Middle and high school students from across New Mexico gathered on the campus of Western New Mexico University this spring for National History Day. National History Day is a nonprofit that aims to improve the study and appreciation of history among students. Its flagship event is a competition in which students across the country work within a broad national theme to research topics of interest to them and create a project. The type of project may be a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary or website, and students can choose to work either individually or in a small group. In New Mexico, National History Day is sponsored by the New Mexico Humanities Council (NMHC). Each year, the event is held at a different venue around the state. According to the NMHC website, National History Day “aligns with the New Mexico state social studies standards that were implemented in 2023 and allows students to pursue their passions.” At this year’s events, students all worked with...

Starting this fall, the WNMU School of Nursing and Kinesiology will be offering a new graduate certificate with a focus on Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). The development of the new program is due largely to the efforts of Associate Professor of Nursing Kathy Van Ravenstein, who was recruited by the School of Nursing to direct the program. “When this opportunity came up to develop the FNP program ,” said Van Ravenstein, “I thought it was awesome because I have taught in multiple different FNP programs, and I kind of know what is good, what is bad, what works, what doesn’t, so I thought it would be a great thing to develop a new program and see what we can do with it.” According to Van Ravenstein, the program will be an online post-MSN certificate. Students can be from anywhere in the country, but they need to have a master’s degree in nursing and at least one year experience working as a nurse. Van Ravenstein said that the program is especially well suited to...

Social Work major Veth Gomez has overcome a lot to get to WNMU. Originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, Gomez moved to Arizona with her mother and older siblings when she was a child. Because the family lacked permanent legal status in the United States, Gomez (not her real name) grew up in fear. “I grew up very isolated,” she said. “I lived in fear for the longest time.” Eventually, her family had an opportunity to get a family visa to be in the United States. However, because there is no guarantee the visa will be renewed, Gomez said that the recent uptick in deportation has renewed a lot of her childhood anxiety. “It has put me in a really weird position in life,” she said. “With the recent political climate, I have found myself crawling back to that place of fear and isolation. I do not want to be in a situation where I don’t know how to defend myself.” Gomez said that she identifies a lot with the immigrants she sees featured in the media. “All the videos...

Education major Carlos Carranza was inspired to become a teacher by his high school English teacher. “She was one of those teachers who welcomed you no matter who you were,” said Carranza. “You mattered, and you were smart enough to do the work. She cared about you, and she went into depth to teach you. … I thought I could be like that for somebody and change lives.” At WNMU, Carranza is in his second year enrolled in a 3+2 program, which allows students to earn two degrees, a bachelor’s and master’s degree, in five years. Carranza’s undergraduate focus is on reading, and his graduate area of study will be on bilingual education and the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).  Carranza said that this combination of subjects best prepares him for his goal: to teach students in the borderlands. “I would like to teach where there is a struggle for English language learners,” he said. “I want to focus more on teaching English to speakers of...

School of Social Work alum Kaity Ellis (BSW ’17, MSW ’19) is using what she learned at WNMU to advocate for and assist fellow disabled New Mexicans. Ellis, who has cerebral palsy and is legally blind, works for the State of New Mexico as a Social and Community Coordinator for the Office of Special Education. Ellis is a certified coordinator for the Americans with Disabilities Act, and she previously worked with the Protection and Advocacy section of Disability Rights New Mexico, a state-wide nonprofit that works to protect, promote and expand the legal and civil rights of persons with disabilities. Ellis said she felt called to become a social worker because of a desire to be of service. “I want to be a public servant to the people,” she explained. “My belief is that you serve the people and you do what you can for everybody—not just for yourself.” On a broader scale, she would like to see a seismic shift in the disability rights landscape. “I want to work...

WNMU will be closed March 10-14, 2025, for Spring...

WNMU student Ixchel Flores has the same challenges that most college students have, like balancing academics with all the other activities in her life. But each day, Flores has an additional task demanding her attention: checking in with her parents to make sure they have not been deported. Flores (not her real name) is a first-generation American. Her parents came to the United States from Mexico City as part of an Aztec dance group. Through the group, said Flores, they had many opportunities to perform in the U.S., so they arranged to get visas and travelled with the other dancers. “About 2004-2005, my parents’ visas were about to expire,” explained Flores, “but then my mom found out she was pregnant with me, so like many other immigrant parents, they made the decision to stay here—to overstay their visas—to give me a better life.” “My parents made the choice that they thought would be the best for their family,” she added. Since that time, her parents...

As Women’s History Month begins, WNMU recognizes the accomplishments of its first graduate, Isabel Eckles. Born in Delaware in 1877, Eckles graduated from what was then known as New Mexico Normal School in 1895 with a diploma that was “to be considered as a first class teacher’s certificate in any of the counties of the Territory of New Mexico,” according to the language of the Council Bill that established the school. After teaching in Silver City for 16 years, Eckles was elected to the State Board of Education in 1912. She then successfully ran to be the Grant County Superintendent of Schools, a position to which she was reelected. After being term-limited from continuing as County Superintendent, Eckles became the Registrar of New Mexico Normal School in 1919. (The school’s name would be changed to New Mexico State Teacher’s College in 1920.) While working as Registrar, she also served as the President of the State Teachers’ Association. In 1922, following...

For the first time, the WNMU College of Education is hosting an International Research Scholar this year. In this new role, Egyptian scholar Eman Ahmed will be working closely with faculty in the Educational Leadership Program. For Ahmed, this is not her first international experience. “I came to the United States in 2007 to get my PhD from Pennsylvania State University," she indicated. "I was there for five and a half years, and I worked there as well as a graduate lecturer for four years and as a lecturer for a year.” Ahmed’s PhD is in educational leadership. Eventually, the terms of Ahmed’s visa required her to return to Egypt. Her next experience abroad was as a faculty member in Saudi Arabia. “I worked there as an assistant professor and then was promoted to associate professor,” said Ahmed. “It is not easy to be promoted there if you are not from Saudi Arabia,” she added. Ahmed decided to return to the United States because she is interested in devoting...

A team of leaders from the Associated Students of Western New Mexico University (ASWNMU) were recently in Santa Fe to advocate for requests they have made to the NM Legislature. ASWNMU is requesting $300,000 for upgrades to the university’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and $100,000 for residence hall improvements. ASWNMU President Brenda Dominguez, a graduate student pursuing an MBA degree, explained that the new VDI will give students “remote access to any digital resource we have on campus from home.” Dominguez has felt the need for the VDI first-hand when she was an undergraduate at WNMU.  “When I took calculus as a student,” she explained, “there was specific software that you could only use if you were on Wi-Fi from the school. If you were not here, you could not use it. … The virtual desktop allows students who are in Deming or in Gallup or anywhere they take their classes from to access any sort of academic tool that our computers...