Eastern New Mexico University awarded $458,000 from New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department  

Portales, NM –Nov 14, 2022–Eastern New Mexico’s University’s College of Education and Technology received a $458,000 endowment from the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department.

Funding will be used to establish an endowed professorship focused on research and recruitment specific to early childhood education, helping to increase recruitment of culturally and linguistically diverse students, and expand research on multicultural early childhood interventions, education, and development.

“This award recognizes the good work that ENMU’s Early Childhood Education program achieves, allowing us to do even more for the children of New Mexico and their future teachers.” said Patrice Caldwell, ENMU President. “Eastern is deeply grateful for this vote of confidence from the Department and Cabinet Secretary Groginsky and Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez.”

The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department awarded $7 million in total to seven colleges and Universities across New Mexico.

“It is very exciting to be a part of creating and sustaining new and better opportunities for our students at ENMU, especially when they positively impact our surrounding communities, as this endowment most assuredly will do.” Said B. Lee Hurren, Dean, College of Education and Technology “Dr. Becky Davis and Dr. Tsitsi Nyabando, both members of the College of Education and Technology, will be excellent stewards of this Early Childhood Endowment Award.”

The grants will support early childhood degree programs across New Mexico and aid in the recruitment of students from Indigenous and bilingual communities into early childhood degree programs. The funds will be used to set up endowments, hire additional faculty and staff, add courses focused on multicultural early childhood education, and implement teacher recruitment strategies to increase diversity.

For more information on the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department visit https://www.nmececd.org/

For more information on ENMU’s College of Education and Technology visit https://www.enmu.edu/CET