The Indigenous Nations Library Program recently introduced the Michael and Enokena Olson Memorial Scholarship for full-time Native American students attending UNM.
The scholarship is comprised of two $250 awards per semester, and targets both graduate and undergraduate students who may need further financial assistance throughout the year.
Kevin Brown, program specialist for INPL, said through this scholarship the department hopes to alleviate some of the financial burden of those attending the University.
“It’s the small student fees and textbooks that are always things that students come and ask us about to see if we have any way of providing support,” Brown said. “Now we’re happy to provide an actual scholarship to help them.”
Two recipients were announced on Dec. 2, including junior Jessica Benally, who is studying mathematics along with computer science and Native American studies.
Benally, who learned about the scholarship through one of the INLP email listserves, said she was happy there was a scholarship aimed to assist all ranges of students, as she is both a transfer student and parent.
“I think it’s good to be a part of the INLP program and apart of the scholarship. But also it's helping to continue my school here at UNM,” she said.
The funding for the scholarship is being provided by the Olsen family estate, said Brown. It was originally established in the ‘80s and has since then been transferred through various UNM departments.
This is the first year INLP is in charge of the funding and as such were able to create the scholarship. It based on criteria they established through their own research and interaction with students.
“We targeted the most vulnerable Native American students,” he said. “We saw a lot of graduate students, parent students, transfer students and nontraditional students, as well as incoming transfer students and students who didn’t receive the lottery. We saw those students who were much more vulnerable to dropping out through the course of the semester. So we targeted those students.”
In its first year, this scholarship received 8 total applicants, from both branch and main campuses.
“Our primary form of advertising was through email newsletters, announcements, fliers and postings in the department,” he said. “We got some great assistance from American Indian Student Services who put it on their website and a lot of students saw that. We also received a lot of applications from both health sciences center, branch campuses and also main campus. So we had a good group of students from different program areas.”
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Brown said he hopes in the future to expand their advertisement of the scholarship to reach out to more potential students in need.
“What we learned from this semester, as being the inaugural year of this memorial scholarship, is that we need to do a lot more advertising. So I think when the next semester begins, we’re going to wait potentially until Feb. when everything is into its semester rhythm and then I think we’ll do another,” he said.
Brown also said that the scholarship is offered to students who have applied before in the past, including past awardees.
In accepting the scholarship, awarded students are required to create a 20-minute presentation about their own academic progress or research, as well as writing a thank you letter to the Olsen family estate. Brown said this is their way of giving back to the UNM community.
Gabriela Garcia-Huff is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @thegreen_gablin.
