ENMU graduates cross stage

May 16—A capacity crowd of friends, family and supporters cheered from the bleachers Saturday at Greyhound Arena as more than 650 capped and gowned students at Eastern New Mexico University crossed the stage to receive diplomas.

Gay Su Pinnell, an ENMU alumna who has received many national awards for her work in literacy education, delivered the commencement address.

In addition to her literacy education achievements, Pinnell has funded education grants for ENMU since 2017. She also donated an event facility, and recently endowed a new chair for the ENMU College of Education.

In October, the university board of regents renamed the Education Building on the Portales campus in Pinnell's honor as a show of gratitude.

Pinnell's advice to students in her commencement remarks focused on six points.

First, she said, "You should believe in yourself, not only in the self you are now, but the self you will be next year, in the next decade or the next two decades."

She advised students to learn from those who know more than they do, and continue to "grow and learn and change."

Next, she advised, "Don't try to be perfect."

"Don't be so afraid of making a mistake that you don't try," she said. Basketball star Michael Jordan, she noted, once said he did not think about the 9,000 shots he missed while becoming a leading scorer for the Chicago Bulls.

"I failed thousands of times," Pinnell quoted Jordan, "and that's why I succeeded."

Third, she said, break things down into "doable steps."

"Analyze," she said, and break things down into individual tasks. Those tasks should be on a to-do list, rather than items like "write a book" or "solve poverty."

Her fourth point, she said, is to "take a problem-solving approach"

Before taking a problem to a supervisor or other authority, she said, "you should try to solve the problem yourself. You'd be surprised at how often you succeed."

Fifth, she said, "stick with it. Persistence pays off."

"Don't quit," she added, again citing Jordan: "It becomes a habit."

Her last point was, "Keep good friends and make new ones outside your workplace."

"They will help you maintain your perspective and laugh a lot," she said.

Before Pinnell's talk, ENMU Chancellor James Johnston named winners of faculty excellence awards.

The winners were Melissa Moyer, assistant professor of social work, for advising; Mark Viner, assistant professor of educational technology, for service; Corey Cole, assistant professor of finance, for teaching; and Juchao Yan , professor of chemistry, for research.

As faculty, staff, regents and students filed out of the hallways and onto Greyhound Arena's main floor, the university brass quintet played an overture and processional music amid the cheers ringing from the crowd of supporters.

Ceremonies began with singing of the National Anthem and ENMU's Alma Mater by a dozen singers, representing faculty and students.

After the last student walked across the stage to receive a diploma, Johnston told the students, "You have achieved something that is truly life-changing, the earning of a university degree."

He advised the graduates that the degree comes with "an obligation to pay it forward to your family, your culture ... and never forget where you came from."

At a reception following the ceremony, Bailey Grady of Portales, said having her diploma and a bachelor's degree in digital filmmaking made her feel good.

"It's so crazy," she said. "It feels like it took forever but also like it took no time at all."

Esther Chelagat, who came to Eastern from Kenya on a track scholarship, said receiving her bachelor's degree in forensic science made her feel "pretty proud."

"I made my family proud," she said.

Her father, Kipsang Komen, flew to the U.S. from Kenya to attend the ceremony. Esther, he said, overcame some "amazing challenges" to earn her degree while competing in track events.

Leeroy Guyo, who came to ENMU from Zimbabwe, wearing the brown-trimmed hood of a fine arts master's degree over his graduation gown, said, "I feel great. I'm so happy" after graduating with a master of arts degree in communications and digital marketing.

He said he was grateful that ENMU and Portales provided an atmosphere that was "friendly" and "allowed me to focus."

"I was welcomed with open arms," he said.