PABLO — Salish Kootenai College (SKC) welcomed Montana’s senatorial delegation last weekend, as U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and his newly-appointed colleague, Sen. John Walsh, paid a visit to campus to meet with students, educators and administrators.

SKC representatives thanked the senators for their commitment to early childhood education and tribal education, but emphasized the importance of continuing to improve access to higher education and boosting funding.

“We want to push those issues,” said Jim Durglo, chairman of the college’s board of directors. “Equal funding to tribal students is important.”

Science faculty member Gina Sievert said that, paradoxically, tribal colleges often miss out on grants seeking to remedy the underrepresentation of Native Americans in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

“For too long, money has been going to larger universities to focus on Indian people. We want to do this right here in our community.”

In addition to discussing ways in which SKC’s mission can be helped from the federal level, students and faculty took turns introducing themselves and the focus of their academic work. Their distinguished guests voiced fascination with many of the school’s projects, including programs examining chemical dependency and a climate change education initiative backed by a $1.1 million grant from NASA.

After hearing about the work being done at SKC, Tester marveled at the progress the school has made.

“From where you started out to where you’ve come today is an incredible success story,” said Tester, giving special recognition to president emeritus Joe McDonald and his decades of dedication to the college.

Pitted in what is already a fiercely contested mid-term election, Walsh — chosen to succeed longtime senator Max Baucus earlier this month — said afterwards that the discussion of access to education tied directly into central themes of his campaign, such as job creation.

“Education is one of the critical components of creating quality jobs,” said Walsh.

The former soldier and lieutenant governor also noted that Montana has implemented tuition freezes to help the state retain college graduates — many of whom leave the state to find high-paying jobs necessary to repay student loans.

“In Montana, we’re exporting our greatest natural resource and that is our college graduates,” Walsh said.

The senators’ visit to SKC was part of a broader tour around the state that included meetings with veterans, postal workers, chambers of commerce and other organizations.