Dr. Venida Chenault initially discontinued her undergraduate studies at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, due to a family tragedy. Decades later, Chenault’s education journey is coming full circle, after being selected as the university’s seventh president in January 2014.
After leaving Haskell, Chenault began working as a hotel maid. She then took vocational classes to become a secretary. With a son in tow, she became dissatisfied with her wages and the prospect of her future.
“You can only earn so much with that level of skill,” says Chenault, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes. “I also felt like there had to be more out there. I decided that I needed to go back to school and pursue my education.”
In 1984, she returned to Haskell, transferring to the University of Kansas soon after to pursue a degree in social work.
Early childhood experiences motivated Chenault to pursue a career in social welfare. Growing up in Topeka, Kansas, with five siblings raised by a single mother, Chenault’s family lived on meager means. In her early teens, she went to the welfare office with her mother — a strong woman who was a role model to the entire family.
“We met with a social worker who treated my mom very poorly,” she recalls. “I sat there watching her and thought to myself, ‘How dare you treat my mom with such disrespect,’ and I also thought that, at some point, I’m going to be sitting behind a desk and I will never treat people the way (my mom was) treated.”
