Article and photos by Shirin McArthur (the rest of the article can be read after the photos)
The Silver City League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 8003 held its 30th Annual Scholarship and Student of the Month Awards Celebration at WNMU on Saturday, July 27. Eighteen students received college scholarships and seven Cobre and Silver High School students received Student of the Month Awards. In addition, LULAC itself received the 2014 WNMU President's Award, which recognizes important individuals, families and companies that have made significant contributions to the university, Grant County and/or New Mexico.
2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Rev. Henry Hoffman, LULAC Scholarship Chairperson, opens the evening with prayer
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Lynn Godoy Baca, LULAC Council President, welcomes everyone
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Keynote speaker, Jessica Martinez, New Mexico Deputy State LULAC Director
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Scholarship committee member and former Chairperson, Fred Baca, announces an award winner
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Betty Terrazas Memorial Scholarship recipient Chelsi B. Straubinger shares her experience researching water use issues in the Gila this summer.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Scholarship recipients received certificates from scholarship committee members Helen Maldonado (Left) and Ora Rede (Center).
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Charles GǣKillerGǥ Aguirre Memorial Scholarship recipient Joseph E. Murillo, who will begin studies at WNMU this fall, plans to study kinesiology and eventually use physical therapy to help others.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Apolonio Sierra Memorial Scholarship recipient Carlos A. Lucero is entering his senior year at NMSU, where he is majoring in business administration.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Richard Sierra-Rudy Lopez Memorial Scholarship recipient Christian J. Duran is a student at UNM.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Nadine Hill Memorial Scholarship recipient Mikayla R. Pena will enter the California College of Arts this fall, where she will major in animation.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Art Jackson Memorial Scholarship recipient Jaime Miguel McCarthy is entering his junior year at UNM, and expressed his appreciation for the dual enrollment program between Silver High School and WNMU, stating that it had been critical to his success at UNM.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The 1st New Mexico Bank/LULAC Council Scholarship recipient Joseph A. Castillo is a participant in the Nursing program at WNMU.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Cleotilde Quintana Memorial Scholarship recipient Krystal M. Castillo, a mathematics and secondary education student at WNMU, expressed her desire to teach, coach softball, and have an impact beyond the classroom
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
The Jesus GǣJJGǥ Terrazas Memorial Scholarship recipient Alfedo J. Molina-Nogal is a music education major at Colorado State University who encouraged his fellow students to have the will to prepare, not just to succeed.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
LULAC Council 8003 Scholarship recipient Michael Brett Allen-Gonzales shared some stories of his transition away from home during his first year of study at NMSU.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
LULAC Council 8003 Scholarship recipient David R. Ramos, a sophomore at NMSU, is majoring in kinesiology and perhaps also psychology.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Scholarship recipients received certificates from scholarship committee members Helen Maldonado (Left) and Ora Rede (Center).
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
LULAC Council 8003 Scholarship recipient Kody R. Villines will be entering NMSU this fall to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering technology.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Frances Vasquez, Chairperson of the Student of the Month program, announces the award recipients
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Cobre High School Student of the Month Dylan Rottman someday hopes to pursue a career as a computer or chemical engineer
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Silver High School Student of the Month Joshua Ashinhurst will begin studies at New Mexico Tech in the fall and hopes someday to work in cyber security
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Bernice Trevizo receives LULACG??s Woman of the Year award
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
State Senator Howie Morales shares his own experience as a LULAC scholarship recipient and announces the creation of the Vicky Sierra Arizaga Memorial Scholarship.
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard presents LULAC (represented by Council President Lynn Godoy Baca) with the WNMU 2014 PresidentG??s Award
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
Rev. Paul Moore gives the closing benediction
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2014 LULAC Banquet and awardees
LULAC Council 8003 with Dr. Shepard
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The celebration began with an opening prayer by the Rev. Henry Hoffman, LULAC Scholarship Chairperson, followed by welcomes from LULAC Council President, Lynn Godoy Baca, and WNMU President, Dr. Joseph Shepard. Students, their families and friends, and the LULAC community then enjoyed a banquet dinner provided by WNMU. The awards ceremony followed.
Lynn Godoy Baca began the ceremony by noting a number of distinguished guests, including Paul Martinez, New Mexico LULAC State Director, State Senator Howie Morales, and State Representative Dianne Hamilton. Ms. Baca then introduced the LULAC Keynote Speaker, Ms. Jessica Martinez, a 23-year-old, fourth-generation LULAC member who is New Mexico Deputy State LULAC Director. Ms. Martinez shared some stories of the historic impact of LULAC as an organization, such as the fact that a successful LULAC legal case was the precedent which the Supreme Court used in ruling on the Brown v. Board of Education case which outlawed racial segregation in 1954. Ms. Martinez then encouraged the students who were receiving scholarships to consider the impact that their own work will have on the next seven generations.
Rev. Hoffman and scholarship committee member (and former Chairperson) Fred Baca then presented the scholarship awards to students. As part of the requirements for accepting the awards, each student had to give a three-minute speech. Many students spoke of their plans for school and future career, as well as how their experiences in school are shaping those plans. The high school students of the month were then presented with their awards by Frances Vasquez, chairperson of the Student of the Month program.
Following these student awards, a number of LULAC Council awards were given, and the scholarship sponsors were recognized: AmBank, 1st New Mexico Bank, and WNMU. Ms. Baca announced that the Silver City LULAC Council 8003 had been awarded State Council of the Year for 2014, which is a significant honor for this relatively young chapter.
Dr. Shepard then presented the WNMU President's Award to Ms. Baca and the LULAC Council, sharing his connection with the Latin American community through his Mexican wife, Marcela. He focused also on how LULAC supports the educational needs of students at WNMU and other educational institutions, with over $200,000 in scholarships (funded in large part through enchilada dinner sales and Bingo nights) having been awarded to Grant County students during the life of the program.
Dr. Shepard then invited Sen. Morales, a former LULAC scholarship recipient, to speak. Sen. Morales, who received the Charlie "Killer" Aguirre Memorial Scholarship in 1992, encouraged the scholarship recipients to research the leaders in whose honor their scholarships were given, so that students would understand who they are honoring and what those people had overcome in their own lives. He promised the students that the road would not always be easy but, if they did their best, they would succeed.
Sen. Morales expressed appreciation for LULAC's work in taking care of the Latin American community "from the inside out" and then announced that he would fund a $500 scholarship in honor of his mother-in-law, Vicky Sierra Arizaga, whose determination to provide for her family left an indelible impression.
The LULAC Celebration closed with a benediction by the Rev. Paul Moore, chaplain of LULAC Council 8003. LULAC's Bingo scholarship fundraisers are held every Wednesday, 7 pm, at the LULAC hall, 100 Alice Street, Silver City.