Author Archives: Abe Villarreal

Western New Mexico University will be offering a free flu vaccine clinic on Friday, October 30 in the School of Nursing Building. Members of the public as well as university students and employees can take advantage of this clinic offered for two hours beginning at 8:30 a.m. Participants, if applicable to them, are requested to bring their Medicare, Medicaid or insurance card for review. The WNMU Student Health Services office is partnering with Grant County Public Health to provide this clinic. For more information, contact 575-538-5318. Press option...

Ian Harvie, a comedian and actor whose most recent work includes starring in the Golden Globe award-winning TV series Transparent, will perform live at the Fine Arts Center Theater on Thursday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. Free to WNMU students and $15 per person for community members, the performance will be a funny and educational night of comedy touching on gender issues as seen through the eyes of Harvie, a transgender person. Harvie was the opening act for comedian Margaret Cho before beginning his television career. He eventually turned cross-country headliner and became a groundbreaking transgender comedian. In 2014, Harvie performed in his first live standup comedy special, Ian Harvie Superhero. Praised by critics, Harvie has been referred to as the most unique stand-up comic in the country by Frontiers Magazine. His comedy special, Ian Harvie Superhero, was selected by over 25 film festivals worldwide and won several awards. Harvie’s performance will be the headline...

The public is invited to an art opening called “JuarezX: Dragged Across Borders”, opening Friday, October 16 at 5:30 p.m. in the McCray Gallery. The exhibit features work by artists from Juarez who have been literally and conceptually dragged across borders. “We are invited to reflect and question the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, migrant status and being,” said Peter Bill, McCray Gallery Director. “The artwork explores the U.S. Mexico border as a place in its own right, a dreamland, a laboratory, a labyrinthine maze whose walls are filled with poetic language and images.” The artists include Yorch, an urban artist presenting graffiti art on panel highlighting life on the border; Gabriela Hernandez, an undocumented Seaburry Fellow and NMHU alumna, whose work features a series of banners representing the struggle of the LGBTQ community; Pulso Ans, a graffiti artist by night and art gallery owner by day, commands spray paint canisters to produce...

Huachas is a traditional game played in Hispanic communities and fans of the game will have the opportunity to participate in a Huacha Tournament on Sunday, October 11 at Old James Stadium. The tournament will begin at 11:00 a.m. and space is limited for participation. Participants can pre-register for $20 per person or for $25 at the event. The two member teams must check in by 10:30 a.m. “This tournament is a fun way to encourage more Hispanic alumni from WNMU to participate in our Homecoming activities,” said Patricia Cano, retired WNMU professor and event facilitator. “The game of huachas, which is similar to horseshoes, is played by pitching washers into a cup which is 30 feet away.” Participants earn points by making the washer in the cup, having the washer lean against the cup or by hitting a board. The double-elimination tournament, organized by Fidel Quintana, Vice-President of the Chicano Alumni Chapter, will donate its proceeds to the Chicano Alumni Chapter...

Western New Mexico University is partnering with the Silver City Care Center and Help New Mexico to offer certified nursing assistant courses to the public. The courses will begin October 13 and run through November 10. Interested applicants may qualify for financial aid assistance and a pre-employment screening is required. Prospective students should contact Susa Montoya with Help New Mexico at 575-538-3737 to make an appointment and check for necessary qualifications. The courses will be administered through the Department of Community and Workforce Development at Western New Mexico University with the partnership of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. For more information, please contact Kathy Sorells at...

The dream of Patricia Cano, a retired Western New Mexico University professor who taught Chicano Studies for 25 years, is finally coming true during Homecoming Weekend on October 9. The Chicano Conference will be a reunion for all Hispanic students who graduated from WNMU including those who were members of Chicano organizations such as Los Estudiantes Unidos and MEChA. The conference will be an opportunity for the students to be back at their alma mater, serving as panelists and discussing current social issues affecting the Chicano community. “In the early 1970s, Los Estudiantes Unidos, the first Chicano organization on campus, was organized and became very active,” said Cano. “The students demanded that the university offer courses that were culturally relevant to them.” During that time, Dr. Bonnie Buckley-Maldonado and Dr. Art Martinez began teaching the first Chicano Studies courses. Workshops were conducted on campus with professors from nearby universities....

Political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz, who has been described as perhaps the most prolific Chicano artist in the nation, will be on the Western New Mexico University campus as part of the Raza Alumni Reunion for Homecoming 2015. On Thursday, October 8 at 7:00 p.m., Alcaraz will give a presentation at the Global Resource Center on campus. He will speak about his experience as a writer and then premiere the first episode of Bordertown, an upcoming American adult animated sitcom. The premiere will be followed by a Q&A opportunity. In November of 2013, Alcaraz was announced as a writer for Bordertown, created by Family Guy writer, Mark Hentemann, with Seth MacFarlane as the executive producer. Since then, Alcaraz was named a consulting producer for the series and he has traveled around the country promoting the series with special showings of the first episode. The 13-episode first season will premiere on Fox in January of 2016. It is the story of two families living in a Southwest...