
- Details
- By Levi Rickert
CROWNPOINT, N.M. — On December 23, 2019, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham visited Navajo Technical University during a tour of select Eastern Navajo Agency communities to learn more about the concerns of the Navajo Nation and northwest New Mexico.
NTU President Dr. Elmer J. Guy welcomed the Governor to NTU’s main campus where she heard plans from Navajo Nation officials and discussed her plans to support proposals beneficial to American Indian communities throughout the state. Governor Grisham also discussed backing educational initiatives that favor higher education in the state, including tribal college and universities (TCUs).
“I was very happy that Governor Lujan Grisham came out to our campus. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Governor in our homelands. It was great to hear how she is going to support the Navajo Nation and our university,” President Dr. Elmer J. Guy said. “One of the things we would like to see her support is the development of our culture curriculum center that will enable us to create instructional materials in the Navajo and Zuni languages.”
The university is also in the beginning stages of increasing the capacity of high speed Internet to the region in a collaborative effort with Facebook and other business partners. Dr. Guy explained how NTU’s effort to run fiber optic lines from Thoreau to Crownpoint, NM would enable more online courses and improve efforts involving NTU’s advanced manufacturing and engineering labs.
“I’m very grateful to the Navajo Nation, the President, the Navajo Nation Council, and to everyone who has invited me,” Lujan said in her remarks to those who had gathered to greet her at the NTU Hospitality Center. “I hope this is the beginning of many days where we think about the ways we can improve the quality of life for everyone here at Navajo. In doing that we are going to figure out strategies for rural communities all across the state.”
Governor Grisham was invited to the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation by President Jonathan Nez. He wanted her to explore areas of business, education, and community development that can have a long-term impact for the Navajo people. As part of her visit the governor visited NTU’s Innovation Center at Church Rock, NM to discuss economic development before continuing on to NTU’s Crownpoint campus to discuss education.
More Stories Like This
Lawsuit Filed by Fort Belknap Indian Community Against Greenberg Traurig, LLP Reads Like a Movie ScriptSpecial Edition Native Bidaské: Oglala Composer Mato Wayuhi
Ho-Chunk Trucker Spreads MMIP Message, Offers Safe Haven from Domestic Violence
Native News Weekly (September 24, 2023): D.C. Briefs
Assemblyman Ramos Honored with Award for Long Service to California Native American Commission
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.