The Tribal Nations Tour is an outreach/retention program designed to recruit as well as retain American Indian students at Arizona State University. The strength of TNT is having current ASU students present about their experiences at ASU to current high school and middle school students. This allows for young American Indian students to hear success stories from those who have lived it. There are many rural communities that do not have the resources to send their students to visit the larger university campuses, but TNT makes it possible for those communities to have access to information about enrollment, financial aid, student resources, and campus life.
Throughout the school year, TNT makes small visits to reservation schools and other schools in the Phoenix-metropolitan area that serve American Indian students and hosts AI/AN students visiting ASU campuses. One week before the fall semester begins, TNT travels on a week-long tour, making stops in numerous tribal communities. The tour is meaningful, not only for the communities that TNT visits, but also for the ASU students who participate. They develop their presentation skills, make positive contributions to Native communities and create new bonds with their fellow Sun Devil peers.
The Office of American Indian Initiatives was successful in obtaining a College Access Grant from the State of Arizona Governor's Office of Education Innovation for university recruitment. At the beginning, TNT was known as the "Rez Tour" but later changed to the Tribal Nations Tour. As the grant expired, TNT was found to be so successful that the President's Office at ASU expressed full support in continuing the tour. It has now become an official ASU recruitment program.
