{"id":33794,"date":"2023-05-11T22:39:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T04:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/navajo-president-buu-nygren-officials-honor-students-at-scholarship-reception\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:13:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:13:43","slug":"navajo-president-buu-nygren-officials-honor-students-at-scholarship-reception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/navajo-president-buu-nygren-officials-honor-students-at-scholarship-reception\/","title":{"rendered":"Navajo President Buu Nygren, officials honor students at scholarship reception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Navajo
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren encouraged scholarship recipients and recent graduates, saying they are \u201cmore than capable.\u201d (David Edward Albright\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren joined Public Service Co. of New Mexico and San Juan College officials at the PNM Workforce Training Program scholarship reception May 5 at the School of Energy.<\/p>\n

Scholarship recipients honored at the reception were graduates of San Juan College and Navajo Technical University.<\/p>\n

Gayle Dean, executive director of the San Juan College Foundation, welcomed attendees. Rickie Nez, delegate for the 25th Navajo Nation Council, led the attendees in prayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPNM generously offered to extend the funding in 2019 with an additional $500,000 for the next five years to provide additional scholarships to even more students,\u201d Dean said.<\/p>\n

PNM provided 15 scholarships in the 2022-23 school year, with eight awarded to San Juan College students and 7 awarded to Navajo Technical University students.<\/p>\n

Since 2013, PNM has provided 555 scholarships to Native American students at San Juan College.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese students are enrolled in programs including health sciences, science, math and engineering, information technology, energy,\u201d Dean said. \u201cWe are extremely proud of the fact that San Juan College ranks fourth in the nation among community colleges for the number of Native American graduates receiving associate degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elmer Guy, Ph. D., and president of Navajo Technical University<\/a>, expressed his gratitude to PNM, saying NTU students have benefited greatly from the scholarships as they have studied biology, chemistry and other fields.<\/p>\n

Guy said that among all tribal colleges and universities, NTU is the only one to provide a full range of four-year engineering degrees, offering industrial, electrical, environmental science and natural resources, mechanical and environmental engineering.<\/p>\n

NTU also offers master\u2019s degrees and a Ph. D. program in Navajo culture and language sustainability. NTU is the first of 37 tribal colleges in the United States to offer a doctoral program.<\/p>\n

Guy noted that NTU is <\/a>accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology<\/a>, which opens up internships opportunities for students at Sandia and Los Alamos labs, Boeing Co., PNM and other major corporations that require ABET accreditation for internship eligibility.<\/p>\n

Last year, Sandia National Laboratories hired an electrical engineering student from NTU for the first time, and Honeywell International Inc. recently hired an NTU student as well. Los Alamos National Laboratory invited seven students to intern this summer, Guy said.<\/p>\n

Guy said about 85% of NTU students qualify for federal Pell Grants, but that alone does not cover all costs. \u201cWith the support provided by PNM and other scholarships, it really helps us to stay on task,\u201d Guy said, adding that scholarships ease worries \u201cabout paying bills or buying gas to get to class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Indian communities, it\u2019s really important that we have an educated workforce,\u201d Guy said. He added that when one person is educated, it builds up the entire community. He encouraged students to believe in themselves and know that they are \u201csmart enough\u201d to succeed.<\/p>\n

Guy acknowledged Rep. Anthony Allison (D-San Juan County), for his help in acquiring resources for dual credit programs. He said SJC and NTU serve the most dual-credit students in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

\"Lucay
Lucay Haber, San Juan County public relations coordinator, left, and Gayle Dean, executive director of the San Juan College Foundation, attended the scholarship reception May 5. (David Edward Albright\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

San Juan College PNM scholarship graduates were: Gilbert Barber Jr., diesel technology; Andriana Begay, instrumentation and controls; Cody Begay, diesel technology; Jerrick Billy, automotive technology; Farnell Charley, instrumentation and controls; Michael Diswood, instrumentation and controls; Cody Paul, instrumentation and controls; and Shareana Wisdom, automotive technology.<\/p>\n

NTU PNM scholarship graduates were: Emmanuel Holiday, electrical trades certificate; Chelsie Whitewater, B.S. in biology; Darlene Wilson, B.S. in biology, AAS in environmental science and natural resources; Wynona Wilson BAS in information technology), Benveno Brian Yazzie, BAS in information technology; Sky Autumn Yazzie BAS in information technology; and Trudy Yazzie, culinary arts certificate.<\/p>\n

Atcitty estimated that 730 students from both SJC and NTU have benefited from the PNM Scholarship program, with a combined number of 230 who have graduated. In the 2023-24 school year, 65 students and 15 graduates are being aided by the program.<\/p>\n

Ron Darnell, senior vice president of public policy for PNM, said that 10 years ago, PNM worked in partnership with Navajo Nation leaders to address needs and create opportunities for students to tap into existing and emerging job markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe listened, we learned, and we also ultimately created a scholarship program to serve students on the Navajo Nation,\u201d Darnell said. PNM has provided $1.5 million in scholarships, according to Darnell.<\/p>\n

Darnell advised students to \u201cstay in concert with your Indigenous core values that guide you in advocating, serving and building capacity in your communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways work hard and inspire others as you\u2019ve been inspired, believe in what can be accomplished and to never give up on the idea that there is a better life out there and that challenging work, sweat equity, perseverance, the support of your family and the sacrifices our ancestors, it\u2019s paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Buu Nygren, who grew up Red Mesa, Arizona, holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in construction management from Arizona State, an MBA and education doctorate from University of Southern California.<\/p>\n

Nygren grew up in rural Navajo Nation community where his family did not have access to electricity or running water, Atticity said in his introduction of Nygren.<\/p>\n

The Nygren administration\u2019s priorities are clean water access, infrastructure development, allocating resources for the missing and murdered Indigenous relatives movement, construction of new roads, rehabilitation centers and investing in elderly homes, Atticity said.<\/p>\n

Nygren, addressing the audience in Din\u00e9 and English, said he was \u201cvery honored and happy to be here, because those are some very intensive hands-on, practical skills that you all have acquired.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said those are \u201cskill sets that are very important \u2026 that you will continue to use \u2026 in trades that actually make things go move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nygren said energy has been a high priority for him since taking office in January. \u201cThe Navajo Nation has always been an energy nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He expressed gratitude to SJC officials and staff, as well as to Allison and PNM, and challenged PNM to provide \u201canother $500,000 for the scholarship program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cContinue to work hard, continue to be ambitious, continue to dream hard \u2026 continue to know that you are more than capable,\u201d he told students.<\/p>\n

Nygren said regardless of whether a person is in kindergarten or pursuing a master\u2019s or doctorate, the Navajo word \u201cbil\u00e1h\u00f3 b\u00ed\u00ednshghah,\u201d meaning \u201cI\u2019m more than capable,\u201d was the phrase that always inspired him.<\/p>\n

\"PNM
PNM scholarship recipients from San Juan College and Navajo Technical University were honored at a reception May 5 at SJC\u2019s School of Energy. (David Edward Albright\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Jerrick Billy, who will graduate from SJC with an AAS in automotive technology, addressed the audience and said the PNM scholarship helped him pay for tools and books. He said their donation helped him strive harder and pushed him to get good grades because he didn\u2019t want to let anyone down.<\/p>\n

Billy said his goal was to work at a Ford dealership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long life dream of mine to become an automotive technician,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t thank you enough for helping me to achieve my number one goal in life and that\u2019s graduating from college. All of my hard work and dedication will all pay off in a few days when I get to receive my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darlene Wilson, a dual major in biology and environmental science and resources at NTU, was the concluding speaker. She said she is working on a water purification research project called N4WPP. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank Dr. Guy for really helped me \u2026 bringing this project to life. \u2026 It\u2019s going to happen. It\u2019s a miracle!\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

Wilson, who completed an internship with NASA and the Department of Defense, said her daughter was also attending NTU at the same time. Her daughter received a bachelor\u2019s in biology and is now at Harvard University for an internship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

College and Navajo Technical University honor PNM Scholarship recipients<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[155,1098,799,2378,443],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-education","tag-energy","tag-farmington","tag-san-juan-college","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82346,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33794\/revisions\/82346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33794"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}