Sigma
Tau Delta/Vicente Ximenes Scholarship in Language & Literacy
Requirements
/ Dr. Vicente Ximenes / Inaugural
Recipient / Donations
Requirements:
The recipients of the annual scholarship award(s) shall be selected by a committee
of faculty appointed by the Chair of English Language and Literature Department
that includes a member of the Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society in accordance
with the normal procedures and criteria used to select any and all scholarship
award winners. However, recipients of this scholarship must also:
- Be accepted
as a graduate student at UNM Department of English.
- Be a member
of Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society.
- Be nominated
by a UNM faculty member acquainted with the candidate's academic performance
and goals.
The scholarship(s)
shall be awarded annually and paid on a semester basis (at the beginning of
the recipient's first semester of graduate study).
The scholarship
may be awarded to the same student in successive semesters until the completion
of M.A. or Ph.D. provided the recipient is making satisfactory academic progress
toward a degree and is maintaining a grade point average of 3.5 or better.
Dr.
Vicente Ximenes:
Vicente Ximenes
grew up in a melting pot of a community in Floresville, Texas. In a time of
racism and prejudice Dr. Ximenes managed to overcome adversity and odds to
excel in his education. From the 100 students that began school with him at
the segregated Mexicano school, only 5 would ever graduate from high school.
Dr. Ximenes
went on to college, and he obtained a BA in Education and an MA in Economics
(1947-1951) from the University of New Mexico. Later he was awarded an honorary
PhD in Humane Letters from Highlands University of New Mexico (1984).
Dr. Ximenes
went on to become the first Hispanic appointed US Commissioner of Equal Employment,
and he worked with President Johnson on Mexican-American affairs.
Through this
collaboration, he was appointed Chairman of the President's Cabinet Committee
on Mexican American Affairs by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967.
Since that time
Dr. Ximenes has continued to advocate for equal rights across the country,
and he is an active public servant in New Mexico.
 |
| Dr.
Vincente Ximenes and Dr. Michelle Hall Kells at the inaugural ceremony of
the Ximenes Scholarship in Language and Literacy, May 2005. |
| |
 |
| Dr. Kells,
Dr. Ximenes, and family. |
Inaugural
Recipient:
Bernadine Hernandez
is a Sigma Tau Member from UNM majoring in English (Pre-Law) and Spanish.
Her career objectives
include: serving as an advocate for minority groups, graduating from law school,
and becoming a Professor of English. Bernadine's work with minority issues
and her excellence in language and literacy distinguish her as the first recipient
of the Ximenes Scholarship in Language and Literacy at the University of New
Mexico.
How
to Donate:
The Ximenes
Scholarship in Language and Literacy is an approved tax-deductible chartered
scholarship fund managed by the UNM Foundation. Our goal is to establish a
permanent endowed scholarship. Your donations will help to realize this vision.
Donations for
the Ximenes Scholarship in Language and Literacy can be sent to:
Ximenes Scholarship
c/o Dr. Michelle Hall Kells, Assistant Professor
Department of English
Humanities 325
MSC 03-2170
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
mkells@unm.edu