OKMULGEE, Okla. – The College of the Muscogee Nation (CMN) recently participated in a photoshoot for USA Today. They will be featured in an advertisement for this year’s Native American Heritage month. This involved current students, alumni, staff and faculty all dressed up in their regalia.
CMN President Dr. Monte Randall (Mvskoke) has worked for the college for a little over two years now. He mentioned it was a great turnout not only for the different pictures being taken, but also for those that participated in it. According to Randall, this advertisement should be released somewhere between early to mid November.
Randall is excited for this opportunity to promote the college and show citizens within the reservation of Oklahoma and nationally.
This partnership between USA Today and CMN began about a year ago. The publication reached out to CMN for an agriculture edition and took pictures of the natural resource students. Randall mentioned this could help recruit students from Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters, high schools and other land grant institutions.
CMN’s marketing plan then was to seek growth for future enrollment and to gain attention for potential donors. Their plan is to promote the college within the reservation, state and nation.
“They called back up and they said that they were doing Native American Heritage month edition later this year in November. They asked if we wanted to be put in an ad, just that natural attention that’s a pretty big magazine so it has a big reach,” Randall said.
He made the open call for the current students, alumni, staff and faculty to represent their image, as well as their message. “We get to determine what our image is and we get to determine what our message is with this national recognition, we wanted to take the opportunity to showcase,” Randall said.
National Spotlight
Within the national reach, CMN so far has been featured in magazines including Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA), USA Today for agriculture and currently Native American heritage month, according to Randall.
Randall is open to opportunities for the college to be featured in other national publications, but wants to continue working with USA Today. “It’s about showing everybody who we are and really trying to connect with those donors, other institutions and other organizations that may want to join us on this mission,” Randall said.
Randall is proud of the college and wants to eventually take the Mvskoke language classes that CMN provides so he can become a CMN alumni as well. Randall is a Haskell Indian Nations University alumni, he understands the importance of tribal colleges.
“I’m very proud of this institution and the work that we have done over the last 19 years so we’re a very young institution but we made a lot of progress, we are reaching almost 500 alumni that are working within the Muscogee (Creek) Nations programs, going on higher ed. degrees, but also establishing their own career if that’s what they want. So this college is making a huge impact within the nation,” Randall said
Randall is looking forward to reaching citizens who live outside the reservation. Although their primary focus is recruiting students within MCN and Oklahoma, the college is looking to increase national visibility.
CMN currently has a marketing coordinator and consultant. During this time they are trying to reach college alumni on their Facebook page. They are working on current and future campaign strategies. Randall said he has received a lot of support, and has seen posts shared on Facebook.
For more information about the college, follow CMN’s Facebook page, or check out their website.
yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!!! so exciting!!!!