Acting BIE Director Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes to Speak at SIPI's 2016 Commencement Ceremony on April 15

WASHINGTON – Acting Bureau of Indian Education Director Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes will address the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute’s (SIPI) graduating class of 2016 at a commencement ceremony on Friday, April 15, at the SIPI campus in Albuquerque, N.M.

Established in 1971 at the request of the 19 Pueblo tribes in New Mexico and other federally recognized tribes to help train American Indians and Alaska Natives for employment, SIPI is a National Indian Community College and Land Grant Institution with a national, tribally appointed board of regents.

SIPI provides career technical training and transfer degree programs to students from the nation’s 567 federally recognized tribes. It offers competitive job training programs; grants Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees; and provides opportunities for students to transfer into four-year degree programs. For more information, visit http://www.sipi.edu.

WHO:

Ann Marie Bledsoe Downs, Acting Director, Bureau of Indian Education, DOI

WHAT:

Acting BIE Director Bledsoe Downes will address SIPI’s 2016 graduating class at a commencement ceremony in the SIPI Gymnasium on its campus in Albuquerque, N.M.

WHEN:

Friday, April 15, 2016, starting at 10:00 a.m. MDT.

WHERE:

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Gymnasium, 9169 Coors Blvd. N.W., Albuquerque, N.M. 87120. Phone: 800-586-SIPI (7474).

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to credentialed media representatives, who must display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.