A California professor who has been accused for years of faking his Native American heritage after once slamming a white woman for “choosing to be Indian” is retiring from his teaching post after negotiating a deal with the school.
University of California, Riverside ethnic studies professor Andrea Smith’s teaching career at the university will end in August 2024, according to a separation agreement reported by the New York Times. The retirement came after 13 faculty members filed a complaint in August 2022 alleging Smith had lied about his Cherokee identity and violated academic integrity.
But as part of an agreement signed in January, the university will not investigate faculty complaints and Riverside will pick up $5,000 for Smith toward any legal costs associated with settling the complaint, the Times reported.
The university never conducted a formal investigation after the complaint was made, but held informal discussions with Smith, Higher Ed Insider reported, also citing the agreement.
“The negotiated separation agreement brings a timely conclusion to Professor Smith’s continued employment with the university,” a school spokesperson told the Times.
“Investigations of serving faculty members for alleged misconduct have the potential for litigation and appeals, and could take place over a period of several years.”
Smith will retire in a year, according to the reported agreement.UC Riverside
Smith will be allowed to teach until he leaves, retaining his retirement benefits and having honorary emeritus status, but it will not be listed in the university directory, the Times reported.
Smith previously rebutted allegations that he falsified his identity in a 2015 statement even though he was not registered with the Cherokee Nation.
“I have always been, and always will be Cherokee,” he said.
“I consistently identify myself based on what I know to be true. My registration status does not affect my Cherokee identity or my ongoing commitment to advocate for justice for the Indigenous community.”
While some Indigenous scholars are happy to see Smith on his way out, they fear he will not be investigated by the school.
The University of California Riverside said the deal would avoid a potentially lengthy legal battle. UCR
“He swerved, angled and squirmed — and here it is again,” Harvard professor Philip Deloria told the Times. Deloria and Smith were colleagues when both taught at the University of Michigan.
Ironically Smith once wrote in a 1991 essay that white feminists “often want to separate themselves from their whiteness. They do this by choosing to ‘be Indian.'”
“In this way, they can abdicate responsibility and accountability for white racism,” he wrote. “Of course, white ‘feminists’ want to be just a part of India.”
Professor Andrea Smith
Smith’s identity came under the microscope in 2008 after he was rejected for a job at the University of Michigan, though he soon landed at Riverside, the Times reported.
One of the professors who filed the latest complaint told the newspaper that he raised the issue because false identity claims hurt the tribal community.
“Identity is one of the last things we have that is valuable and that we have control over,” said ethnic studies professor Gerald Clarke, who is part of the Cahuilla Band of Indians.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
