Tricia Zunker
Tricia Zunker has served as Associate Justice of the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court since 2013. She has also served as President of the Wausau Board of Education, is founding director of Central Wisconsin Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee, and is a member of Ho-Chunk Nation. She is a first generation college graduate, earning a B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law. In addition to her work as Ho-Chunk Supreme Court Justice, she is a longtime educator. She teaches concurrently in the Legal Studies department at University of Maryland, in the Criminal Justice department at Colorado State University-Global Campus, and serves as law professor at California School of Law, where she is also Dean of Faculty. Tricia was also candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District in 2020. She is a member of the ACLU of Wisconsin Board of Directors, including serving on the Executive Committee, and a member of the Midwest Environmental Advocates Board of Directors. Tricia’s lived experiences have instilled in her a passion for public education, social justice, protecting the environment, ensuring fundamental rights and achieving representation reflective of society. She resides in Wausau with her eleven year-old son and their rescue pup, Diesel.
Thursday, October 28, 2021, 2021 | 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM
An Indigenous Perspective on Equity and Opportunity in Wisconsin Public Education
Wisconsin is home to eleven federally-recognized tribes. 95% of Indigenous students attend Wisconsin public schools. However, policies and practices that are not culturally-sensitive impact the educational experience of all students. This discussion will address the role of boarding schools in Wisconsin and subsequent historical trauma; continued use of Native American mascots, imagery, nicknames and symbols in Wisconsin public schools and the negative impact, based on peer-reviewed credible research; Act 31 compliance, or lack thereof, in Wisconsin; and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Persons crisis and the role of public education as a tool to combat this ongoing epidemic. This discussion will also focus on addressing culturally-responsive school board policies specific to Indigenous students; the critical role of restorative justice; and the role of public education in closing opportunity gaps to address underrepresentation of Native Americans in many careers. Finally, this discussion will conclude with a focus on the role of diversity in leadership in public education, including: the need to increase diversity to achieve policies and practices that address the needs of all populations; barriers to achieving diversity in leadership roles in public education; and meaningful actions we can take to achieve leadership that is reflective of society.
