Becca's Resignation Letter from the FNECC Board

You are receiving this email because you are either a friend of the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center (FNECC) or an administrator who holds some responsibility for the FNECC's future success. I am writing to tell you why the FNECC Board is dissolving and to share with you my challenge to IU include American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians in diversity policies.

In the remainder of this letter, I speak only for myself, not my former fellow Board members.

The FNECC Board fought for the establishment of an American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian student center and has, on a volunteer basis, organized the FNECC's programming, represented IU to American Indian communities, and provided student support services since
2006. We have done so because IU has chosen not to hire a director for the FNECC. Rather, IU has relied on the Board's willingness to serve our peoples by running the center at the expense of our own studies, health, and families.

Speaking only for myself, I am resigning because the Board *cannot continue to perform the duties of a director without the authority and basic tools essential to doing so*. Specifically, administrators with power over the center have neglected critical communication and
consultation with us. Most recently, for example, without prior notice, the locks to our offices were changed. This interrupted evening office hours and student support activities. New keys were never issued. While I am cognizant of a policy of not issuing keys to students (although two board members, myself included, are also IU employees), I am puzzled that we were not warned of the change nor was an alternate access policy ever made available. Emails and calls to the appropriate administrator were not answered.

This is merely the latest development in an ongoing lack of adequate communication which I have documented. The problems have intensified so greatly that I believe I will be more effective advocating for native students elsewhere. I will remain active in the Native student groups, both of which are watching closely to see what happens next.

The Board and Native student groups have worked in an environment in which American Indians and Alaska Natives are excluded from the overall diversity vision. I have been told repeatedly that because our numbers are small we do not receive the same support services as other underrepresented groups. Yet, paradoxically, our numbers remain small at IU *because* there are few institutionalized support services for American Indian students. Moreover, as set out in its mission statement, the FNECC does not serve only American Indians.
It also serves non-Indian community members wanting to learn accurate, non-stereotypical information about the heterogeneous, contemporary characters of our nations and tribes. Throughout the year, FNECC volunteers have served thousands of people at IUB and
throughout central and southern Indiana.

The ball is now in IU's court to demonstrate that Natives are valued as part of diversity. Currently, a widespread belief exists among Native students that IU is to an extent a hostile place for Native students, particularly those who grew up immersed in the culture of
their particular American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian nation.

Like others, I cannot help but notice that the official IU Strategy for Increasing Underrepresented Populations fails to mention American Indians, Alaska Natives, or Native Hawaiians even once. I see plans for extensive relationships with HBCUs but not tribal colleges. I see marketing plans exist for Latino/as and African Americans, but
not for our communities. IU is known for researching our nations--at least the Plains Nations--yet we are the racial group least likely to graduate from college. Are we valued as research subjects more than as members of the university community? As subjects more than human beings?

In short, I challenge IU administrators to prove wrong common perceptions of IU as a hostile place for American Indians and to meaningfully, substantively include American Indians in IU's diversity vision. I believe that a faculty Task Force on the Status of American Indians, composed not only of Natives, but also of non- Native allies, similar to task forces on other critical issues, could make meaningful strides. It is unfair to continue rest the burden
solely on Native students and faculty, especially considering the dearth of tenured Native faculty at this university.

IU must stop lagging behind other Big Ten schools--notably, Purdue--which demonstrate their prioritization of American Indians through a variety of institutionalized support services and emphasis on Native faculty recruitment. These schools have institutionalized support
for Natives rather than standing on the backs of Native students, faculty, and staff. I hope IU will seek innovative ways to include our students because diversity cannot exist where certain ethnicities are excluded.

To those of you who have supported FNECC board members and student group leaders: thank you so much. I hope we'll be in touch soon as the Native student groups continue to create new programs, including, I hope, a non-profit, independent Bloomington American Indian
Community Center.

More information about student groups' plans for activism around these and other issues will be available later.

Regards,

Rebecca Riall

JD Candidate, School of Law
PhD Student and Instructor, Department of Anthropology
Former First Nations Educational and Cultural Center Founding Board Member
Chair, Native American Graduate Students Association
Indiana University--Bloomington

Email: rlriall@indiana.edu
Phone: 812-391-3457