A chief legal officer for Sightline Payments and a former Department of the Interior legal advisor on Indian Affairs have been selected to create the Indian Nations Gaming and Governance Program at the William S. Boyd School of Law.
The William S. Boyd School of Law is located within the University of Nevada Las Vegas, also known as UNLV.
John Tahsuda, a principal at Navigators Global, a Washington DC-based government affairs firm, and Jennifer Carleton of Sightline Payments are the two chosen to spearhead the program.
In February of 2020, Southern California’s San Manuel Band of Mission Indians revealed a $9m donation to UNLV to fund Tribal development programs through the university’s hospitality college and law school.
Boyd Law School Dean Leah Chan Grinvald commented: "Their connections to and experiences with Indian nations will enhance our gaming law curriculum, which already boasts the most extensive gambling jurisprudence and the only advanced gaming law degree available in the US."
Prior to moving to Las Vegas in 2007, Carleton spent ten years as the general counsel for the Oneida Tribe of Indians in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Carleton added: "I want to ensure that there is an educational infrastructure in place in Nevada to support the rising generation of attorneys and advisers who understand Indian gaming, its importance and its impact."
Carleton will continue her work at Sightline in addition to her duties at the law school.
Tahsuda is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and formerly served as the staff director of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and was a senior counselor to the Secretary of the Interior.
San Manuel owns the Yaamava' Resort and Casino in California and operates the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, having acquired the property last year.
