Author Archives: Linda Brown

The WNMU Museum has recently acquired a new collection of Mimbres Mogollon artifacts, the Disert Ranch Collection. The collection comes from a pueblo in the Mimbres Valley on land that was owned by the Disert family from the 1970s to the 1990s. The collection was donated by members of the family. The objects in the collection were found at the Perrault site on the family’s property. In the early twentieth century, Mimbres ruins were often excavated by collectors untrained in archeological methods, and that was what happened at the Perrault site. The pueblo had been heavily looted during the 1930s, said WNMU Museum Director Danielle Romero. When the Disert family moved onto the property in the 1970s, they collected the artifacts left behind in the disturbed areas. The fact that the site had been looted is reflected in the kinds of pots that are part of the collection. “We are not seeing a lot of figurative items , because that would have been the market in the 30s,” she...

Western New Mexico University Alum Lynisha Dishta (MAT ’24) is a member of an all-women music and dance group, the Zuni Olla Maidens, which was recently awarded a highly prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. The Zuni Olla Maidens are one of only ten individuals or groups awarded the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts this year. The group was founded by Dishta’s great-grandmother, and it has remained a family affair ever since. The members of the group are Dishta’s aunts and cousins. The Zuni Olla Maidens perform social dances with water jars, or ollas, balanced on their heads. They dance in traditional regalia, including the turquoise jewelry that Zuni jewelers are known for, and they use drums, rattles and wooden rasps to accompany their songs. The group pays homage to the ancestral women of Zuni, who have traditionally been the ones to collect and carry water in ollas for their families. The pots that the...

The WNMU One Stop—a pantry providing food and other necessities free of charge to students, staff, and faculty—has opened its second location in the WNMU Mimbres Learning Center in Deming. The new branch is set up very similarly to the original One Stop on the Silver City campus, said Student Services Coordinator Kimberly Woodard. Like the Silver City location, the One Stop—Deming has a commercial refrigerator, a freezer, and shelving to hold products. Also like the main campus location, the Deming branch is available to everyone at the university—students, staff and faculty. Another similarity, said Woodward, is that “There is no limit on the number of visits or the amount of items they can take.” Woodward does expect there to be some differences in the types of products stocked at each location. “We are trying to cater more toward what Deming students are needing,” she said. “On the main campus, we have a lot of students in dorms that have very different...

Students, staff and faculty can expect to see changes coming soon to Mustang Dining. Beginning July 1, WNMU will be partnering with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, part of the global food services and hospitality company Aramark, to revamp meal offerings on campus. With the change to Aramark, diners can expect to find new stations in the cafeteria and new menu choices. Beyond the dining hall, Mustang Dining will continue to offer catering services. The decision to shift from Sodexo to Aramark came at the end of Sodexo’s eight-year contract with WNMU. The university opened up the dining contract for proposals and received several, with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality being selected as the best fit for the university’s needs. Sodexo was the university’s dining services provider for more than 20 years. The partnership with Aramark offers new opportunities for WNMU to reduce its carbon footprint while fostering inclusivity. “Simply put,” said Aramark, “we are working...

Western New Mexico University held its signature cultural event, ¡Fiesta Latina!, June 6-9. The event is designed to recognize, celebrate and assist in the preservation of New Mexico’s connection with its Mexican heritage, customs and traditions. The university has held the event since 2017, with attendance growing. This year’s fiesta drew in over 5,000 visitors. At the center of the festival was a juried artisan mercado featuring the handmade work of approximately 50 highly skilled traditional artisans from across Mexico. The mercado represented a wide range of different artistic traditions, including metal working, ceramics, textiles, embellished shoes, leather, woodwork, alebrije—colorfully painted carved figures—and popotillo, a traditional art using dried grass. Alberto Orta, one of the artists from Puerto Nuevo Gallery in Baja California, explained the tradition of popotillo, which involves adhering dyed straw to a surface to create colorful images. The designs...

The sounds of mariachi music could be heard throughout the western part of the WNMU campus June 4-7, as the university hosted El Son de la Gila, its annual mariachi conference. Drawing students and their mariachi directors from across the southwest, the conference provided an opportunity for high school students to learn from master mariachis, and it allowed their group leaders to network and learn from each other. Organizing the conference was a group effort, involving not only WNMU music faculty and staff, but also the members of the university’s mariachi group, Mariachi Plata de WNMU. One member of the Mariachi Plata de WNMU, guitar player Jesus Mendoza, said that he and his fellow group members assisted with the classes. “We are like substitute teachers for the maestros that came to teach here,” said Mendoza, “so we help them out with the students, translating, and making sure they have what they need.” Mendoza, who has been playing guitar for ten years, said that...

Silver City and Grant County have a new Poet Laureate in WNMU professor Heather Frankland. Frankland, who will be promoted to the rank of Associate Professor upon the start of the new academic year, teaches composition in the Humanities Department. The Silver City/Grant County Poet Laureate program was established in 2011 as a way to promote poetry as part of the diverse cultural fabric of the town and region. Past laureates have also had ties to WNMU, including Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jack Crocker, Professor Emeritus Bonnie Buckley Maldonado and graduate student and Writing Center tutor Allison Waterman. Frankland will be the program’s sixth poet laureate. The Poet Laureate role was created by the steering committee of what is now known as the Southwest Word Fiesta. According to their website, “This honorary role is awarded to a person who has established a presence in the world of poetry, demonstrated a commitment to the literary art form, and...

A report released in May 2024 by the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions found that there were 6,017 unfilled registered nurse positions statewide this spring. Shortages in nursing staff have been linked to a higher level of error in patient care, adverse patient outcomes, and increased mortality. WNMU is positioned to help expand the state’s nursing workforce through its School of Nursing and Kinesiology. Since WNMU graduated its first class of nursing students in 1993, the university’s programs in nursing have changed and grown, but the school’s role in meeting community needs has remained a common thread. The university first developed an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) in response to requests from area health agencies and community members who saw the need for more nurses to serve southwest New Mexico.  Today, the university offers both BSN and MSN programs and also offers an accelerated RN to MSN option. In addition to the nursing programs, the university...

Those looking to start or grow a small business in southwest New Mexico have a wealth of resources they may be unaware of in the WNMU Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The SBDC, led by Director Mark Speirs, is part of a nationwide network that aims to encourage and support the development of small businesses. Speirs, who joined the university in August 2023, said that the range of services the SBDC provides is wide, stretching across most of the areas that might challenge a new entrepreneur.  “If someone comes in and is interested in starting a business, we can help with all of it,” he said. “We can help them set up the LLC, get all their insurances, all their government stuff—their tax forms and registration. Once they are in business, we can help with marketing, with branding, with business planning. If they need any loans, we can help them with the paperwork. We help with pretty much the entire timeline of a business cycle.” With a background as the...

WNMU dedicated its new John Arthur and Janette Smith Educational Center at a public ceremony May 24 in Deming. The 8,697 square foot center will house the university’s Deming health sciences offerings, including its Nursing, Phlebotomy, Pharmacy Technician, and Certified Nursing Assistant programs. Construction of the center began in November 2022 and cost $10,765,000. Funding came from the New Mexico Legislature in 2019 and 2020, Severance Tax Bonds in 2020, 2021, and 2022, as well as from General Obligation Bond 3 in 2022. These resources covered land acquisition, architecture and engineering, site preparation, utilities and construction. The building’s furniture, fixtures, and equipment were funded by a federal pass-through grant to the WNMU School of Nursing and Kinesiology that was administered by the New Mexico Higher Education Department. According to WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard, the location of the new building was chosen in part for its proximity to Mimbres...