College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Ms. Arnould holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and an MBA from Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) in Hammond. She has been a certified public accountant since 1993. She taught accounting and economics at SLU from 1990-1997. She was Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs from 1998-2006. She worked in the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security (GOHSEP) as the Plans Branch Manager from 2006-2016. She was Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs from 2018-2021. She handled activities and issues regarding American Indian citizens of Louisiana. She was the liaison for Louisiana’s four federal tribes and eleven state tribes to all state agencies. She sat on several state and federal committees and commissions and consulted and assisted, as needed, with GOSHEP during times of disasters. UHN Tribal Council has appointed Ms. Arnould as the committee member for the MMIWG Task Force put in place by Governor John Bel Edwards.

Professor Crepelle is a Campbell Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In addition to his JD degree, Professor Crepelle holds a master’s in public policy and a master of laws in indigenous peoples law and policy. He is a co-founder of the Gulf States American Indian Chamber of Commerce and a commissioner on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Professor Crepelle is an enrolled citizen of the United Houma Nation. Professor Crepelle has been admitted to practice in federal, state, and tribal courts. He serves as an associate justice on the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Court of Appeals.Professor Crepelle has published in both academic and popular journals. His research focuses on federal Indian law and policy, particularly tribal economic development and criminal justice. Professor Crepelle is also an award-winning filmmaker. His film, Indian Santa, screened at numerous venues including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. In 2019, Professor Crepelle was named one of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s ‘40 under 40.’

Jeannie Hovland (Flandreau Santee Sioux) is Vice Chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). As such, she is one of three commissioners responsible for regulating and ensuring the integrity of the more than 527 Indian gaming facilities, associated with over 250 tribes across 29 states. Hovland began her three-year term at the agency on January 17, 2021, after being appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.Before joining NIGC, Hovland served as Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans providing oversight of a $57 million annual operating budget to promote self-sufficiency for American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Hovland oversaw discretionary grants that support social and economic development, Native language restoration and revitalization, and environmental regulatory enhancement. Hovland created the Social and Economic Development Strategies for Growing Organizations program, which provides funding to strengthen internal governance structures and build capacity for tribes and tribal organizations. She also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Affairs at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a $58 billion operating division under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Hovland provided expert and culturally appropriate advice to the Assistant Secretary in formulation of policy, positions, and strategies affecting Native Americans.

Hovland chaired the HHS Secretary’s Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs (ICNAA), serving as an advisor to the Secretary, addressing issues of importance to tribal communities through partnerships with all of HHS departments. Hovland helped bring national awareness to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Native American’s through her role on the ICNAA as well as through her participation on the Presidential Taskforce, Operation Lady Justice. Under Hovland’s leadership, as chair of the ACF Native American Affairs Advisory Committee, comprised of ACF leadership and in partnership with the ACF Tribal Advisory Committee, the ACF Missing and Murdered Native Americans – A Public Health Framework for Action was published in October 2020.

In her previous role as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, Hovland provided strategic recommendations to the Assistant Secretary on issues related to land leases, access to quality water, land into trust status, and energy and economic development issues.

Hovland’s extensive knowledge and experience on Indian Affairs includes her many years serving Native American communities in South Dakota where she worked for Senator John Thune for nearly 13 years. As Tribal Affairs Advisor, Hovland dedicated most of her time in the communities as she believes in community driven solutions. During that time Hovland was able to provide input on important legislation such as the Tribal Law and Order Act and the Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008.