Browning’s Tommy Running Rabbit, Tanner Iron Pipe Earn National Academic Scholarships

MISSOULA – Tommy Running Rabbit grew up in Browning with a dream of playing football for the Montana Grizzlies. Earlier this year, his dream became a reality when he signed with the Griz after an MVP season with Browning High School.

Running Rabbit arrived on the University of Montana campus this summer as a student athlete, and with a chance to become the first athlete from the Blackfeet Reservation to earn a letter playing football for the Griz.

But he also arrived at UM as an exceptional student. Running Rabbit’s stellar academic record led him to earning the Gates Scholarship, a highly-selective scholarship supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The scholarship is for outstanding minority students from low-income households and covers the full cost of earning a bachelor’s degree. Running Rabbit plans to major in biology with a goal of attending pharmacy school and returning to his hometown as a pharmacist.

“Back home, there’s a lot of people who need help,” Running Rabbit said. “I want to support my community and studying pharmacy will help with that.”

Running Rabbit was awarded the Gates Scholarship along with Tanner Iron Pipe, a UM freshman from Browning who plans to major in environmental science and sustainability.

“It means a lot,” Running Rabbit said of the scholarship. “I want to show the kids, and everyone back at home anything is possible. Not trying to sound corny but if you work hard and if you do the extra steps, it will help.”

For Iron Pipe, the scholarship represents all the hard work he put in during his high school career. He was a top student in his class and was awarded the Winslow Nichols Leadership Award, which is nominated by community members, teachers and other school staff.

Now earning the Gates Scholarship will take financial stress off Iron Pipe and his family and allow him to focus on his studies at UM.

“The main thing I’m excited for in college is getting into more specific classes,” Iron Pipe said. “In high school you take a science or biology class and they give you the fundamentals, but I really want to focus on certain subjects.”

Iron Pipe developed a love for science through a UM program in 2019. He was in the first cohort of the Montana American Indians in Math and Science (MT AIMS) summer camp, which brought Native students to the UM campus to gain STEM skills and build pathways to college.

“That program was really helpful. It was the first summer program I did that took me out of Browning,” Iron Pipe said. “From then on, I got more and more interested in science.”

While studying at UM, Iron Pipe and Running Rabbit will get various online support from the Gates Scholarship to help them excel in their chosen degree programs. The support includes career services, mentoring, leadership development, wellness and knowledge building.

“Any kind of support I get I will take advantage of it,” Running Rabbit said. “It means a lot.”

Running Rabbit has big aspirations for himself as he balances academics with athletics. His goals are twofold: Succeed on the football field and in the classroom, all while making his hometown proud.

He knows the community of Browning will be rooting for him during each Griz football game this season, and he welcomes the support.

“You’re excited and then again you try not to fail,” Running Rabbit said. “It’s hard, but I’ll embrace it.”

Suiting up for the Griz is surreal at times for Running Rabbit and reminds him how far he has come. He remembers attending a Griz football game in 2014 with his two brothers, while they were living at a children’s shelter in Missoula.

At the game, he got a football signed by the team. Ten years later, the autographed ball is a special keepsake and motivation for Running Rabbit. It reminds him of all he wants to accomplish at UM, and all the doors it could open.

“That’s why I work hard,” he said. “It opens many paths.”

- by Kyle Spurr, UM News Service -