Within the last decades, education has undergone multiple transformations including offering preset syllabi and technology-based modes of presentation to learners. Parallel to these changes has been the emergence of efforts addressing diversity, equity and inclusion, leading to critical discussions on issues within higher education and aligned topics embracing social, economic, environmental and racial justice. The purpose of this paper is for readers to reflect on what is frequently taken for granted in academic catalogs - the colonial language of course descriptions - leading to faculty considering changes in their course descriptions that engage their student population in more inclusive ways. This paper will address some problems encountered when the pedagogy of whiteness exists in a non-white education setting, where non-white students must rely on colonial course descriptions to create their first perceptions and understanding of their syllabi. With awareness of the pedagogy of whiteness and what is entailed, educators can construct an environment that encourages active listening, reflexive action, and intellectual humility that may lead to the solving of the challenges of the whiteness dogma. The focus of this paper draws on the author's experience teaching at an accredited tribal college in the USA.