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Alumni Awards honor outstanding FLC graduates
Alumni spotlight: Jourdan Bennett-Begaye (Athletic Training, '13)
十多年前，我偶然在路易斯堡学院上了一门新闻学课程， Jourdan Bennett-Begaye (Athletic Training, ’13) is the editor-in-chief of ICT (前身为Indian Country Today)，一个报导原住民世界的数位平台. 她是这家拥有40年历史的报纸和网站的首位女性首席新闻执行官和首席编辑.
“I’m young and a Native woman, so I have to trust and follow my instincts, 作为新闻编辑部负责人，在需要做出艰难但正确的决定时坚持自己的立场,” she said. “Resiliency runs through my veins. I have a responsibility to tell Indigenous stories. I want to heal my people and myself through storytelling. Journalism possesses the power to make change.”
贝内特-贝加伊在新墨西哥州西北部的纳瓦霍部落打排球长大. 尽管有晕动病，她还是在比赛间隙的长途驾驶中狼吞虎咽地看书. 有一天，她从五年级回家，问她爸爸:“什么是大学??” He smiled and said she should go to Stanford.
“我的父母总是告诉我们要去上学，”自称为同性恋的贝内特-贝加伊说 Kiyaa’áanii (The Towering House Clan), Mą’ii deeshgiizhinii (The Coyote Pass Clan of Jemez), Naakai dine’é (The Mexican Clan), and Ozei Táchii’nii (The Hopi with Red Running Into the Water Clan).
Bennett-Begaye enrolled at Emory University in Georgia but missed home. In 2008, she transferred to FLC.
“对我来说，刘易斯堡是一所完美的学校:离家近，离家远，帮助我成为独立的人,” she said.
Bennett-Begaye declared a major in athletic training. 她想她会进入医学院或者成为一名医生助理. She said juggling campus life with the course load was intense, with its heavy emphasis on science and hands-on practice.
“我的教授们给予我严厉的爱，迫使我以一种伟大的方式成长，”她回忆说. “我成长为一个人，作为一个专业人士，练习如何反思和领导. 我学会了与各种各样的人交流复杂的医学术语:同行, supervisors, physicians, high school athletic trainers, student-athletes, and their parents. 我接受了许多建设性的批评，并学会了如何筛选反馈.”
“Resiliency runs through my veins. I have a responsibility to tell Indigenous stories. I want to heal my people and myself through storytelling."
—Jourdan Bennett-Begaye
(Athletic Training, '13)
Every week, 班尼特-贝加伊和她的同学们提交了关于他们案例的日记, 包括观察和探索他们为什么选择某些处方. She wrote well beyond the minimum word count, 这让她的同学们开玩笑说她把标准定得太高了. 贝内特-贝加伊喜欢这个项目，但她想把自己的研究扩展到科学以外. She signed up for News Media, which she misread as new media.
“I wanted to learn how to create blogs and websites, so when we were going over the syllabus on the first day, and I realized we’d be writing news stories, I was intimidated; I didn’t even read newspapers,” she laughed. “I told Dr. [Faron] Scott I’d made a mistake. She asked if I liked to read and write and said I should see what journalism was all about; she said she’d help me. I ended up really loving it. 我喜欢倾听并通过别人的视角来了解这个世界. I like knowing why people make the decisions they do. Turns out journalism is suitable for my personality.”
After graduation, 班尼特-贝加伊参加了纽约雪城大学新闻学硕士课程，这是纽豪斯少数族裔研究生报纸奖学金的一部分. 她在美国印第安新闻研究所的工作提高了她的技能，并获得了土著记者协会的奖学金，接受密集的多媒体培训.
She returned to New Mexico to teach journalism, theatre, and video production at her high school alma mater. 班尼特-贝加伊和一位朋友发起了“第一声幸存节”, 是什么激发了土著青年利用艺术和媒体来保护他们的文化, represent their identities, and build a sense of pride in being Indigenous.
Bennett-Begaye serves on the IJA board of directors, 致力于为下一代记者创造机会，提供资源和支持. 她从2018年开始担任ICT的记者和制片人，此后每年都得到晋升, moving into the editor position in January 2022.
“At ICT, 我们关注的是北美和世界各地更多的土著居民,” Bennett-Begaye explained. “我们希望在所有部落之间建立桥梁，分享纳瓦霍族的故事, for example, that could help someone in South Dakota, showing the bigger picture of what’s happening across the country. 我们想要揭开土著文化和主流文化之间的面纱.”
This fall, Bennett-Begaye received FLC’s Alumni Rising Star award, 颁发给过去十年从FLC毕业后通过工作对社会产生积极影响的校友.
“Fort Lewis wasn’t first on my list, but I’m so grateful I chose it as the place to receive my education,” she said. “它为我奠定了基础，帮助我成为今天的我.”
"Our distinguished alumni are at the heart of what we do, and they reflect Fort Lewis College and our commitment to excellence."
—Rachel Frederico,
alumni engagement officer
Bennett-Begaye joined other Alumni Awards recipients during this fall’s homecoming celebrations. 学院授予Javier Read de Alaniz(化学，1999)杰出校友奖. Read de Alaniz在化学系找到了自己的位置，与著名教授一起研究 Ted Bartlett. Over the years, Read de Alaniz has earned many honors and grants, several Young Investigator awards, and the 2023 Copy Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society. He’s a professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the associate director of the California Nanosystems Institute.
Guy Pfalzgraff (History, 1970年，他因毕生为科罗拉多州农村社区提供公共服务而获得社区领导奖, serving on several boards and committees around the state. He recently donated $100,000 to FLC’s History Department.
教职员工服务奖授予在与学生和校友建立关系方面表现出色的杰出教职员工. This year’s award winner is Bryant Liggett (英语- Communication, 1998)表彰他几十年来对FLC的公共广播电台KDUR的奉献.
“(科比)认识到，校友们拥有巨大的潜力，可以为我们现在的学生提供宝贵的资源,” said nominator Kendra Gallego Reichle, director of Student Well-Being. ”By actively involving them, he imparts a sense of belonging, nurtures a love for music, and fosters a strong sense of community within our student body.”
Joslynn Lee (化学-生物化学，2006)，化学系助理教授 & Biochemistry Department, 获得FLC服务奖，以表彰她对学院和解工作的无畏奉献，以及在校园营造更具包容性和治愈性的环境的承诺. Through her mentorship with students, 她增加了STEM学生获得本科研究经验的机会，并帮助获得了科罗拉多户外公平基金, showcasing her passion for holistic education.
“校友参与办公室对我们的校友奖计划的振兴感到兴奋,” said Rachel Frederico, alumni engagement officer of the Alumni Engagement Office. “恢复这个项目让我们有幸庆祝我们毕业生的成就. Our distinguished alumni are at the heart of what we do, and they reflect Fort Lewis College and our commitment to excellence. 每一位获奖者都激励着我们的学生和FLC社区.”