 Organizers of the college were drawn from Native American activists, many of whom were members of federally recognized tribes in California.They struggled to attract funding and faculty to set up and operate the college, at a time when mainstream universities were also recruiting Native Americans to new programs of studies.With competition from the growth of Native American programs at other universities, as well as numerous tribal colleges, in the early 21st century D-Q suffered declining enrollment, a high rate of board of trustees turnover, and problems with funding.