her professional endeavors to further Native
American causes. When she became chair of the Martha Cook
Multicultural Society, Travioli used that opportunity to make
a change.

“I decided to take hold of educating the girls within my

dorm about Native American issues and the culture in general
because I know Native Americans on campus,” she said.
“We’re not really represented as much as I would like to see.”

With this goal in mind, Travioli threw numerous cultural

and educational events in Martha Cook throughout November
— Native American history month. She educated students on
traditional regalia and served guests various teas with fried bread
and “wojapi.” After gathering more people than she expected,
Travioli fed her guests not just food, but also knowledge.

Outside of her roles at Martha Cook, Travioli is a board

member of the LEAD Scholars program. Through LEAD
Scholars, she collaborates with the Native American Student
Association to further Native American representation on
campus. With Martha Cook residents, LEAD Scholars, and
NASA, Travioli organized a powwow — a Native American
ceremony with feasting and dancing.

“I tried to advertise about this powwow, advertise about

current Native American issues, and (raise awareness) for
lectures through the American culture department,” she said.

Travioli’s efforts in educating students about Native American

heritage has culminated in a History of Art major with minors
in Museum Studies and Native American Studies. With these
concentrations, Travioli is currently working on a project that
fills in some of the blank pages of the University’s history.

“Under Professor Tiya Miles, we are looking through

documents at the Bentley, and anything we can find in the
Clements (William L. Clements Library) about Michigan’s
Biological Station and it possibly being on stolen Native
American land,” she said.

Travioli’s activism has extended outside of the University as

well. She is a frequent contributor to Her Campus. Through Her
Campus, Travioli supports not just Native American culture, but
other cultures and “‘invisible” identities by sharing the wisdom
she’s learned from her own tumultuous past. She teaches others
to accept their damages and disabilities as a part of their identity.

After her time at the University, Travioli hopes to one

day work at the National Museum of American History in
Washington, D.C. where she’d like to expand upon Native
American cultural exhibits.

“Throughout the years, if a museum featured Native

American art, I always found myself a little disappointed
because there’s only a number of artifacts compared to, say,
the Islamic Department or African American Department,”
she said. “What motivates me to be in the field is to make sure
my people are represented well.”

J

ad Elharake has much to look forward to as a
graduating LSA senior. He’s taking a gap year
working at the University of Michigan Medical

School, where he will look at health inequities through the
Office for Health Equity and Inclusion. Next year, without
the pressure of coursework, perhaps he’ll have more time to
watch Real Madrid play soccer or practice dabke, an Arab
folk dance he loves. But Elharake also has much to look back
on, particularly within the communities he’s worked these
past four years.

“It’s the communities that I’ve been a part of, it’s the

support, it’s the going through the struggles with other
students, that’s what I’ll miss the most,” Elharake said.

Being of an Arab-Muslim background, as well as being a

first-generation student, Elharake has spent much of his time
on campus devoted to empowering these communities.

“It’s the idea of one, the identities that I hold, but at the

same time, it’s knowing that this institution is not built for the
students who come from my communities,” he said. “That
drive of changing this institution and changing campus for it
to best fit my communities.”

Elharake was the host of Arab Xpressions, the Arab

Student Association’s annual culture show, and is a diversity
peer educator in West Quad Residence Hall. Another
organization he’s part of is PILOT, a group focused on
guiding students, primarily those who are first-generation or
underrepresented, to become leaders on campus. Elharake
serves as the undergraduate adviser in Pilot, where he works
to inspire younger students on campus.

“Now, I’m empowering the next generation of students,”

Elharake said. “It’s all about preparing for them for their next
steps, what they will do on campus. What PILOT will do is
prepare you to be a leader in your own community on campus.”

In addition to this work, Elharake has been active in

working with the administration to help better support the

Arab and Muslim communities. In 2015, Elharake and others
pressured the University to acknowledge the Beirut terrorist
attacks — an issue hitting close to home for Elharake, who
immigrated from Beirut to Dearborn when he was seven.
Eventually, Elharake, along with other students and faculty
members, formed the Islamophobia Working Group, a group
of students, faculty and administrators who meet monthly to
address anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments on campus.

Elharake is one of the main organizers of #WeExist, an

initiative started in the Islamophobia Working Group. It’s a
campaign to add a Middle Eastern/North African identity
category to University documents. The team reached out to
all three University campuses, meeting with administrators
and garnering student support. Central Student Government
eventually approved the category, and now Elharake is
working with them to figure out implementation.

“We were thinking about how we have concerns and

issues in our communities, but we don’t have data that
backs that up,” Elharake said. “That’s where it all came
about. The reason we don’t have data is because we’re
not counted on campus.”

Though he will soon be leaving the University, he

plans to continue his activist work through medical
school and beyond.

“Taking this work, seeing how I can translate it into

medical school, and then seeing how that can translate into
my academic career,” Elharake said.

As an activist and a mentor, Elharake firmly believes in

one’s duty to help and empower future generations. This is
the advice he has for other students — more of which is to
come in his commencement speech at graduation:

“There are people who helped get you to where you are

now, and played some type of role,” Elharake said. “It’s almost
your responsibility for the next group of students. It’s the idea
of paying it forward.”

Jad

Elharake

BY ELIZABETH LAWRENCE,

DAILY STAFF REPORTER

Cheyenne
Travioli

BY VAQAAS ASLAM,

FOR THE DAILY

Alec Cohen/Daily

Ahad Bootwala/Daily