The University of New Mexico-Gallup (UNM-G) is a branch campus of the University of New Mexico; it is located in Gallup roughly 20 miles from the Arizona boarder. UNM-G has the largest Native American student population of any public two-year college in the United States. Nearly eighty percent of the students enrolled are of Native American origin, many of them come from the nearby reservations.
The area surrounding Gallup is defined by rugged mountains, covered with wild dessert flowers. To the west of the city are the beautiful red canyons of the Navajo and Hopi nations. To the south is the historic Zuni Pueblo. Traditionally, Gallup has had the function of trading post and meeting place for the surrounding area (drawing as many as 100,000 people on busy weekends).
Gallup's role as the commercial and educational center of the region has not changed in recent years. Many of the students commute long distances to study at UNM-G. The university draws students from both Arizona and New Mexico. The school is seeking to improve ties with Navajo Nation Chapter Houses in Chilee, Arizona as well as the Zuni Tribal Government in order to better accommodate out-of-state students studying at Gallup.
In addition to reaching out to commuting students the University is also interested in engaging local high schools in university programming. The school already maintains an on-campus Charter School for at risk youth, but it would like to reach to more local schools (many of which support large numbers of at-risk students). Through the AtD program the university seeks to "more effectively support and collaborate with these existing connections and establish structures to provide a clear educational pathway for student achievement."
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