Meet Miami U

If you have a strong connection to your roots, you generally don’t want to move somewhere else. But Addison Patrick ’20 followed his roots all the way to a new state! As a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Addison grew up going to tribal events and language camps. It was at one of these camps that he first learned about a school in Ohio called Miami University.

“When I was 16, the camps were bringing down Miami students to be counselors,” he says. “That’s when I first started hearing about the university — being from Oklahoma, I really hadn’t heard a whole lot about it until I started getting closer to college age. Then I took a visit up there and really loved it.” 

Yes, the state and the campus felt right to him. The programs did, too: With a passion for sports, he was eager to pursue a B.S. in Sport Leadership and Management (SLAM). But what reason made him fully decide on Miami? The Myaamia Heritage Award Program.

Addison Learns Deeply and Understands Broadly

Not only did Addison get a four-year scholarship through the Myaamia Heritage Award Program — he also got to deepen his cultural knowledge. Each semester, Addison took weekly Heritage classes at the Myaamia Center on campus. The center covered all sorts of issues relating to his identity, from tribal history and language to environmental interests and current affairs. Best of all, these classes brought him together with his Myaamian peers. They all had different goals and degree plans, but they bonded over their shared cultural identity. And they supported each other every week — all throughout their college journeys.

“Having that consistency was really awesome,” he says, “especially being out of state, coming to a new place, and not knowing anyone. As a freshman, I was interacting with juniors within the tribe. And then when I was a junior, I was meeting freshmen and helping to welcome them in. So I think just from a people perspective, always having that core group that I knew I could rely on — both the students and those in the Myaamia Center — was super helpful for me.”

Addison Serves Purposefully and Leads Boldly

As Addison saw how powerful community leadership could be, he applied his growing sense of identity and purpose to other areas of the Miami experience. He got actively involved in the SLAM Club, pursuing his passion beyond his major. This gave him the opportunity to employ the community values of his Heritage classes in a new way.

In his fourth year at Miami, he became president of the SLAM Club. His goal was to mentor new students. He wanted to pass along the same kind of guidance that he was given in his first year with the club.

“It was really cool,” he says. “I remembered the experience I had as a freshman, where mentors in the club were helping me learn stuff. As a senior, I could help provide the same thing for freshmen: getting internships, and figuring out a little bit more of what they want.”

Just as the Heritage program had nurtured his own identity, Addison’s leadership in SLAM helped create space for others to grow into theirs.

Addison Thinks Freely and Connects Intentionally

Since graduating, Addison has put his degree to good use. He’s now working as an executive assistant to the athletic director at Mississippi State University. And while his sense of cultural identity is as strong as ever, he can’t help but miss the community-within-a-community that he experienced in his Heritage classes at Miami. RedHawks are well known for supporting each other, and that bond was especially true for his fellow Myaamians.

“I would go to the Myaamia Center so many times a day just to interact with people and talk with them outside of class,” he recalls. “I loved having that built-in community and family that I could rely on whenever I needed to.”

At the end of the day, Addison is grateful for the camp counselors he had when he was 16. They were right about Miami University — it’s a school that really spoke his language.

Learn more about the Myaamia Heritage Award Program at Miami University.