Press Releases

The President's Chamber Music Series continues with an Argentine-inspired Willy Sucre and Friends concert next week. The Albuquerque-based QTango ensemble will be featured in a concert on the Western New Mexico University campus (1000 W. College Ave.) on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. Beginning at 7 p.m., the audience in Light Hall Theater will explore the history of tango from French composer Bizet to Argentine composer Piazzolla. The program features music from the parlors of wealthy patrons of classically trained musicians in Vienna and from the bars, streets and tenements of Buenos Aires, a melting pot of cultures on the Río de la Plata. "I love music that reaches into your soul," said Faye McCalmont, Special Assistant to the President for Cultural Affairs at Western New Mexico University, who organizes the series. Anchored by violist Willy Sucre, this group includes violinist Olga Tikhovidova, pianist Natalia Tikhovidova, and double bassist Jeremy Sment, and third...

About 400 middle school and high school students from 20 schools in southwest New Mexico will compete during the Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Competition at Western New Mexico University on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. The Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Competition opens with a ceremony in the Fine Arts Center Theatre at 8:30. The competitive action runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in the Fine Arts Center Theatre at 4 p.m. All 46 of the events are held on campus. Some take place in the Intramural Gym and others occur in Harlan Hall and the Phelps/Dodge-Martinez building. “The active events in the gym are likely to be the most interesting, and the public is invited to spectate at any of them,” Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Tournament Director Eric Casler said. The Science Olympiad teams compete in categories such as Life, Personal and Social Science; Earth and Space Science; Physical Science and Chemistry; Technology...

Anonymous donors recently contributed funds to the Western New Mexico University Foundation, establishing an endowed named scholarship to support Native American students. In addition to the scholarship, the donors created an immediate use fund to supplement the endowment while it grows. This gift and pledge commitment honors the couple’s belief in education and the impact it has on creating opportunities for Native American students specifically. One of the donors developed this cultural endearment early in her professional life while teaching on a reservation. “They have a care and concern for Native American cultures and indigenous students,” said WNMU Foundation Director Jodi Edens-Crocker. Endowed scholarships are created with gifts that total a minimum of $15,000, and this overall pledge amounts to more than $130,000 over the couple’s multi-year commitment. The supplemental scholarship will be awarded by the Foundation as soon as possible. “To me, this...

Longtime Brewer Hills Baptist Church pastor Earseye B. Ross II will be honored at Grant County’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Western New Mexico University on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. Hakim Bellamy, who was Albuquerque’s inaugural poet laureate, will perform live for attendees. The commemorative event begins at 10 a.m. and will be held in Light Hall Theater. Western New Mexico University planned the event in conjunction with Brewer Hill Baptist Church, the Democratic Party of Grant County and the Concilio Campesino del Sudoeste, Inc., Senior Volunteer Program. “Western New Mexico University is honored to join with our community partners each year as our students continue to embrace the many important values left to us by Dr. King,” said Abe Villarreal, Assistant Dean for Student Activities. Ross moved to Silver City from his native Louisiana in 1977 and worked as the pastor of Brewer Hills Baptist Church for 40 years, retiring last year. He was also...

Western New Mexico University’s School of Education was recently earned the top slot in a ranking of Best Online Master’s Degrees in Teaching developed by Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com. The site rated master’s in teaching programs according to affordability, flexibility and academic prestige and found that WNMU offers a fully online, field-based program for the lowest cost. “We’re proud of the ranking,” said School of Education Associate Dean Dr. Debra J. Dirksen. The ranking was determined by measuring the estimated out-of-state tuition per credit hour rate and researching the accreditation status of each university. Programs highest on the list have the most flexibility-granting components, as Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com included institutions that allow for a variety of specializations, give credit to students with prior experience, offer accelerated courses, and permit students to take synchronous or asynchronous coursework....

Research scientist and glass artist Dr. Jerri Bartholomew will give a free lecture on the Western New Mexico University campus in Light Hall Auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. Part of the Edwina and Charles Milner Women in the Arts lecture series, this talk is open to the public but seating for the event is limited. Bartholomew has combined her lifelong fascination with both science and art for twenty years. “In some ways, science is stripping away the layers to see what’s beneath, and art is the opposite, building up the layers to create something new,” she said. “Art trains your mind to be open to different solutions.” Inspired by both creativity and a desire to ask questions and make discoveries through trial and error, Bartholomew experiments with collages in glass, combining photographic screen printing with free-form imagery, and using a variety of fusing and cold-working techniques like squeezing, bending, shearing and drawing. “I have...

Due to the increasing cost of education, the decreasing amount of state funding available and the predicted drops in enrollment, privately donated funds from the Western New Mexico University Foundation are critical to student support. The Foundation aims to raise at least $400,000 by June 30, 2018, for WNMU’s 125th anniversary. “The progress we are making at Western New Mexico University is thanks to the alumni and friends who give through the Foundation. They ensure that Western New Mexico University continues to be able to offer top educational experiences,” WNMU Foundation Director Jodi Edens-Crocker said. The Foundation’s Annual Giving Fund is a way anyone can get involved and help the Foundation provide students with scholarships, and university program assistance. “The Annual Giving Fund is a straight-forward way to assist Western New Mexico University in transforming the future. Any gift amount matters,” Edens-Crocker said. Just as the university has...

This Friday’s story of the week from The Mustang student newspaper is about one Western New Mexico University class’ service learning project at the High Desert Humane Society. Click here to read the full Eric Lowe, editor of The Mustang, on the paper’s website. Or read on for a summary. Two of Dr. Benjamin Cline’s Public Speaking classes volunteered with the High Desert Humane Society this semester in a number of capacities. They worked with the shelter’s animals one-on-one, and they practiced their public speaking skills and put their marketing expertise to work. Quiwaina Robinson and Zulema Hernandez both participated in the service-learning project, however each of their groups took a different approach. Robinson with her group presented about the High Desert Humane Society. They detailed the services it offers pet owners and potential pet owners. They also encouraged community members to help walk, clean and care for the shelter’s dogs and cats. Hernandez...

Melanie Maynes Alfaro, who earned her master’s in education from Western New Mexico University, recently won New Mexico’s 2017-18 Milken Educator Award and a $25,000 cash prize. One of just 44 teachers in the nation to win the award for 2017-18, Alfaro was honored at an assembly at Deming Intermediate School in November. During New Mexico Secretary of Education Christopher Ruszkowski’s tour of schools around the state, he stopped at the school where Alfaro teaches sixth-grade math and introduced senior vice president of the Milken Educator Awards, Dr. Jane Foley, who surprised Alfaro with the award. Milken Educators are selected in their early to midcareers for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish. Alfaro is now one of the 2,700 teachers, principals and specialists making up the National Milken Educator Network. She will attend a Milken Educator Forum in Washington, D.C., in March 2018 and learn how to maximize her leadership role and...

Western New Mexico University’s student-run Twisted Vine Literary Arts Journal put out a call for submissions and asked artists to send original and unpublished works of poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, interviews and visual arts for possible publication. Twisted Vine publishes work by both emerging and established literary and visual artists. Students in a graduate-level course called Literary Journal run Twisted Vine. The staff consists of a managing editor, design specialists, communications specialists and screeners for all genres. All of these positions are held by graduate students, and the staff usually changes semester-to-semester. The course gives students real-life experience running a literary journal and provides practice in publishing that they can put on their résumés. The journal was started by WNMU professor John Gist and is currently run by Dr. Heather M. Steinmann, Assistant Professor of English at WNMU. Since its inception, Twisted Vine has...