View source for Fort Lewis College

{{Short description|Public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado, US}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                   = Fort Lewis College
 | image                  = Fort Lewis College seal.svg
 | image_size             = 150
 | image_alt              = Fort Lewis College seal
 | former_name            = Fort Lewis Indian School<br>Fort Lewis A&M College (1948–1964)
 | motto                  = 
 | established            = {{start date and age|1911}}<ref name="USNews">{{cite magazine| url = http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/fort-lewis-college-1353 | title = Fort Lewis College (2011) | magazine = U.S. News & World Report | access-date = 2012-02-23}}</ref>
 | closed                 = 
 | type                   = [[Public college|Public]] [[Liberal arts colleges in the United States|liberal arts college]]
 | accreditation          = [[Higher education accreditation in the United States|Higher Learning Commission]]
 | academic_affiliation   = [[Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges]]<br />[[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space-grant]]
 | endowment              = 
 | president              = Heather Shotton
 | provost                = Mario Martinez
 | students               = 3,544 (Fall 2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Common Data Sets {{!}} Institutional Research |publisher=Fort Lewis College |url=https://www.fortlewis.edu/about-flc/leadership/institutional-effectiveness/institutional-research/common-data-sets}}</ref>
 | undergrad              = 3,393 (Fall 2024)
 | postgrad               = 152 (Fall 2024)
 | city                   = [[Durango, Colorado]]
 | country                = U.S.
 | coor                   = {{coord|37.275|-107.869999|display=inline,title|type:edu}}
 | campus_type            = [[Rural]]
 | campus_size            = {{convert|247|acre}}
 | former_names           = 
 | athletics_affiliations = [[NCAA Division II]] – [[Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference|Rocky Mountain]]<br>[[USA Cycling]] Division I
 | colors                 = {{color box|#000066}} {{color box|#0066CC}} {{color box|#FFCC33}} <br> Dark blue, light blue, gold<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fortlewis.edu/Portals/119/Docs/flcguide2.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-12-16 |archive-date=2015-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222123758/https://www.fortlewis.edu/Portals/119/Docs/flcguide2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 | sports_nickname        = [[Fort Lewis Skyhawks|Skyhawks]]
 | mascot                 = Skyler the Skyhawk
 | website                = {{URL|https://www.fortlewis.edu/|fortlewis.edu}}
 | logo                   = Fort lewis college simpletext.png
 | logo_size              = 250
 | footnotes              = 
}}

'''Fort Lewis College''' ('''FLC''') is a [[Public college|public]] [[Liberal arts colleges in the United States|liberal arts college]] in [[Durango, Colorado]], and the only four-year and graduate studies institution in the [[Four Corners|Four Corners region]]. FLC's historical evolution spans its origins as a U.S. military fort, an [[American Indian boarding schools|Indian boarding school]], and eventually a public college.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RG11 -- records of Fort Lewis school and junior college and prior history |url=https://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/finding_aids/FLC_Guide/RG11.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=swcenter.fortlewis.edu}}</ref>

In accordance with a 1911 mandate,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zialcita · |first=Paolo |date=2021-03-22 |title=Fort Lewis College Shows The Way As Colorado Considers Tuition Change For Native Americans |url=https://www.cpr.org/2021/03/22/as-colorado-considers-tuition-change-for-native-americans-fort-lewis-shows-how-it-can-help/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Colorado Public Radio |language=en}}</ref> Fort Lewis College provides tuition-free education to qualified [[Classification of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American Tribal]] and [[Alaska Native village|Alaska Native Village]] members. The college serves a diverse community comprising 37% Native American/Alaska Native learners, representing 166 Native American Tribes and Alaska Native Villages, 43% first-generation students, 42% Pell Grant recipients, and 15% Hispanic/Latinx students.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fort Lewis Data & Facts {{!}} Institutional Research |url=https://www.fortlewis.edu/about-flc/leadership/institutional-effectiveness/institutional-research/fort-lewis-data-facts |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.fortlewis.edu}}</ref>

In 2008, the [[United States Department of Education|U.S. Department of Education]] designated FLC as a Native American-Serving, Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTI).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions Program {{!}} U.S. Department of Education |url=https://www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-special-populations/grants-native-alaskan-pacific/native-american-serving-nontribal-institutions-program |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=www.ed.gov |language=en}}</ref> FLC is also recognized as a First Generation-Serving Institution<ref>{{Cite web |title=First Generation-Serving Institution Designation {{!}} Colorado Department of Higher Education Home |url=https://cdhe.colorado.gov/first-gen |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=cdhe.colorado.gov}}</ref> by the [[Colorado|State of Colorado]] and an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) {{!}} White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics |url=https://sites.ed.gov/hispanic-initiative/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
The first Fort Lewis army post was constructed in [[Pagosa Springs, Colorado]], in 1878, and was relocated in 1880 to [[Hesperus, Colorado]], on the southern slopes of the [[La Plata Mountains]]. In 1891, Fort Lewis was decommissioned and converted into a federal, off-reservation [[Native American boarding schools|Indian boarding school]].

In 1911, the fort's property and buildings in [[Hesperus, Colorado|Hesperus]] were transferred to the state of Colorado to establish an "agricultural and mechanic arts high school." That deed came with two conditions: that the land would be used for an educational institution, and "to be maintained as an institution of learning to which Indian students will be admitted free of tuition and on an equality with white students" in perpetuity.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sieg |first=Stina |date=January 3, 2023 |title=Once a boarding school, a college now aims to reclaim education for Native people |language=en |work=NPR News |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/01/03/1146780998/once-a-boarding-school-a-college-now-aims-to-reclaim-education-for-native-people#storytext |access-date=2023-01-04}}</ref><ref>Act of the US Congress of April 4, 1910, chapter 140, {{USPL|61|114}}, {{USStat|36|269}}, section 5 at 274, {{USBill|61|HR|19028}}. Act of the Colorado General Assembly of January 25, 1911, Laws 1911, Page 39.</ref> Both conditions have been the missions and guides for the Fort Lewis school's various incarnations over the past century.

The Fort Lewis high school expanded into a two-year college in the 1930s, and in 1948 it became Fort Lewis A&M College, under the State Board of Agriculture's control. The "Aggies" studying at the Fort Lewis Branch of the [[Colorado State University|Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanics]] could take courses in agriculture, forestry, engineering, veterinary science, and home economics.

[[File:Fort Lewis in Hesperus 1880s.jpg|thumb|left|The Fort Lewis military post in Hesperus, Colorado, May 1883]]

Fort Lewis College began another period of growth and changes in 1956, when the college moved from its longtime home in Hesperus to its present location, {{convert|18 |miles}} east, atop what was then known as Reservoir Hill, overlooking Durango. Here, FLC became a four-year institution, awarding its first baccalaureate degrees in 1964.

Also in 1964, the college dropped the "A&M" moniker, changed its mascot from the Aggies to the Raiders, and changed the school's colors from the green and yellow of the Colorado State University system it had been affiliated with to blue and gold.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Duane|title=Sacred Trust: The birth and development of Fort Lewis College|year=1991|publisher=University Press of Colorado|isbn=978-0-87081-234-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sacredtrustbirth0000smit}}</ref> In 1994, the college's mascot became the Skyhawks. In 1995, FLC joined the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, and in 2002, it became independent of the Colorado State University system and formed its own governing Board of Trustees.

=== Reconciliation efforts ===
In 2019, Fort Lewis College formed the Committee on FLC History to examine its connection to the [[Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative|federal Indian boarding school]] system. The college has since undertaken initiatives including listening sessions, community engagement, and institutional changes aimed at [[Reconciliation (United States Congress)|reconciliation]]. In partnership with the [[Southern Ute Indian Reservation|Southern Ute Indian Tribe]] and the [[Ute Mountain Ute Tribe]], FLC supported legislation<ref>{{Citation |last1=Coram |first1=Don |title=Native American Boarding Schools |issue=HB22-1327 |url=https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1327 |access-date=2024-12-10 |last2=Moreno |first2=Dominick |last3=McLachlan |first3=Barbara |last4=Herod |first4=Leslie}}</ref> investigating the impacts of [[Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative|federal Indian boarding schools]] in [[Colorado]]. The Board of Trustees reaffirmed its commitment to reconciliation in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commitment to Reconciliation {{!}} Board of Trustees {{!}} Fort Lewis College |url=https://www.fortlewis.edu/about-flc/leadership/board-of-trustees/agendas-minutes/resolutions/commitment-to-reconciliation |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=www.fortlewis.edu}}</ref>

In 2025, the Fort Lewis College Board of Trustees named Heather Shotton the new college president, making her the first Indigenous person to hold the position. Shotton, who is [[Cheyenne people|Cheyenne]] and [[Kiowa people|Kiowa]] and a citizen of the [[Wichita people|Wichita & Affiliated Tribes]], had previously served as FLC's Vice President of Diversity Affairs.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Clark |last1=Adomatis |date=April 28, 2025 |title=Fort Lewis College names its first Indigenous president |url=https://www.ksjd.org/2025-04-28/fort-lewis-college-names-its-first-indigenous-president |website=ksjd.org |publisher=Four Corners Public Radio}}</ref>

==Campus==
The 247-acre Fort Lewis College campus is in southwestern Colorado, 6,872 feet atop a mesa overlooking the [[Animas River|Animas River Valley]] and downtown [[Durango, Colorado]]. A network of trails as well as city bus service (free to students with FLC IDs) connects the campus and town.

Today, on-campus housing is in six residence halls and two apartment buildings, with singles, doubles, and suites. Also on campus are 14 academic buildings, as well as a Student Life Center, Aquatic Center, and Student Union. On-campus athletic facilities include Ray Dennison Memorial Field, Dirks Field, the Softball Complex, Whalen Gymnasium, and the Factory Trails, an off-road bicycling race course.

[[File:Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado.jpeg|thumb|The La Plata Mountains rise behind the Fort Lewis College campus.]]

The new Student Union opened in 2011, and hosts the college's cultural centers, the Native American Center and El Centro de Muchos Colores, student government, the Environmental Center, the post office, and the bookstore. 

The [[U.S. Green Building Council]] awarded the Student Union LEED Gold status for its sustainability features. It is the third LEED Gold building on campus, along with the Berndt Hall Biology Wing and Animas Hall. Those environmental awards helped FLC be named one of "America's Coolest Schools" by ''Sierra'' magazine, the official publication of the [[Sierra Club]], in 2011.<ref>[http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201109/coolschools/ ''Sierra'' "Cool Schools 2011"]</ref>

==Academics==
Fort Lewis College is divided into three academic units: the School of Arts & Sciences, the Katz School of Business, and the School of Education. These units collectively offer 60 undergraduate majors, 47 minors, and 23 certificates. The college also provides five graduate programs and four graduate certificates in education. Additionally, Fort Lewis College offers two "3+2" master's programs in social work and public history, in partnership with the [[University of Colorado Denver|University of Colorado-Denver]] and the [[University of Denver]], respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fortlewis.edu/majorsandprograms/UndergraduateMajorsandPrograms.aspx |title=Undergraduate Majors and Programs &#124; Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado |access-date=2017-07-25 |archive-date=2017-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227121838/https://www.fortlewis.edu/majorsandprograms/UndergraduateMajorsandPrograms.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The institution is [[Higher education accreditation in the United States|accredited]] by the [[Higher Learning Commission]]. Specific programs are also accredited by relevant professional bodies,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Accreditations {{!}} About FLC {{!}} Durango, Colorado |url=https://www.fortlewis.edu/about-flc/accreditations |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=www.fortlewis.edu}}</ref> including:

* Engineering: [[ABET]]
* Katz School of Business: [[Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business]], covering degree programs in Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, and Marketing
* Music: [[National Association of Schools of Music]]

The college's education programs are also approved by the [[Colorado Department of Education]].

==Athletics==
{{main|Fort Lewis Skyhawks}}
The college's athletic teams, the Skyhawks, compete in the [[NCAA]] at the [[NCAA Division II|Division II]] level as a member of the [[Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference]] (RMAC); as well as the [[Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association]] (WILA) for women's lacrosse and a nationally ranked cycling program that competes at the Division I level of [[USA Cycling|USA Collegiate Cycling]].<ref name="FLCcyclingmodel">{{cite news|last=Meyer|first=Matt|publisher=Gran Junction Sentinel|url=http://www.gjsentinel.com/special_sections/articles/mavericks-modeling-cycling-program-after-fort-lewi|title=Mavericks modeling cycling program after Fort Lewis|date=October 6, 2012|access-date=January 20, 2013|archive-date=July 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730200851/http://www.gjsentinel.com/special_sections/articles/mavericks-modeling-cycling-program-after-fort-lewi|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017, FLC's cycling program won its 23rd national championship at the 2017 [[USA Cycling]] Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in [[Missoula, Montana]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Livingston|first1=John|title=Fort Lewis College cycling claims 23rd national championship|url=https://durangoherald.com/articles/190618|access-date=19 December 2017|work=The Durango Herald|issue=23 October 2017|publisher=Ballantine Communications|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222052105/https://durangoherald.com/articles/190618|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Ray Dennison Memorial Field and foundational use of "student-athlete" ===
Home football games and lacrosse matches are hosted at Ray Dennison Memorial Field, which can accommodate 4,000 - 6,000 spectators.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ray Dennison Memorial Field, City of Durango |url=https://cityseeker.com/durango-co/1147268-ray-dennison-memorial-field |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=cityseeker |language=en}}</ref> The field was named in honor of Fort Lewis A&M College football player Ray Dennison, a 26-year-old married father of three who died as a result of an on-field collision while playing in a football game vs. Trinidad Junior College in September 1955. Following his death, his widow filed a claim for death benefits with the Colorado Industrial Commission. The commission approved the claim which was affirmed on appeal by a Colorado district court. However, Fort Lewis College together with the State Compensation Insurance Fund appealed the claim to the Colorado Supreme Court. In 1957, the court ruled that his widow was not entitled to death benefits because football players are "student-athletes" and the employer-employee relationship does not exist. This ruling was foundational to defining the legal relationship between the colleges and their athletes and one of the earliest known uses of the term student-athlete.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slothower |first=Chuck |title=Fort Lewis' first 'student-athlete' |url=https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/fort-lewis-first-student-athlete/ |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=Durango Herald |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Branch |first=Taylor |author-link1=Taylor Branch |date=October 2011 |title=The Shame of College Sports |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/?single_page=true |accessdate=January 7, 2022 |publisher=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref>{{Col-begin|width=auto}}

{{Col-break}}
Men's sports:
* [[College basketball|Basketball]] 
* [[Cross country running|Cross country]]
* [[Cycle sport|Cycling]]
* [[College football|Football]] 
* [[Golf]] 
* [[College soccer in the United States|Soccer]]

{{Col-break|gap=5em}}
Women's sports:
* [[Women's college basketball|Basketball]]
* [[Cross country running|Cross country]]
* [[Cycle sport|Cycling]]
* [[College lacrosse|Lacrosse]]
* [[College soccer in the United States|Soccer]]
* [[Softball]]
* [[Volleyball]]
{{col-end}}

==Notable alumni==
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* [[Linden Ashby]] (attended) – actor
* [[David M. Beazley]] – [[Python (programming language)|Python]] developer and author
* [[Chris Camozzi]] (attended) – competed in wrestling and rugby; professional [[mixed martial artist]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Chris Camozzi UFC Bio|url=https://www.ufc.com/athlete/chris-camozzi|access-date=2014-01-01}}</ref>
* [[Eric Coble]] – playwright and screenwriter
* [[Salifu Jatta]] – professional [[Association football|footballer]]
* [[Myron Lizer]] – politician and businessman
* [[Nicco Montaño]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.niccomontano.net/ |title=Official Website of Nicco Montaño |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722055305/http://www.niccomontano.net/ |archive-date=2018-07-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> – professional mixed martial artist, inaugural and current [[UFC]] Flyweight Champion;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ufcespanol.com/athlete/nicco-montano|title = Nicco Montano &#124; UFC|date = 14 September 2018}}</ref> first UFC Champion of [[Navajo]] descent<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nhonews.com/news/2018/jan/30/navajo-nation-honors-ufc-champion-nicco-montano/|title = Navajo Nation honors UFC champion Nicco Montano}}</ref>
* [[Pamela Neary]] – politician<ref>[https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=10447 Minnesota Legislators: Past & Present-Pamela Neary]</ref>
* [[Brianne Nelson]] – distance runner
* [[Eleanor Shirley]] – judge and interim chief justice of the Navajo Nation
* [[Scott Stamper (American football)|Scott Stamper]] – professional football player<ref>{{cite news |author=Langford, Mark |title=When the USFL San Antonio Gunslingers and the Oakland... |work=UPI |date=March 23, 1984 |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/03/23/When-the-USFL-San-Antonio-Gunslingers-and-the-Oakland/3062448866000/ |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Transactions |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 2, 1983 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/02/sports/transactions-205210.html |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref>
* [[Scott Tipton]] – politician

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website}}
* [https://goskyhawks.com/ Athletics website]

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[[Category:Fort Lewis College| ]]
[[Category:Forts in Colorado|Lewis]]
[[Category:Liberal arts colleges in Colorado]]
[[Category:Public universities and colleges in Colorado]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in La Plata County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Colorado Western Slope]]
[[Category:Durango, Colorado]]
[[Category:Education in La Plata County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1911]]
[[Category:1911 establishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in La Plata County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Public liberal arts colleges in the United States]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission]]