More than 350 set to graduate from ENMU

More than 350 students will graduate from Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday. Graduation ceremonies are set for Saturday at 10 a.m. at Greyhound Arena.

According to Amy Holt, associate director of Institutional Research/Planning Services at ENMU, 352 students will graduate this year. Last year, 346 students graduated.

University officials said 297 undergraduate and 49 graduate degrees will be presented.

Letitia Chambers, director of the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education, will give the keynote address.

Chambers guides the commission in allocating state funds to colleges and universities and recommending capitol projects to the Legislature. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a doctorate from Oklahoma State University.

Chambers also chairs the New Mexico Education Trust Board and is a board member on the New Mexico Student Loan and Guarantee Corp. She founded and was CEO of Chamber Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy consulting firm.

In 1996, Chambers served as U.S. Representative to the U.N. General Assembly, which was an ambassadorial rank. In 1992, she also served on the Clinton/Gore transition team as chief budget advisor and helped develop early drafts of the president's economic plan.

In addition, Chambers was the first woman to head the staff of a major standing committee of the U.S. Senate when she served as the staff director of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Relations.