ENMU sets school graduate record

link Correspondent photo: Matthew Shelly

Eastern new Mexico University graduate Heather Anderson shakes hands with ENMU Foundation President Steve Doerr Saturday morning after receiving her diploma.

Eastern New Mexico Junior College graduated 17 students when it opened in 1935.

Eighty years later, in its 128th graduation ceremony on Saturday, Eastern New Mexico University handed out more than 600 degrees, setting a school record.

University officials said more than 1,000 students will graduate in the 2014-15 school year, also a record.

“We all walk in the footsteps of those early students, staff, and faculty,” University President Steve Gamble reminded students on Saturday.

One of the first people to congratulate the graduates Saturday was commencement speaker Barbara Damron, the cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Board for Higher Education.

“Anywhere else, you’re in robes at 10 a.m. and you’re called lazy. But here we call you accomplished,” Damron said in the opening of her commencement speech.

Jokes aside, Damron offered advice to the new graduates. She encouraged them to act with integrity, think with their heart, and step up when situations were at their toughest.

“It does not matter what the forecast is, it matters what you make of it,” she said.

Finally, she reminded the graduates that life was not fair but to never, ever give up.

“If you don’t know you can’t fly, then you can soar like an eagle,” she said.

With stories of her own life, Damron emphasized students’ ability to do great things, especially in a country like America. She spoke of overcoming obstacles and the many opportunities they must grasp throughout their lives.

“Enjoy the gift of today and go out and change the world,” she concluded.

Despite that lofty charge, nerves were calm among the graduates.

• Matthew Encinias, 22, said his only worry was falling on stage. Encinias overcame much greater concerns in recent years.

His daughter, now 2, went through open heart surgery while he was working for his bachelor’s degree in science. His daughter and wife watched him graduate.

• Alexandra Itzi, 23, faced her own challenges, though less life threatening. She said the biggest challenge she had to face while getting her master’s in arts and English was procrastination.

“People think it’s an epidemic among freshmen but it definitely follows you into your graduate studies,” Itzi said.

• Greg Aguilar, 26, graduated with a master’s in education and dreams of going on to become a school counselor.

“My passion is working with kids,” Aguilar said.

He wants to become a school counselor because he did not have one growing up and wants to provide resources and tools for students. Plus, his grandmother and mother were both teachers.

“It is in my blood,” he said.

• Valerie Thorson, 22, is going on to work on movies in either Los Angeles or Atlanta where she hopes to get positions on movie sets then become an editor.

“To get here, it took lots and lots of hard work,” Thorson said.

• For precisely that reason, Paula Ramos, 24, is taking a break following her graduation for a bachelor’s of science and psychology to take care of her 3-year-old twin daughters. She is excited just to be able to relax before she goes to graduate school.

“I’m relieved, this was six years in the making, “ she said.

Itzi also said she has a lot of relaxing ahead of her before she jumps into a master’s of fine arts program in Massachusetts.

“I’m going to sleep for three days, eat lots of pizza, and bask in my accomplishment for a while,” she said.

Encinias is going to work at a power transmission and delivery company called Encore in Fort Worth.

Whether they are going on to family life, work, or pizza, Gamble was quick to congratulate and thank everyone involved in the graduation ceremony.

The students were not the only people in need of congratulations.

Four faculty members, Bradford Hamann, Marvin Lutnesky, Alan Garrett, and Veena Parboteeah were awarded presidential achievements for excellency.

Lutnesky was recognized for his research in behavioral ecology.

“It felt very fulfilling to be recognized after so many years,” Lutnesky said.