AIS Alumni

Instructional Designer
UNC Pembroke

Terry Locklear holds a BA in American Indian Studies from UNC Pembroke (‘03) and an MS in Instructional Technology from East Carolina University (‘06). He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in higher education administration from UNC Wilmington.

Locklear has worked in UNCP's Office of Distance Education since 2004 and has served his alma mater in various professional capacities as well. Most notably, he was UNCP's Staff Council Chair (2012-2014) and was part of the UNC Staff Assembly's Executive Committee (2013-2016). Locklear has also served on various university committees, including the most recent Chancellor's Search Committee and the University Oversight Committee. Locklear considers his AIS degree among his proudest accomplishments. The program led him to discover a passion for Natives, which is why he remains at UNCP today. In his doctoral program, Locklear is conducting research on how universities can better serve Native students via distance education.

STEM Success Coach
First Americans' Pathway to S.T.E.M. Success
Robeson Community College 

Taylor Strickland is the daughter of Ronnie and Landa Strickland of the St. Anna Community in Pembroke and an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina Pembroke (UNCP) in 2021 with a BA in American Indian Studies and a minor in social welfare. While at UNCP, Taylor was a member of the Native American Student Organization and served as a student service leader for social justice with the Office for Community and Civic Engagement. She participated in the International Indigenous Exchange Consortium (IIEC) in 2018 and 2019 with study abroad to Canada and Australia led by AIS faculty.

 

Michigan State University College of Law

Lydia Locklear is the daughter of Dr. Curt Jr. and Janice Locklear of the Union Chapel Community of Pembroke and graduated from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) in 2014 with a B.A. in American Indian Studies. She is a third-year student at Michigan State University College of Law pursuing a certificate in Indian law from the Indigenous Law and Policy Center. She serves as President of the Native American Law Students Association and Vice-President of the Christian Legal Society. Lydia’s time in law school at Michigan State has been filled with amazing opportunities that include working with local tribes in Michigan, as well as with tribes as far away as California. In 2016, she completed a directed study under the supervision of her professor, Matthew Fletcher, and worked with the Lumbee Tribe to research and write a memo on ways the Tribe could update and improve its enrollment ordinance. Lydia was excited and grateful to her professor and to her Tribe for the experience.

In summer 2016, Lydia was the Sidley Fellow for the Indian Law Resource Center in Washington, D.C. The Indian Law Resource Center is a nonprofit legal and advocacy organization that provides legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations who are working to protect their lands, resources, human rights, environments, and cultural heritage. The Center helped draft the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was endorsed by the United States in 2010. The Center also provided legal support to indigenous leaders during the negotiation sessions for the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The American Declaration is a human rights instrument that promotes and protects the rights of indigenous peoples in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. The American Declaration was approved by the Organization of American States Working Group on May 19, 2016, after 19 years of negotiations on the text. Lydia attended the last round of negotiations between indigenous leaders and countries from the Americas. During the negotiations, she met delegates, ambassadors, and indigenous leaders from North, Central and South America, as well as indigenous peoples from the Caribbean.

Lydia says, “I am... thankful for the opportunities that I have had. With the support of my family and my professors at UNCP, I believed I could accomplish my dreams, and now I am living them!”

Administrative Assistant, Interpretive Services Unit
National Museum of the American Indian

Anthony Dwayne Bullard (Lumbee) is the administrator assistant for the Office of Interpretive Services at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C.  Bullard’s role is to oversee all administrative duties and business processes for the Museum Learning and Programs Unit.

Bullard completed an internship residency at the NMAI in 2009 and joined as a full-time staff member in 2011 as an education assistant. Bullard holds a Bachelor of Arts in American Indian Studies from the University of North Carolina Pembroke (UNCP) and a Museum Studies Certification (2005) from the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bullard’s previous work includes internships at the UNCP Museum of the Southeast American Indian and the North Carolina Indian Economic Development Initiative. Bullard has a performance background in acrobatic-gymnastics, choreography, dance and tumbling, piano and trumpet.

University Library Technician
UNC Pembroke

Sherry holds a BA in American Indian Studies (’04) and a BA in Sociology (’14) from UNC Pembroke. She earned a Master of Library Science from East Carolina University (’20).

Sherry has served UNC Pembroke for more than a decade in the Livermore Library. She began her UNCP career under a service contract with the library and was permanently hired in 2006. Sherry served in the Livermore Library Government Documents department until she transitioned to Cataloging in 2013, where she currently serves as a university library technician.

Youth Development Program Coordinator
Oneida Nation Enterprises

Donald is a second-generation college graduate and a registered member of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York (Wolf clan). Donald holds an AA in General Education (’18) from Fayetteville Technical Community College and a BA in American Indian Studies with a minor in Management (’22) from UNC Pembroke.

In 2018, Donald was awarded the American Indian Academic Achievement Award - James “Big Jim” Oxendine Leadership Award. While attending UNCP, he participated in various travel opportunities, including a service-learning trip to Tahlequah, OK, and the International Indigenous Exchange Consortium trip to the University of Saskatchewan. Donald served as the round table officer during his time with NASO. He worked as an undergrad field research assistant with Dr. Elizabeth Korver-Glenn of the University of New Mexico, who works on housing issues for Native Americans. 

Donald is currently in Oneida, NY, working as the youth development program coordinator for Oneida Nation Enterprises. This job allows Donald to interact directly with both young and elderly members of his community, giving him much-needed insight into the issues plaguing the Oneida people. He utilizes the knowledge and skill sets he developed during his time at UNCP.