August 2026, leadership at San Carlos Apache College (SCAC) held a pivotal meeting with key leaders from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to discuss the future of our institution. We were honored to host Patrick Penn, Director of the USDA Office of Tribal Relations (OTR), and Lawrence Shorty (Navajo), Director of the USDA Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. SCAC was represented by Tribal Councilman Simon Hooke, Provost Lisa Eutsey, and President Linda Sue Warner.The productive discussion focused on two major milestones for our community:
-Introducing our college programs directly to the USDA.
-Reviewing the official timeline for SCAC’s upcoming accreditation.
-Planning for future inclusion in the federal Farm Bill to achieve official land-grant institution status.