Editor,
It was really disappointing to read the article about Joy Harjo leaving the Creative Writing program at UNM because of one individual's behavior. Harjo said this person's behavior is problematic to the extent that the department "has been deeply compromised," and the best instructors are leaving or are in the process of leaving. That's worse than disappointing.
Harjo represents an American Indian voice in a system that has relatively few. American Indian role models are essential to attract American Indian kids. This will hopefully increase the chances that they will obtain higher education degrees, and, for some, return to help their communities.
As a person who has worked as a school psychologist on the Navajo reservation for 11 years, I'm constantly reminded of that lack of connection to higher education. I've read student essays that talk about going to UNM as a "dream." This shouldn't be a dream; this should be an expectation and an attainable goal for everyone in New Mexico who chooses to apply to college. Few high school students at the schools I serve - Alamo Navajo School and To'Hajiilee Community School - talk about pursuing an education at UNM.
Anecdotal accounts of why Navajos don't continue in higher education often have to do with the university atmosphere feeling too foreign and unfamiliar. A colleague who took courses in a racial studies program in Chicago mentioned the feeling of being "locked out." The university and college systems feel exclusive and alienating in their language and culture. Years of disenfranchisement and unaddressed historical trauma complicate access or a desire for access among the American Indian population. Losing an American Indian faculty member who is a strong role model is losing a link to the outside community and runs the risk of creating a self-serving atmosphere.
The fact that a year has been spent wasting faculty members' time and taxpayers' money is disappointing. Again, it is at the expense of the students and the outside community. UNM should, to the degree possible, reflect and serve the community that surrounds it. It should be an inclusive and non-threatening place. The lack of outreach and connectedness to To'Hajiilee, a community within 40 miles of Albuquerque, is glaring in the attitudes of many students who rarely consider this as an alternative after high school. It seems essential for every community to have a vision, and this often requires knowing you have access to outside community resources. When the perception is that it's not really available, it affects everyone, whether they're living or working within the community.
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Having equal opportunity inside and outside of communities, feeling capable of reaching goals, and then pursuing those goals helps to create organizations and systems that flourish. An essential part of creating access to these opportunities is by representing those individuals among your faculty who reflect the communities in all of New Mexico, not just Albuquerque.
We just elected Barack Obama, the first mixed race and black man to be our president. On election night, a black political analyst on CNN commented on an experience he had as a young boy. In essence, adults in his community would never tell young men of color they could be president because it didn't seem possible. Now that barriers have fallen, it seems that everything is possible. UNM has a responsibility to the American Indian students in New Mexico to do the same by providing strong role models who encourage educational opportunities and break down barriers. It seems as if the UNM administration needs to wake up, take a stand and stop serving its own needs.
Amy Rosano
Daily Lobo reader
