Author Archives: Linda Brown

With residence halls at capacity, Western New Mexico University is looking toward additional opportunities to house students and is turning its eye to a campus building that served as a residence hall for many years, Ritch Hall. Currently the home of Aldo Leopold Charter School and the WNMU Office of Marketing and Communications, Ritch Hall served as a dormitory from when it was built in 1906 until 2016. The building, which over the years has undergone renovations and an addition, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Director of Housing Jason Quimby said that enrollment numbers and the need for housing has grown steadily in recent years, with the squeeze being felt most acutely this past year. At the start of the year, “We had to temporarily house students in a barracks style classroom in the PE Complex,” he said. "This year we are experiencing the same problem and currently have approximately 51 students on an overflow waitlist.” Quimby added that the...

WNMU Chief of Police Eddie Flores (BS ’08, MBA ’15) has a long career in law enforcement, but his experience has recently taken a new direction as a member of the New Mexico Organized Crime Commission. This commission has existed in the state since the 1970s but was not meeting in recent years. In 2023, however, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham felt it was time to reconstitute it. According to Flores, the timing of bringing the commission back correlates with the frequency and nature of crimes that are occurring in the state. “New Mexico, like every other state, has been experiencing problems with human trafficking, sex trafficking, illegal guns and, of course, illegal drugs,” he said. “I think that the reason the governor wanted to bring the commission back was the increase in crime, especially up in Albuquerque.” The purpose of the commission, which meets once a month, is to bring together the various agencies—local, state, and federal—that are needed for a...

Two members of the College of Education, Dean Cindy Martinez and Professor of Bilingual/TESOL Education Alexandra Neves, spent part of spring semester in Asturias, Spain, where they visited la Universidad de Oviedo (the University of Oviedo), gave presentations, and made a number of classroom visits. The University of Oviedo is familiar to Neves, as she spent a year teaching there while on sabbatical from WNMU in 2019. The university is also an international partner of WNMU, and the two universities have a memorandum of understanding that allows students from either institution to study at the other. That memorandum was part of the motivation for making the trip, as it was set to expire. Martinez and Neves were also looking for ways to encourage the kind of exchange the memorandum facilitates.  “In past years, we regularly had exchange students from Universidad de Oviedo, but with COVID, that stopped,” said Martinez, adding that their trip was in part motivated by a desire...

WNMU will dedicate its new John Arthur and Janette Smith Educational Center at a public ceremony May 24 at 11:00 a.m. in Deming. The 8,697 square foot center will house the university’s Deming health program offerings, including 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. The center will be named for former New Mexico State Senator John Arthur Smith and his wife, Janette Smith. Senator...

The Francis McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art is hosting an exhibition of ceramic art created by two WNMU post-baccalaureate students, Hugh Remar and Allyson George, and BFA student Victoria Prejean. The exhibition includes both sculptural and functional ceramics that are the culmination of the artists’ experiences working in clay at the university. The artists chose to title the show the Studio 118 Exhibition in recognition of the working space where the students create their art, said Prejean. In the ceramics studio, “We all get to learn so much from each other,” she said. “It has been exciting to work alongside both to see the kind of work they make and their process. … It has been super helpful and insightful.” The works that Prejean has on display in the exhibition include a highly decorated tea service, which reflects two of her strong influences: fourteenth-century English porcelain and her heritage as a Mexican American. The latter influence can be seen in...

Nine current and former WNMU students and a local community member participated in the Sin Fronteras Creative Writing Project on campus April 18-27. The project, organized by Assistant Professor of English Heather Frankland, included craft talks, writing sessions and readings of international and regional literature. It also addressed the idea of borders in multiple ways, pushing participants to stretch their writing in new directions. The project was a pilot program for what is expected to become an annual event. Session topics ranged from magical realism to how a border identity affects style and voice in writing. The session leaders included novelist Fabienne Josaphat, winner of the 2023 PEN Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, borderlands poet Miguel De La Cruz, WNMU writer in residence JJ Amaworo Wilson, and poet and English Composition professor Frankland. The event was held with the support of the WNMU Foundation President’s Society Program Support Fund and the...

This spring, 535 students earned degrees or certificates from Western New Mexico University, and the Mustang community celebrated their achievement through a hybrid commencement ceremony that once again allowed for the participation of graduates on campus as well as those living and attending WNMU at a distance. Of the graduates who received diplomas from WNMU this spring, 408 chose to participate in the graduation ceremony on Friday, May 3, with 355 walking across the stage at Ben Altamirano Field and 53 participating virtually. WNMU awarded 106 associate degrees, 163 bachelor’s degrees, 148 master’s degrees, 67 graduate certificates, 14 certificates and 37 fast track certificates. Additionally, 67 baccalaureate students graduated with honors. To earn this distinction, undergraduate must receive a 3.5 GPA or higher. Three graduating students were selected to the Student Hall of Fame: Itzela Darkenwald, Trent Jones, and Stephen Lindsey. Faculty Excellence Awards were...

The WNMU Dual Enrollment program, which allows New Mexico’s secondary students to take college coursework while completing high school, has been steadily increasing in enrollment in recent years, with a record 509 students enrolled this spring. This May, 75 of those students are earning a WNMU certificate, degree, or both in addition to graduating from high school. By taking dual credit courses, students are able to get a head start on their futures, whether they are on the road to a career or to higher education. Joshua Estrada, who is graduating with an associate’s degree in Welding Technology from WNMU as well as earning his high school diploma from Aldo Leopold Charter School, described his experience at the university as “a sort of second home to go to after school. Dual Enrollment consumed a lot of my time but the people and classes along the way were really worth the time and effort to get me where I am now.” According to his high school counselor, Cheryl Head,...

The Western New Mexico University signature cultural event, ¡Fiesta Latina!, returns to campus June 6-9. Through ¡Fiesta Latina!, WNMU seeks to recognize, celebrate and assist in the preservation of New Mexico’s connection with its Mexican heritage, customs and traditions. At the center of the four-day festival is a juried artisan mercado that features the handmade work of approximately 50 highly skilled traditional artisans from across Mexico. These folk artists will be on-hand to educate fiesta-goers about their processes and to answer questions about their artistic traditions. In addition to traditional art such as metal working, ceramics and textiles, the mercado this year will feature new artists working in media that have not before been part of WNMU ¡Fiesta Latina!, including masks, embellished shoes, leather and wooden utensils. Artisans will also be demonstrating their techniques at a dedicated tent where patrons can get hands-on experience with projects that vary...

Western New Mexico University is ramping up its efforts to train those looking to enter the healthcare workforce. The university currently offers courses in phlebotomy and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). The CNA class is offered every spring, fall, and summer and is taught in both Silver City and Deming. The phlebotomy course is currently in Deming, but the university also plans to offer it at the Silver City campus. According to Healthcare Workforce Programs Director Victor Stephen Gonzales (BSN ’17, MSN ’23), the next healthcare workforce program under development is a pharmacy tech program. The curriculum for the program has been developed, and WNMU is currently seeking instructors to teach the coursework. Gonzales was recently hired into the role as Healthcare Workforce Programs Director because WNMU recognizes southwest New Mexico’s strong need for workers in the healthcare field and understands the university’s crucial role in providing training and education...