Timeline of Efforts to Remove Dr. Driskill from OSU Faculty

I created this timeline because I wanted people to be able to learn about the efforts to remove Dr. Driskill from the Oregon State University faculty--a movement that is taking place on multiple fronts--in one place. Although I and many other former/current WGSS graduate students only became aware of this issue recently, there are Native people in and outside of the academy that have been aware of Dr. Driskill's persistent fraudulent identity claims and have been working to address the harm caused by their pernicious actions for at least a decade. Non-native scholars such as myself have a responsibility to  take this issue seriously, to center the work of queer Indigenous scholars in lieu of a "representative one voice" (to use Dr. Jodi Bird's phrase), and to disrupt the academy as a "pretendian factory" (to quote Dr. Liza Black). My hope is that this particular case may offer insights that can be used in other situations.

July 2023

• On July 31st, a group of current WGSS graduate students, who would later form a collective called the Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education, sent a letter of Grievances and Demands to the WGSS faculty; Dr. Susan Bernardin, the Director of the School of Language, Culture, and Society (SLCS); and Dr. Larry Rogers, the Dean of Liberal Arts. Among other demands, they called for Dr. Driskill to step down from the position of Director of Graduate Studies. 

• While I am not a member of the Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education and was not involved in writing this document, I can attest to the fact that 5 out of 6 of the grievances related to supervision of graduate employment and all 10 of the grievances related to curriculum, pedagogy, and the classroom apply to my situation. Moreover, these grievances do not cover the full extent of my experiences.​

August 2023

• Dr. Driskill filed reports against each of the signatories to the letter of Grievances and Demands with OSU's office of Equal Opportunity and Access (see Corvallis Gazette Times 12/12/23).

September 2023

• On September 5th, faculty members sent a letter to Dr. Rogers in support of the current graduate students' letter and called for Dr. Driskill to replaced on administrative leave (see Willamette Week 11/15/23).

• On September 19th, faculty members sent another letter. In addition to pointing to Dr. Driskill's discrimination against certain graduate students, the faculty also highlighted that Dr. Driskill demonstrated "a willingness to harm faculty colleagues in the process of amassing power and control." Furthermore, the letter accused Dr. Driskill of committing "academic fraud by misrepresenting themselves as Indigenous and two-spirit." They explained, "This racial misrepresentation also has repercussions for our graduate students who will be harmed by this fraud, both personally and professionally, and our program whose academic integrity will be damaged." (See Willamette Week 11/15/23).

• I became aware that faculty and students were filing formal complaints at the end of September. (At the time, I did not know the details about the faculty's letters of complaint that were described in the Willamette Week article linked above). I contacted Oregon State University's Office of Equal Opportunity and Access (EOA) to indicate that I wanted to contribute to the case. In preparation, I began summarizing  and gathering documentation of my experiences. I also reached out to the Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education to see if there were any ways that I could be of assistance.​​

October 2023

• On October 3rd, I filed a formal complaint against Dr. Driskill with EOA and copied Dr. Bernardin and Dr. Rogers. You can view some parts of my complaint by clicking on any of the following links:
  • Complaint, Part I: Summary
  • Complaint, Part II: 2018-2019
  • Complaint, Part III: 2019-2020
  • Complaint, Part IV: 2020-2021

• On October 5th, Dr. Driskill filed a complaint with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) against OSU in which they stated:
  • "I have been targeted for retaliatory actions, subjected to multiple and persistent micro aggressions and macro aggressions, excluded from work-related positions and activities, and excluded from relevant and important department communications due to my gender identity, race and racial identity" (see Willamette Week 11/15/23).
  • There is a culture of "backchannelling and triangulation that created a hostile work environment, particularly toward trans persons" (see Corvallis Gazette Times 12/12/23).

• Dr. Driskill’s attorney, Craig Crispin, issued the following statement: “I anticipate a release in the near future identifying Dr. Driskill’s ancestral relationships with Native and Black Americans, rendering allegations to the contrary false and defamatory” (see Willamette Week 11/15/23).

• On October 17th, M. Floyd (Dr. Driskill's partner & and an instructor in the WGSS department) also filed a BOLI complaint against the department/school for trans misogyny and sexual harassment (see Corvallis Gazette Times 12/28/23, Albany Democrat-Herald 12/28/23)

• On October 20th, Dr. Joseph Pierce (Cherokee Nation) and Dr. Liza Black (Cherokee Nation) were guest speakers on the podcast Speaking Out of Place hosted by Dr. David Palumbo Liu and Azeezah Kanji. Framing the academy as a pretendian factory, they explain the levels of harm that this causes to Indigenous communities and specifically name and discuss Dr. Andrea Smith and Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill as pretendians.

• On October 25th, The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAFF) released the results of their independent investigation into Dr. Driskill's claims of Cherokee, Lenape, and Osage identity--which they found to be false. (For more details, see the TAFF report, press release, tribal letters, fan chart, paternal genealogy report, and maternal genealogy report). TAFF called for Dr. Driskill to publicly acknowledge that they are not Native and to apologize for lying about their positionally. They also call for OSU to fire Dr. Driskill on the basis of academic fraud.

November 2023

• On November 3rd, a statement was issued by Rob Odom, the Vice President of University Relations and Marketing. He said that the university does not comment on personal matters, but:
  • "We take allegations of bias and harassment seriously, and we encourage reports of suspected wrongdoing or breaches of ethical conduct" ​(Corvallis Gazette Times 12/12/23).
  • "We acknowledge the importance of dialogue on Indigenous identity and tribal affiliation. this is a deeply personal topic to many, inside and outside the university" (see Corvallis Gazette Times 11/3/23, Institute of Higher Education 11/07/23).
  • "While we cannot comment on the particulars of any individual situation, OSU is committed to maintaining a working, learning, and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all the staff, faculty, and students of the university community are respected" (see Willamette Week 11/15/23).

• The Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education sent an open letter to OSU President Murthy. They called for Dr. Driskill to be removed from the faculty on the basis on their escalating mistreatment of graduate students and faculty members as well as their fraudulent identity claims. They stated that they have received little support from within the university by following the formal complaint procedures.

 

• On November 9th, faculty members emailed President Murthy and Provost Ed Feser to request an independent investigation into Dr. Driskill's targeting of "queer trans and non-binary students"  (see Willamette Week 11/15/23).

 

• On November 10, The Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education created a petition to remove Dr. Driskill from OSU faculty. At the writing of this post, it has reached 229 signatures. 

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• On November 16th, the Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education held a face-to-face and virtual town hall meeting that was open to the public.

December 2023

• Among other things, this article addresses the ways in which current (and, I'd add, former) students--especially those whose dissertation and thesis committees were chaired by Dr. Driskill-- have been left in a precarious position with little support from the university to date (Corvallis Gazette Times 12/12/23).

January 2024

• "Settler-Colonial-Elimination-and-the-"Settler-Colonial Elimination & the Dobbs Decision: Relationally, Indigenous Kin-making, & Queer Responsibilities" was published in Gay & Lesbian Quarterly on 01/01/24, but it is based on a conversation between Dr. Jodi Byrd and Dr. Joseph Pierce that took place on 06/14/23. The article includes a discussion of Dr. Drikill's fraudulent identity claims.
• Dr. Driskill is still listed as a professor for the Winter 2024 term (The Daily Barometer 01/10/24).
• The Graduate Leaders of Equitable Education have been compiling testimonies about the harm that Dr. Driskill has caused.

February 2024

• The graduate students' concerns remain unaddressed, and there is a lack of transparency about the investigation  (The Daily Barometer 02/05/24)
• The New Yorker published an article about Elizabeth Hoover, which named these fraudulent identity claims as a widespread problem in academia. It specifically mentioned Dr. Driskill as another example of this phenomenon  (The New Yorker 02/26/24).

May 2024

• Oregon State University has hired a PR company, Grand River, to protect their interests (Conversation)
• WGSS students' concerns have not been addressed. They have been given the run-around, being directed to one administrator after another who claim that their hands are tied whilst dismissing student concerns (Conversation).
• WGSS students report that the cultural centers on OSU's campus have been forbidden from speaking about this issue, even though members of these communities have been harmed by Dr. Driskill. In this way, student voices are being censored (Conversation).
• Dr. Driskill, who has been on medical leave, is scheduled to teach a class in the Summer term (Conversation).
• On 05/03/24, the Graduate Leaders for Equitable Education held an organizing meeting. The next organizing meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 10th, 3-5 PM PST. It is open to students and community members, and can be attended via Zoom by first beav.es/registering here.
  

September 2024

• Dr. Driskill is no longer a faculty member at Oregon State University (Corvallis Gazette-Times 09/13/24).

April 2026

• Oregon State University announced the outcome of their investigation into Dr. Driskill, determining that they engaged in research misconduct (Corvallis Gazette-Times 04/30/26)

Note: This post will be updated as more information becomes available. If you have any information that should be included in the timeline, please use the contact form to let me know. Last updated 05/19/26.