Carla Sineway: Helping others define their own success

In every new face on the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College campus, Carla Sineway sees a version of her younger self, who first enrolled at CMU in 1973.

As a young woman navigating higher education in the 1970’s, Carla, ’88, often felt lost and alone, struggling to find her path. Next year, she plans to wrap up a 40-year career centered around guiding and supporting others. She has worked at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College for 23 years, the last 13 as college president.

Carla’s perspective was fostered as a child caregiver for her siblings. Here, in her words, is a look at Carla’s journey:

“I had to help Mom with the new babies, and took care of my youngest brother, raising him. He thought I was his mother. That mindset rolled into my job as a social worker, and then tribal education director, dean of students, and college president. 

“When I graduated from high school, few on the reservation went to college, so there was no one who could really help me through the process. I struggled and ended up at several other schools before coming back to CMU years later. 

“At the tribal college, we have a lot of first-generation students. We let them know we’re here to help. When someone is shaken inside, you bring support and give them strength, and let them know they’re not in this alone.”

“A lot of our students have ‘life situations.’ Last fall, we had students come in crying when they couldn’t feed their kids after losing SNAP benefits during the government shutdown. We provided Thanksgiving dinners for anyone who needed it. That’s the purpose of a tribal college — we take students nobody else wants and help them succeed.

“We let students define their own success. Some might say, ‘I’m 40 years old and finally graduated, and now I’ll make sure my kids and grandkids go to college.’ —That’s something to celebrate. Or maybe a mom with little ones attends part-time and earns a three-point GPA, proving to themselves they’re capable of succeeding academically. We’ll celebrate that, too.

“There’s a lot to this job, and much of it is taking care of problems. Earlier, we were between cleaning companies, so every day I took the trash out. You have to get the job done. I’ve been doing that my whole life.”

“I look at my years at the college, dealing with Covid, budget cuts, executive orders, and other things we never thought would happen, and we handled them so they had very little impact on students. Whatever you throw at me, I’ll get through it.

“No individual is their own strength; everyone has their personal strength, but they’re made stronger by their surroundings and what they work through.”