Commencement season
Diné College first of area graduations

Desirea L. LaMotte, left, of Navajo Station near Ganado, Ariz., raises her degrees in Associate of Arts in Fine Arts and Social Behavioral Science at the commencement ceremony at Dine College in Tsaile, Ariz., on Thursday, May 7, 2009. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / (Leigh T. Jimmie/For the Independent)

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

TSAILE — Diné College’s commencement exercise is not like most.

For starters, a ceremonial fire is kept burning during the ceremony, and the event doesn’t end until traditional practitioner and faculty member Avery Denny sings a Diné Journey Song.

The college was founded 41 years ago to educate Navajo students, and on Thursday morning, hundreds came out to celebrate with the latest crop of graduates to become a part of the legacy.

There are the community health representatives who took classes at the Crownpoint campus and were receiving their certificates in public health.

“We made it!” Jacqueline Jim Shorty of Lake Valley, said before getting her certificate.

She has been working at getting her certificate since 2007.
“I had the opportunity to set a good example for my children,” Shorty said.

Meria Miller-Castille, another community health representative from Littlewater, said the greatest thing she learned from her classes was working together with her colleagues.

“It feels great,” she said.

Anita David of Thoreau also attended the Crownpoint campus and earned her certificate in public health while balancing work and family with school. She has been taking classes since 1992.

“I took one class a semester because I was working full time,” she said. Now she wants to go for her Bachelor of Arts Degree.

“I want to graduate before my kids do,” she said.

David said the greatest thing she learned at Diné College was that she could learn more to help her people.

Jolanta Lee Billey of Torreon doubted that she would ever finish when she began taking the public health courses.

“I said I’m not going to finish it, but I did. I’m here,” she said.
Billey also wants to continue her pursuit of higher education by getting a Bachelor of Arts Degree.

Bobby A. James Jr. of Waterflow received his associate of Science degrees in biological science with both the general science and mathematics options. He will be interning at New Mexico Tech this summer.

“That’s where I’m planning to finish my degree in environmental engineering, “ he said.

He encouraged people who want to get their degrees to stick with it.

“Just give it a try,” he said.

For Ranalda Tsosie, she also had to balance family and school, along with traveling long distances, to get her Associate of Science Degree with the health occupation option and the biology option.

“I traveled from Window Rock to here (Tsaile) for two years every day,” she said.

It was worth it, though, she said, and she is now ready to apply to pharmacy school.

Jeraldine Tolino of Chinle received her Associate of Arts in liberal arts and is now planning to continue her education by majoring in criminal justice.

“I did eight years of military service, came back and finished in two years,” she said.

Delphis Burbank of Cottonwood is also planning to continue college and major in criminology.

“I think I’m a better person for going to this school,” said Burbank, who received an Associate of Arts in liberal arts.

Another graduate is last year’s Miss Navajo Nation Jonathea D. Tso, who received her Associate of Arts degrees in Diné studies and Navajo language.

Tso, who emceed the commencement, has two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Dartmouth College but returned to Diné College for its programs at the Center for Diné Studies.

The “Grandmother” of Diné College, Ruth Roessel, reflected on the history of the tribal college, which she still calls Navajo Community College.

Her late husband Bob Roessel helped to make the dream a reality and she was also an advocate for a college for Navajos near their homeland.

“My world turned very different when I met a white school teacher,” she said referring to her husband.

The two got married and moved to be near Arizona State University where Roessel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree.

When the two returned to Navajo, she would leave her family behind every summer to work on her master’s degree also at ASU.

“We go to places to educate ourselves. What about here?,” she thought.

It became her dream for the Navajo people to have their own institute of higher learning.

“This is our college. This is where should all go to learn, even our tribal Council should go to school and learn about the Navajo people. This is what’s important to me as a mother of the Navajo Nation,” she said.

Roessel also talked about how the campus was designed.

“The archaeologist was talking about the plan of the college. I was talking next door about the hogan,” she said.

Her students questioned why buildings always had to be rectangular, Roessel said as she stood in front of the hogan-shaped Ned A. Hatathli Center.

“Students asked, ‘Mrs. Roessel, maybe we can get them to come in here and I can draw on the board and we can use that for the campus,’” she said.

Roessel ended her remarks by encouraging the graduates to take the opportunity to learn about themselves as Navajo men and women.

“Care for your community. Care for your land. Care for others,” she said. “By bringing the college home to the Navajo people, by seeing your faces, I feel good.”

Denny began the processional with a traditional Diné journey song. Lorene Legah and Herbert Benally were the grand marshals.

Denny gave the invocation and Charmae Begay of Cornfields, Ariz., sang the national anthem.

Ferlin Clark, president of Diné College, gave the welcome remarks and presented the graduates.

Also presenting graduates and conferring degrees and certificates were Nicholas Appleton of Arizona State University’s College of Education and Douglas Taren of the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health. Ten students received Bachelor of Arts in elementary education through the Center for Diné Teacher Education and nine received certificates in public health.

Fionna Frazier, a 2009 graduate, gave congratulatory remarks and Perry Charley, program coordinator for the Diné Environmental Institute gave the benediction. Denny completed the program with a traditional Diné journey song.