OKMULKEE, Oklv. – The College of the Muscogee Nation (CMN) held a grand opening on May 16 for a new campus addition, the Lecture Hall and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Building. Now completed, it is furnished with STEM equipment that will provide hands-on learning for students. The grand opening invited the public to tour the new facilities to see what brand-new learning opportunities the college now has to offer.
The project started in 2021 and took three years to complete. Members of the CMN faculty remarked that they are looking forward to seeing the different partnerships the new facility will create. These partnerships will even help give students direction and assistance as they pursue bachelor and graduate degrees after graduating from CMN.
The grand opening began with CMN President Dr. Monte Randall (Mvskoke) speaking on the efforts that were put into the construction of the project. National Council Representative Galen Cloud led in an opening prayer. After the ribbon was officially cut, the ceremony’s crowd filed into the new facility to see what new features it contained.
CMN is partnering with the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium, a collaboration that includes the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa. CMN is also working on other agreements with institutions outside of the consortium. Their goal is to increase enrollment at CMN and to reach Mvskoke citizens across the reservation and across the United States.
Dr. Randall spoke about the future, and what this building holds for it. “This facility is our lecture hall and STEM building so it brings to the campus a new direction of focus on technology as a 1994 land grant institution,” Dr. Randall said.
The lecture hall and STEM building has many features, including three classrooms, an auditorium, video wall, a 3D printer, a laser engraver, drones and computers designed for programming. The One Net data system and Kakke (Raven) supercomputer is what brings all of the new technology together in this facility.
Dr. Randall shared that the key features of this building includes the 25 ft LG 4k video wall, and stadium seating that can seat up to 400 people in the lecture hall. The new facility also proudly features a STEM logo that has ties to the Tribe’s history.
“That’s the Mvskoke STEM icon that we created that illustrates Indigenous knowledge that there’s always been Indigenous knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math so we recall back to that. We produce these STEM icons that show our people and show academia that Indigenous knowledge that we’ve alway had,” Randall said.
The new building also features a skylight that tracks the sun. The design allows the sun’s rays to shine across the lecture hall lobby. This year’s summer solstice on June 21 will allow the sun to shine directly in front of the lecture hall. According to Dr. Randall, the new addition to the college was a team effort on behalf of the tribe.
“We can’t do any of this without the support of the Principal Chief and the National Council. We thank them for all of their support for everything that they’ve done for us across the years and particularly for this building for everything that they’ve done to help us,” Dr. Randall said.
