June 5, 2025

TO: University of Arizona President Dr. Suresh Garimella

Chief of Staff Francisco Garcia

University of Arizona Provost & Senior VP for Academic Affairs Dr. Patricia Prelock

University of Arizona Chair of the Faculty Dr. Leila Hudson

As concerned members of the Native American Faculty Group at the University of Arizona (UA), we are seeking prompt and immediate action from UA leadership to ensure that the Native American students have the support that they need to succeed. Since the fall 2024, our students have come to us stating they are not safe. Additionally, we have witnessed disturbing events that are not consistent with leading protocols for supporting students in higher education.

Tessa L. Dysart is actively causing and has caused severe harm to the UA Native American community since she was silently appointed to the role of Assistant Vice Provost of Native American Initiatives (NAI) in the Office of the Provost in July 2024, following a failed national search to fill the position vacated by Dr. Karen Francis-Begay in 2023.

Native American students have expressed to us the following concerns with Dysart:

• Dysart did not support student-led Land Back academic and community panels and discussions.
• Dysart physically silenced students during the Native American Student Meet & Greet, which took place during the UA Tribal Summit in February 2025. Organized and led by Dysart and Levi Esquerra, Senior Vice President of Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement (NAATE) in the UA Executive Office of the President, the event invitation expressed an opportunity for students to share their “experiences as a University of Arizona Wildcat.” A student asked to speak regarding the lack of tribal consultation for the silent changing of the land acknowledgement, exposing a valid concern within the Native American community. Unfortunately, the student’s attempt to bring visibility and accountability to the issue, resulted in Dysart and Kari McCormick, Executive Director of NAATE, engaging in a physical tug of war with the microphone. McCormick began to shout at the student from the audience and called the campus police. Shortly after, Esquerra joined Dysart on stage and physically intimidated the students to regain control of the event.

We find Dysart’s actions to be unprofessional, misaligned with the interests of students, and, at times, clear attempts at intimidation – behavior that is unbecoming of a senior administrator who claims to advocate for Native American students. In our culture, we allow our children to speak, and we listen. These senior administrators lack understanding of Native American cultural norms, as they are not rooted in our communities.

We believe that Dysart is not qualified to be Assistant Vice Provost, Native American Initiatives (NAI). She has never worked with Native American student admission, retention, and/or service programs in higher education. Further, she is a Clinical Professor of Law who has never published on Native American student retention or student advancement (Adrienne Keene, Stephanie Fryberg, Amanda Tachine, etc). During her interview process she claimed to have a longstanding relationship with Native law students however, since her appointment, we have consistently heard otherwise from the Native law community. Dysart’s portrayal of her experience is misleading. Although she has been employed at the University of Arizona since 2017, she only became involved in the Native Faculty Group within the past 3 years and had no prior connection with the Native American community at the UA or in the broader Tucson Native American, state of Arizona and Southwestern Native American communities.

In 2024, Dysart was initially on the hiring committee for the open position of Assistant Vice Provost, Native American Initiatives, but resigned early in the process to pursue the position herself. She was not recommended by the hiring committee but was unilaterally appointed by Provost Joseph Glover (who was at the UA for less than two months) without consultation with vital constituents, such as Native faculty, students, and staff. From the start, this fraught decision created an irreparable division between Dysart and the Native community she was hired to serve.

Since Dysart’s appointment, Native American students and staff have shared with us various examples of how Dysart is sowing harm, distrust, and division within the UA Native community. Some are listed in the bullet points above. Others have been withheld to protect the identities of the students and staff. All are concerning, given our responsibility as Native faculty to support and mentor our Native undergraduate and graduate students. Furthermore, the high profile conflicts between Dysart and UA students and staff–many of which we’ve known and worked with for a long time–have sparked public backlash against the UA, particularly from Native alumni and community members. Many of us are members of the 22 federally recognized tribes in the State of Arizona. We hear directly from our fellow tribal members when incidents, involving Native students or staff, occur at the UA.

Since the fall of 2024, and more frequently since the Tribal Summit, we have been meeting with Native students and staff. Through these conversations, it has become clear that Dysart’s actions are in direct conflict with the culture of respect we are working to foster within the UA Native community. We are deeply concerned as we believe students have a right to speak; this is essential to creating a healthy and democratic environment for learning and growth. Dysart’s actions are not only inconsistent with this vision but also with the values of care and community-building we uphold as members of the Native community.

UA used to lead best practices for supporting Native American students under the leadership of Dr. Karen Francis-Begay, who during her 30 year tenure, rose through the ranks and built keystone programs across the UA, including the Native Faculty Group. Dr. Francis-Begay was investing heavily into UA strategic planning and visioning for the future of the Native American community on campus. The previous Provost, Dr. Liesl Folks, forced early retirement on Dr. Francis-Begay without cause, despite her exemplary leadership in advancing the Native American community. Her unexpected dismissal raised concerns and disappointment, particularly around Esquerra’s role in her forced retirement. The Native American community met with former Interim Provost Ronald Marx in 2023 about our concerns but he also failed to respond.

We cannot in good faith recommend Native American students to the University of Arizona under Dysart and Esquerra’s leadership. We would prefer to refer them to Arizona State University (ASU) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) which have reputable and well qualified Administrators like Jacob Moore and Ann Marie Chischilly, who maintain solid programs supporting Native American students, faculty and staff. Dysart is not at par or nowhere near having the stellar reputation and qualifications of the Native Higher Administrators at ASU or NAU nor does she possess the qualifications of many researchers in Native American education. Dysart earns $167,116 per year, yet there is no accountability, review, or annual reports showing her performance serving Native American faculty and staff.

We have no confidence in Tessa Dysart.

"I'm being let go because I did not schedule a meeting by mid-May, even though I was told I was offered a chance to invite my tribal leaders. And I was told that they would accommodate their schedule." Julian Juan, Former Director, NASA

The Native American community has only experienced positive experiences with Juan, Director of Native American Student Affairs (NASA). As a tight knit community, we have consistently witnessed Juan’s advocacy in fostering a safe and supportive space at NASA even as Dysart, Esquerra and McCormick contribute to a climate of hostility. For decades, NASA (under directors Debi Nalwood, Dr. Karen Francis-Begay, Aleena M. Kawe, Amanda Tachine and others) served as a home away from home for Native American students who leave their communities to pursue higher education, many of whom are first-generation and/or transfer students coming directly from Native American reservations, community colleges, and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). These students often have non-traditional academic journeys; and have deep cultural commitments and strong traditional values. After years of instability at NASA with NASA directors leaving due to UA’s lack of support (Montey Begay, Kyle Ethelbah, Steven Martin, Rachelle Simpson and Denice Morales), Juan brought back stability. As a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Juan was one of only three Tohono O’odham directors in the 32 history of NASA (Denice Morales; and Vivian Juan, Tohono O’odham who resigned in 1993 due to disputes with UA administrators).

In contrast to Dysart, Juan has deep connections and experience with tribal leaders and the local community. Juan understands the importance of creating culturally appropriate programs and activities that create a sense of belonging for Native American students struggling to find their place and belonging within the Wildcat community.

When Dysart came into NASA on April 11, 2025, Native American students rushed to Juan expressing their fear and horror of Dysart being in their safe space. Juan asked Dysart to leave and she replied —"I can go anywhere I please."— This insensitivity and unprofessional behavior is clear evidence that she is unable and unwilling to understand her missteps and apologize. She lacks understanding of student concerns. Instead, she further harms the trust of the Native American community. Although Juan apologized to the Pascua Yaqui tribal leaders (in person and electronically as requested by Former Provost Marx) and has a strong record of support with the Native American campus community, there was no investigation. The verbal agreements between Juan and his former supervisor were redacted and Juan was unjustly fired.

We believe that Juan’s firing reflects deeper, systemic issues within the Assistant Vice Provost position and its disconnect from the Native community. In this particular instance, we support Juan’s decision to ask Dysart to leave the NASA event as the students felt threatened by her presence. As previously noted, we have heard similar accounts from students over the last few months. Given this context, Juan’s decision regarding Dysart was both proactive and necessary. His actions aligned with the responsibilities of a NASA director and should not have resulted in the abrupt termination of a highly effective employee and respected member of the community.

The issue we want to raise to the Provost is this, why would Juan feel that students didn’t want to meet with their own Assistant Vice Provost, Native American Initiatives? He put his job at risk and ultimately lost it because of something he saw in the community, a sense of distrust between the students and Dysart that ought to be the focus of our attention.

We are deeply disappointed at the consolidation of the cultural centers but thankful that NASA will still exist, as we are members of sovereign tribal nations. However, we adamantly oppose NASA going under Dysart’s supervision in NAI and NAATE because the students are not safe with her and she has no credible Student Affairs experience. NAATE (in the Executive Office of the UA President) is not the appropriate administrative home for NASA as NAATE does not engage in Student Affairs like the Office of the Provost. We are aware of similar moves at other universities that were not successful. Similarly, Esquerra is not qualified to oversee Native American student programs and should not be holding office hours with Native students as he has no experience working with students nor is he a UA faculty member. Esquerra has a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Sociology and a Masters degree in Social and Economic Development but has no experience working in Student Affairs or Native American Higher Education (No public CV available). Equerra refuses to advocate for Native American students and to condemn Dysart’s harm to Native American students. Esquerra earns $337,549 per year, yet, there is no accountability, review, or annual reports showing his performance with Native Nations.

We have no confidence in Levi Esquerra.

To prevent any further harm to the Native American community and further damage to UA’s reputation with tribal nations, NASA must exist as a sovereign, stand alone center, supported by the Office of the Provost, under Dr. Jenna Hatcher, Vice Provost and Special Advisor to the Provost in the Office of the Provost.

We ask that Dr. Patricia A. Prelock, the new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Arizona, who started May 19, 2025, do the following:

1. Return NASA back under Dr. Jenna Hatcher, Vice Provost and Special Advisor to the Provost in the Office of the Provost
2. Remove Dysart as Assistant Vice Provost of Native American Initiatives
3. Reinstate Julian Juan as Director of NASA
4. Re-open the position for AVP, Native American Initiatives
5. Create a Native American Faculty Council consisting of Native American Faculty that will advise UA on Native American Affairs
6. Maintain the Native American Community Council led by Jacob Bernal (Tucson Indian Center) and Connie Greenberg (UA Alum) and do not allow Dysart to dismantle this long standing council to create her new council for her own purposes.

As members of sovereign tribal nations that have nation-to-nation relationships with the United States federal government, we ask you to respect our sovereignty and fulfill our requests.

Sincerely,

Karletta Chief, Ph.D. (Navajo Nation)

UArizona Distinguished Outreach Faculty 2021

Director of the Indigenous Resilience Center

Professor & Extension Specialist, Dept. of Environmental Science, University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Andrew Curley, Ph.D. (Navajo Nation)

Associate Professor

School of Geography, Development & Environment, University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Stephanie Russo Carroll, DrPH, MPH (Ahtna, Native Village of Kluti-Kaah)

Associate Professor, Community, Environment & Policy & American Indian Studies GIDP & Affiliated Faculty in Law, Associate Research Professor, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy​ & Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Jameson D. Lopez, Ph.D. (Quechan)

Associate Professor

Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Sheilah E Nicholas, Ph.D. (Hopi Tribe)

Professor, Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies

Associate Professor, American Indian Studies-GIDP

Associate Professor, Second Language Acquisition / Teaching - GIDP

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Valerie Shirley, Ph.D. (Navajo Nation)

Associate Professor of Indigenous Education

Director, Indigenous Teacher Education Program (ITEP)

COE Dean's Fellow for Indigenous Education

Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies

College of Education

University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Bojan Louis (Navajo Nation)

Associate Professor, Creative Writing & American Indian Studies

University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Kathryne J. Daniel, Ph.D. (Chickasaw and Comanche descent)

Associate Professor, Department of Astronomy & Associate Astronomer

Steward Observatory

University of Arizona

Co-Founder & Co-Director of the Society of Indigenous Physicists

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

Jeremy Garcia, Ph.D. (Hopi/Tewa)

Associate Professor, Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies

Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies-GIDP

University of Arizona

Member, UA Native Faculty Group

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