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Ken Tuckfield (he/him/his)
Native Indigenous Student Success Specialist
Hello! My name is Ken Tuckfield, I am an Inupiaq Alaskan Native and I am truly thrilled to work at UW Tacoma as the Native and Indigenous Student Success Specialist! I am working to build vibrant Native and Indigenous community of scholars at UW Tacoma. UW Tacoma already has a Native American/Indigenous RSO, The Cedar Circle. This group has strong leadership and puts on great activities, and I will work to support their vision. I will support The Cedar Circle to organize events and activities that builds community among the Native and Indigenous students, and the UW Tacoma campus as a whole. UW Tacoma also has an engaged cohort of Native American faculty, and I am beyond excited to partner with them for broader planning and organization. Finally, I will continue fostering collaborative relationships with the local tribes. Partnering with local tribes, at UW Tacoma and on Tribal Reservations, will grow collaborative communities that support each other! Outside of work I have a number of interesting hobbies. I love being active; I regularly hike, bike, run, and do yoga. I also love music; I collect vinyl records and love going to concerts!
Ariel Vasquez (he/she/they)
Student Assistant
The secretary to the Native and Indigenous RSO Cedar Circle and assistant to the syayəʔadiʔ (Family Room), Arial is an immigrant from Nicaragua, who grew up under the influence of the Catholic Church, and later the western depictions of queerness in American media. Ariel was hired in 2022 to aid the activities in the Family Room.
Some of Ariel's interests lie in urban community development, working class solidarity, and decolonization of gender dynamics. Their work in the Family Room has served as an introductory stage in UWT's effort to encourage tribal members and folks of indigenous descent to make the institutions' resources their own to claim for the purpose of exerting influence in policy making and local, as well as mainstream culture.