Fort Lewis College
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| Type | Public liberal arts college for undergraduates |
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| Established | 1911 |
| President | Dene Kay Thomas |
| Provost | Barbara Morris |
| Undergraduates | 3,864 |
| Location |
Durango, Colorado, U.S. 37°16′30″N 107°52′12″W / 37.275°N 107.869999°WCoordinates: 37°16′30″N 107°52′12″W / 37.275°N 107.869999°W |
| Colors | Dark blue, Light blue, Gold |
| Athletics | NCAA Division II – Rocky Mountain |
| Sports | Varsity, club, and intramural |
| Nickname | Skyhawks |
| Mascot | Skyler the Skyhawk |
| Affiliations | Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools |
| Website | www |
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Fort Lewis College is a public liberal arts college located in Durango, Colorado.
FLC is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, with additional program-level accreditations in Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, and Marketing; Athletic Training; Chemistry; Engineering Physics; Music; and Teacher Education. The college offers 30 bachelor's degrees through its four academic units.
Because of its unique origins as a military fort turned Indian boarding school turned state public school, Fort Lewis College also follows a 1911 mandate to provide a tuition-free education for qualified Native Americans. Fort Lewis College awards approximately 16 percent of the baccalaureate degrees earned by Native American students in the nation. In 2008, FLC was designated as one of six Native American-serving, non-tribal colleges by the U.S. Department of Education.
The first Fort Lewis army post was constructed in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in 1878, and was relocated in 1880 to Hesperus, Colorado, on the southern slopes of the La Plata Mountains. In 1891, Fort Lewis was decommissioned and converted into a federal, off-reservation Indian boarding school.
In 1911, the fort's property and buildings in Hesperus were transferred to the state of Colorado to establish an "agricultural and mechanic arts high school." That deed came with two conditions: that the land would be used for an educational institution, and “to be maintained as an institution of learning to which Indian students will be admitted free of tuition and on an equality with white students” in perpetuity (Act of 61st Congress, 1911). Both conditions have been the missions and guides for the Fort Lewis school's various incarnations over the past century.
In the 1930s, the Fort Lewis high school expanded into a two-year college, and in 1948 became Fort Lewis A&M College, under control of State Board of Agriculture. The "Aggies" studying at the Fort Lewis Branch of the Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanics could choose from courses including agriculture, forestry, engineering, veterinary science, and home economics.
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