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