Unsettling events continue at Michigan State’s Native American Institute. A former director was suspended for misconduct. His interim successor now lists a number of grievances in an email resignation.
Christie Poitra, ex-boss John Norder
(Photos: Facebook, MSU)
Christie Poitra, who took medical leaves in November to treat what she calls mental and physical “illnesses resulting from the stress of navigating this hostile work environment,” gave four weeks notice Wednesday. Lansing State Journal reports.
She stated that her improved health during her absence from the university played a part in her decision not to resign.
Poitra wrote in an email, “By resigning I am freed form this deeply dysfunctional position.”
“No more”: stalking; veiled threat; filthy text; ableist remarks; racial epits; cleaning out the sexual lubricants. I was repeatedly intimidated and told by my white supervisor that my unit (staffed primarily with Native and Black women), is a “deadoffice”. Gaslighting; deliberate understaffing; grossly unequitable pay; exclusion from college resources and information; reduced budget; damage in my reputation; missed holidays
The campus institute SaysIt “works towards enhancing the sovereignty, cultural continuity & well-being of Indian tribes, Indian community and Indian people.” It was authorized by the MSU trustees in 1981 as part of Center for Urban Affairs, which later became the College of Urban Development. It “supports campus collaboration and provides opportunities to faculty, staff, and the public to learn more about issues facing American Indians or Indigenous peoples.” Mission statement states.
According to the Lansing paper, Rocky times began in 2018 when a staff member reported John Norder’s inappropriate and offensive behavior towards Poitra.
He was removed from his position as director and is now anthropology associate professor. Poitra was appointed interim director, a title she still holds almost four years later.
The Office of Institutional Equity conducted an investigation and found that Norder had broken the university’s sexual misconduct policy. He was suspended for four more weeks.
Christie Poitra: “I am released from this deeply dysfunctional condition.” (Photo: Facebook)
Poitra, 37-year-old faculty member filed a federal lawsuit against MSU on January. The State Journal Quoted from the suit at the time:
“MSU has failed to protect and support Dr. Poitra and has made Dr. Poitra constantly exposed to discrimination and harassment; failed to enforce its no-contact directive towards her abuser; forced Dr. Poitra to shoulder significantly more work that any reasonable individual should expect to perform; denied her equitable compensation and professional title; and reduced the budget of NAI and threatened to dissolve it.”
The paper added this from her attorney, Elizabeth Abdnour of Lansing:
“The cherry on top is that they praise Christie’s work and the NAI. The office is a point of pride.
“You don’t value the office at all, but your use it to promote the institution is essentially the same thing that white people have done for Native people since the beginning.
Poitra is a first-generation descendant from the Turtle Mountain Band Chippewa Indians. She was also a former elementary school teacher at a reservation schools. She holds an educational policy doctorate at MSU’s College of Education, as well as a master’s degree in American Indian studies from UCLA. She also has a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from University of California-Berkeley.
Her career includes roles as a Los Angeles Unified Schools District project manager and education consultant at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
