New Diné College Prez Says She'll Share The Reins

Navajo Times

Reprinted with Permission from Navajo Times Publishing Company.

August 25, 2011

By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi' Bureau

TSAILE - As she starts work today as the president of Diné College, Maggie George says it's not all about her.

"The way to increase quality and correct problems is through shared governance," said the Red Valley native, who is Tóchii'nii, born for Nakaii Dine'e.

George, who was faculty/chair administrator for the Center for Diné Studies at the college before being chosen president this week, said her administration's focus will be on student learning - and the first thing the Ph.D. in higher education policy is going to do is look over the test scores and any other statistics being kept on students' progress.

"Before we do anything, we need to sit down with the data we have and see what the data is telling us," she said.

George said she's ready to leave the college's turbulent recent years - during which it suffered from a pitched legal battle between her predecessor, Ferlin Clark, and the board of regents - behind and "move forward."

"The newspaper sensationalized many things," she said. "We all need to move forward and do the right thing for the Navajo Nation."

While George was raised herding sheep in the Chuskas and watched Diné College's progress from afar, she didn't attend there. Her bachelor's in elementary education and master's in counseling are from New Mexico Highlands University, and her doctorate is from the University of Kansas.

"I went to public schools," she said, "but the whole focus of my research was Indian education."

Her doctoral work was actually on Diné College's bilingual, bi-cultural teacher preparation program.