Former Fond du Lac chair named first adviser to University of Minnesota president on Native affairs

Former tribal leader Karen Diver will serve in a new University of Minnesota role considered rare in the world of higher education: advising the president on Native American affairs.

Diver will work with U President Joan Gabel beginning May 28 as a senior adviser. Diver was chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from 2007 to 2015, when she was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as his special assistant on Native American affairs.

She accepted the new role, she said, because the university is making strides toward recognition of its land-grant status and how that affects tribal nations.

https://www.startribune.com/former-fond-du-lac-chair-named-first-adviser-to-university-of-minnesota-president-on-native-affairs/600053825/