Nicholas Belle is the new director of the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center at Indiana University. Photo by IU Bloomington
Terri Miles, a member of the Muscogee Nation, questions the hiring of Nicholas Belle as the new director at the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center at Indiana University. According to Miles, qualified candidates who are members of enrolled tribes were passed over:
The First Nations Educational and Cultural Center (FNECC) has been a hard fought creation over the past 11 years with many Native American students and faculty putting in thousands of volunteer hours. Time and again we were told how important diversity is to IU, how impressive our programing and efforts have been, and that people were starting to understand the need for a place like FNECC to assist with recruitment and retention of Native students. All our efforts feel like a joke---that we’ve been punched in the gut---with the selection of the new director this past May. Who whispered in your ear, “Hire Nicky, he’s our man”? More to the point, why didn’t you hire an American Indian to be director of FNECC? We are talking about the place meant to be the hub of Native activity on campus, the place where Natives can go to feel supported and receive guidance on navigating academia so they can leave IU with a degree in hand, the home away from home that will attract Native scholars and faculty and help non-natives understand our issues. Why didn’t you hire a director who will be able to actively recruit Natives across the country, who has fresh ideas for programming, who has a measurable track record? There were better-qualified Native applicants who have done impressive work on recruitment and retention of Native American college students. Wasn’t that the point?Get the Story:
Terri Miles: Indiana University Breaks the Promise (Indian Country Today 7/2)
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