Red Lake Nation College president resigns

By Molly Miron
Bemidji Pioneer

In August 2003, Renee Gurneau took over as president of the Red Lake Nation College. In May 2006, RLNC graduated the first class of seven students, six of whom are now juniors at four-year colleges.

However, classes started this fall without Gurneau as president. She said she handed in her resignation on Aug. 29 at the request of Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr.

Jourdain confirmed in a telephone interview Friday that he had asked Gurneau to resign. He said the Tribal Council had discussed concerns with the RLNC Board of Regents that the president didn’t have adequate credentials, namely no master’s degree in education, and the college wasn’t achieving accreditation.

“We are nowhere nearer (accreditation) now than we were six years ago,” Jourdain said.

However, Gurneau said she believes the chairman asked her to resign for personal and political reasons.

“There was no due process for me,” Gurneau said when she was contacted. “My college board would not accept my resignation.”

Sandra King, secretary-treasurer of the RLNC Board of Regents, said the college charter gave the regents authority to hire or terminate the president. She said Gurneau withdrew her resignation to the board, but as far as the Red Lake Tribal Council is concerned, she did resign.

The Red Lake Human Resources Department has advertised for a replacement.

“Renee resigned to the Tribal Council,” King said. “Renee didn’t resign to the Board of Regents.”

“I wish she hadn’t because the board would have stood by her,” said Judy Roy, former tribal secretary and member of the RLNC Board of regents.

Gurneau was a strong supporter of Roy, who ran unsuccessfully against Jourdain for the Red Lake chairmanship this summer.

Gurneau said Jourdain gave her no reasons for requesting her resignation. “He just said I have complaints about you,” she said. “The board asked for documentation of any concerns, and there was no documentation. It can’t be professional because my work is good.”

“Renee did wondrous things at the college,” said King.

During the three years of Gurneau’s presidency, RLNC enrollment increased every semester, according to Acting President Mary Ringhand. She said 62 students are currently enrolled.

Ringhand said the college is working toward accreditation and is continuing forward with good impetus.

“When you live at Red Lake, the authority is the Tribal Council,” King said. “Their resolutions are the law of our land. That is not something that any Red Laker should easily challenge.”

Jourdain said the Tribal Council supports the college with $260,000 annual funding and provides a building. The situation would be different, he said, if RLNC were self-sustaining and a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

“We’re basically a satellite of Fond du Lac,” he said of the RLNC accreditation system.

Gurneau said RLNC had recently completed the preliminaries for acceptance in AIHEC, a process she said she believes her resignation under duress will derail.

“I put my whole heart into this,” Gurneau said of the college. “I really loved being able to actualize Anishinabe-based education. We were so excited because things were going so well.”

She added that leaving the college veterans honor wall, which features photos of Red Lake members who have served in the armed forces, was another blow.

Gurneau said another concern is the lack of separation of powers if the chairman and Tribal Council can step in and dictate to the Board of Regents.

Jourdain said the focus of his current administration is on education, and seeking a new president for RLNC is part of that effort.

“That is a customary and acceptable policy — a new administration comes in, wants to appoint new department heads,” he said. “We have a new direction we want to take.”