April 20, 2019

Dear all,

My work as a CU historian concerns the rich Native past of North Dakota. So when I learned that
University of North Dakota President Mark Kennedy is the sole finalist in CU’s presidential search, I
thought I ought to look into his support for Indian Studies, Indian students, and tribal colleges in the
course of his time at UND.

As some of you know, Kennedy includes the following item on his CV under the rubric of “progress”
on UND’s strategic plan:

“Goal 5 – Diversity and Inclusion: Met with all tribal colleges to establish 2+2 Finish in 4
programs for priority degrees, beginning with Cankdeska Cikana Community College; began
new internship in Africa for American Indian engineering students; brought Community
Violence Intervention Center (CVIC) to campus.”

You should know at the outset that I focused specifically on Native American issues in my inquiries. I
did not look into the violence intervention center he mentions above. Nor did I delve into the many
other aspects of diversity and inclusion that should naturally concern a university president.

The conclusion I draw from my research is that during his UND presidency, Mark Kennedy has not
been an advocate for American Indian Studies or American Indian students.

1. Under Kennedy’s leadership, UND has reduced its American Indian Studies Department
from three TTT lines to one, at the same time making Indian Studies a departmental
subsidiary of the university’s History Department.

2. Also under Kennedy’s leadership, UND has taken over the building once occupied solely
by the American Indian Center and American Indian Services, folding these entities into a
broadly-based Multicultural Center now housed in the same space. Thus Native students
no longer have a comfortable, culturally-sensitive place to go on campus.

3. Finally, Kennedy’s CV overstates his tribal-college collaboration, which appears to have

been nonexistent or nearly nonexistent. Even more egregious—if I read his CV correctly
—Kennedy appears to claim the accomplishments of others as his own.

I have offered that summary because what follows is long, and you may not wish to immerse yourself
in the details below.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Fenn
Distinguished Professor
Department of History
University of Colorado Boulder
_________________________
I. Background

I contacted knowledgeable individuals connected to UND as well as knowledgeable individuals at

tribal colleges. Few were willing to communicate with me, so my source base is limited. Only one
person—Mark Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock), a former UND journalism professor and member of the
American Academy of Arts & Sciences who is now the editor of Indian Country Today—allowed me to
quote him with attribution. Everyone I spoke with expressed profound concern about jeopardizing
present and future students, employees, and programs. I share this concern and am committed to
protecting my sources. With that as preamble, here is what my contacts told me:

II. Shrinking the UND American Indian Studies Department

During Mark Kennedy’s presidency, the UND provost reduced the American Indian Studies
Department from three tenured and tenure-track (TTT) lines to one. In lieu of the two lost lines, the
department received a single, full-time, renewable lecturer position. The department has struggled to
find qualified applicants for this position, probably because long-term prospects are poor and the
campus atmosphere is unwelcoming. The salary offered is purportedly decent for a lecturer.

With the cuts to TTT lines, the American Indian Studies Department became a department in a
department, administered by UND’s Department of History.

III. Cutting back services to Native American students

UND’s Indian Student Services had its own home in a stand-alone American Indian Center on
Princeton Street. Indian students and their allies secured this building some years ago after a long
struggle. But a few weeks ago, the university uprooted Indian students from this Native-centered,
culturally sensitive home and folded Indian Student Services into a broadly-based Multicultural Center
that now occupies the same space. Please note that these developments remain to be incorporated into
the UND website at the time that I write this.

As Indian Country Today’s Mark Trahant put it, “The diversity programs were shrinking before
Kennedy and he did nothing to reverse that. The Indian Student Services program, once a hub on
campus, was being merged with all minority programs. There is no longer a recruiter, a key to getting a
range of students from the region.” To understand this atmosphere, bear in mind that UND only retired
its “Fighting Sioux” logo in 2012, replacing it in 2015 with a new “Fighting Hawks” nickname. “To
this day,” Trahant says, “UND’s sports programs are hostile to Native people and there is a pretense
that the mascot issue was never changed (hashtag fighting Sioux forever).” Others confirmed this.

IV. African internship for American Indian engineering students (item on Kennedy CV)

Several of my contacts knew about the African (Botswana) internship program for Native American
engineering students that Kennedy mentions on his CV. It is a collaboration with KSEnergy, whose
CEO, Steve Martin, is a UND graduate and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of
Chippewa Indians. Kennedy deserves credit for this program, but since it began in 2018, it is too early
to judge its success. It obviously focuses on the “extraction industry.”

V. Collaboration with tribal colleges (item on Kennedy CV)

Collaboration with tribal colleges is another matter entirely. Professor Mark Trahant garnered approval
for a Spring 2017 course on “Native American Media: Petrogyphs to Pixels” on the condition that
students from tribal colleges “be able to take the course for free.” Unfortunately, Trahant says, “by the
time it was advertised, UND had limited that offer to one student per tribal college.” It was “hard to
advertise that sweet a deal — and so we ended up with one tribal college student total.” (Trahant later
left the university. For your entertainment, I have attached the flyer for his “Native American Media”
course to this message.)

More to the point in terms of Kennedy’s CV, I was unable to find anyone familiar with the “2+2,
Finish in 4” program to which he refers. One well-placed tribal-college contact said the
following: “I do not know about the ‘2+2, Finish in 4’ project that he refers to and I doubt that
the other tribal colleges do either.” The same contact was unaware of any meetings to “establish”
this program. President Kennedy did visit tribal colleges at least once on an annual bus tour
undertaken to familiarize new faculty and administrators with the state of North Dakota. These
were not business meetings but meet-and-greet encounters in the presence of other new faculty
members on the tour.

There is, however, a vibrant 2+2 collaboration between tribal colleges and the UND Department of
Social Work. Graduates of this program perform vital services in their home communities after
finishing. This program is “thriving” and serves a “critical need.” But here’s the rub: My sources said
this 2+2 program is not the product of any initiative, commitment, or effort on Mark Kennedy’s
part. Rather, it came about through the herculean dedication of two Social Work faculty
member–administrators who worked tirelessly for approximately ten years to bring it into
fruition. Kennedy was “made aware of this effort,” but my understanding is that he has no
legitimate claim to credit for the program.

My tribal-college contact puts it succinctly: “I don’t feel that President Kennedy has outreached or
worked with my College, and I am not aware of any direct relationship with the other Tribal Colleges.”

VI. Conclusions

In light of this evidence, the conclusion I draw from my research is that during his UND presidency,
Mark Kennedy has not been an advocate for American Indian Studies or American Indian students.

1. Under Kennedy’s leadership, UND has reduced its American Indian Studies Department
from three TTT lines to one, at the same time making Indian Studies a departmental
subsidiary of the university’s History Department.

2. Also under Kennedy’s leadership, UND has taken over the building once occupied solely
by the American Indian Center and American Indian Services, folding these entities into a
broadly-based Multicultural Center now housed in the same space. Thus Native students
no longer have a comfortable, culturally-sensitive place to go on campus.

3. Finally, Kennedy’s CV overstates his tribal-college collaboration, which appears to have

been nonexistent or nearly nonexistent. Even more egregious—if I read his CV correctly
—Kennedy appears to claim the accomplishments of others as his own.