Chrissy Downwind (Credit: Bemidji State University)

Bemidji State University is introducing a new position aimed at assisting Indigenous students.

The position is the vice president for American Indian student success and campus diversity officer for BSU and Northwest Technical College, and the person who has been hired to fill this job will be the first American Indian woman to hold a vice president position at a four-year campus in the Minnesota State system.

Chrissy Downwind has served as executive director of the American Indian Resource Center at BSU since January 2020 and is an alumna of the university. She started in her new position on April 24th.

In her new role, Downwind will work to eliminate equity gaps in policies, protocols, curricula, and programming on both the BSU and NTC campuses. This appointment coincides with the creation of a new program at BSU, Nisidotaading, which is aimed at ensuring students’ understanding of American Indian peoples and cultures, as well as the issues they have faced.

By — Lakeland News