Susan Helen Tibbetts Sjolund Scholarship

This Scholarship supports a second-year Leech Lake Tribal College student destined for a career in organizational or operational leadership.

In the Ojibwe language (Ojibwemowin), the word for an older woman is mindimooyenh. Used as a term of respect, it is literally translated as one who holds us together. This translation speaks to the traditional role our grandmothers sometimes played in being the ones who held us together as families.

When Cliff Sjolund Jr was growing up, this traditional translation fit his paternal grandmother, Susan Helen Tibbetts Sjolund, perfectly. Cliff traces his success in both life and career to the year he lived with his grandmother in her lifelong home of Ball Club, Minnesota. “My grandmother’s conscientious mentoring, selfless nurturing and steadfast belief in my potential at a decisive time during my adolescence was an absolute life changer for me,” stated Sjolund. “Not only did my grandmother equip me with the confidence for making decisions on who I would eventually become and how I would react to life’s many challenges, she also endowed me with the main character traits that so clearly defined her as an individual… her integrity, humility and charity.”

To honor the memory of his grandmother, and on behalf of her three children, Clifford, Peggy and Barbara, Cliff Sjolund Jr, Colonel, USAF (Retired), has fully endowed a scholarship that now bears her name. “It says a lot about the confidence Cliff has in our college” said LLTC President Dr. Donald Day. “Cliff and his family really understand the need that exists for scholarships for Native American students.” The Susan Helen Tibbetts Sjolund scholarship will support a second-year Leech Lake Tribal College student destined for a career in organizational or operational leadership. The scholarship will reward its first student Fall Semester of 2015.

“This is the first scholarship in the history of Leech Lake Tribal College that is endowed in one single contribution.” said LLTC Director of Institutional Advancement Bill Blackwell Jr. “Cliff and his family want to honor the memory of his grandmother through empowering Leech Lake Band Members to go on to do great things. It has been an honor to get to know Cliff and to see how much his grandmother meant to him. Leech Lake Tribal College is so thankful to the Sjolund Family for their confidence in Leech Lake Tribal College and entrusting us to honor Susan Helen Tibbetts Sjolund year after year.”

This scholarship supports a second-year Leech Lake Tribal College student destined for a career in organizational or operational leadership. It is expected recipients will pay this gift forward many times over by inspiring others to build a better tomorrow for those who share, respect, protect and advance their proud and honored cultural heritage.