Press Releases

Western New Mexico University officials met today with the incoming governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa to sign a letter of intent between WNMU and Sinaloa. The agreement is the first step in initiating future collaborations with Sinaloa in the areas of academic, science and culture for the secondary and higher education institutions in the Mexican state. The primary goal of the agreement is to meet common goals between the two partners, opening the door for specific agreements to be signed with academic institutions allowing for the exchange of students, faculty and staff. The agreement also promotes the development of research projects and promotion of social welfare. “Universities are marketplaces of ideas and those ideas come from beyond our borders. This agreement reflects our commitment to provide opportunities for our students to go beyond stereotypes and interact with a multitude of cultures,” said Dr. Joseph Shepard, WNMU President. WNMU also committed to...

The second of seven art sculptures that will be populating the Western New Mexico University main campus was installed in the newly landscaped area of campus now known as The Gardens, adjacent to historic Light Hall. The second sculpture is titled Tres Ventanas by artist Greg Reiche. Constructed of stone, metal and glass, the sculpture is designed to reflect the building blocks of the world’s constructed and natural environments, according to an artist statement by Reiche. Raised in rural New Mexico, Reiche’s work has been installed throughout New Mexico and other states including Oklahoma and Colorado. This is the second Reiche piece to be installed at the WNMU campus, the first, Serpentine Ascent, was installed in 2003, outside of the Fine Arts Center Theatre. The Albuquerque-based artist’s art focuses on site-specific, meditative and landmark art. The new campus sculptures are an initiative of the Art in Public Places program of the state of New Mexico, Department...

The Poet Laureate for the United States will be speaking at Light Hall on Monday, November 21, a free event to the public. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail meet and greet on Light Hall Patio, followed by a lecture at 6:30 p.m. inside Light Hall Auditorium. Juan Felipe Herrera is the 21st Poet Laureate of the United States (2015-2016) and is the first Latino to hold the position. From 2012-2014, Herrera served as California State Poet Laureate. Herrera’s many collections of poetry include Notes on the Assemblage; Senegal Taxi; Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems, a recipient of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross The Border: Undocuments 1971-2007. He is also the author of Crashboomlove: A Novel in Verse, which received the Americas Award. His books of prose for children include: SkateFate, Calling The Doves, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award; Upside Down...

Area alumni are invited to attend any of the three Mustang athletic events taking place Saturday, November 12, with no admission fee, as part of Alumni Appreciation Day. Mustang football, basketball and volleyball teams will be playing home games on November 12 beginning with the football game at 12:00 p.m. in Ben Altamirano Field when the Mustangs take on West Texas A&M University. Football is followed by Lady Mustang Volleyball at 5:00 p.m. in Drag’s Court against Angelo State University. The men’s basketball team plays at 7:30 p.m. against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. To pick up your Free Admission ticket, alumni will need to fill out the Mustang Roundup form online here: http://alumni.wnmu.edu. The Alumni Affairs Office will be giving free giveaways to alumni at each of the athletic events. To learn more, contact Alumni Affairs at...

First American Bank has partnered with Western New Mexico University in promoting the statewide General Obligation Bond C campaign. First American Bank temporarily donated the use of its billboard on Highway 180 for the use of promoting the campaign. The billboard features artwork and messaging similar to other billboards across the state with Bond C information describing the estimated 1,350 jobs that will be created from the passage of the bond. If passed, WNMU will receive $5 million in funding for infrastructure updates on campus including the renovation of Harlan Hall, home to the Natural Sciences Department. The infrastructure updates will address and correct many of the on-going accessibility, risk and safety constraints that currently exist at the main campus. Funds will be used to plan, design, demolish, construct, improve, landscape and equip infrastructure. Bond C appears on the backside of the general election ballot. Election Day is Tuesday, November...

Two Western New Mexico University students are the beneficiaries of scholarship awards from the 24 Club organization. Samantha Gomez and Emma Head are graduates of area high schools and are studying Nursing and Rehabilitation respectively. The organization awards two different scholarships. The Betty Cook Scholarship is awarded to female students who graduate from Grant County schools including Silver High, Cobre High or Cliff High, and who possess a G.P.A. of 3.4 or higher. The Christine Drangmeister Scholarship is awarded to female sophomore, junior, or senior students who graduated from Silver High, Cobre High or Cliff High, and who possess a minimum 3.4 G.P.A. The 24 Club is a philanthropic, service organization serving Grant County for over 70 years. The 24 Scholarship program enables the organization to achieve its objectives to provide scholarships for Grant County women at WNMU and to undertake charitable projects in the community, which empower girls and women and...

Catalina Delgado-Trunk, recipient of the 2015 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, will be the featured artist for the upcoming Edwina and Charles Milner Women in the Arts event on Wednesday, November 2. The event begins with a lecture at 6:30 p.m. in Parotti Hall, followed by the exhibition opening in McCray Gallery on the Western New Mexico University campus. Deglado-Trunk’s artwork focuses on Mesoamerican culture and traditions primarily expressed through the papel picado (cut paper) medium. After a long career in the United States teaching French and ballet, Delgado-Trunk returned to school in her 40s and reconnected with her childhood love of art. For two decades, Delgado-Trunk had made large-scale cut-paper works that blend pre-Columbian stories and images with subjects from the contemporary world. The artwork often celebrates rich traditions by condensing the complex stories of legend into readable images, bridging the divides that separate...

As part of a four-day celebration commemorating Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the mariachi and folklorico groups from the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ) will be performing at Western New Mexico University on October 31 and November 1. Mariachi Canto A Mi Tierra will perform on Monday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Theater. The UACJ ballet folklorico group will also perform. Free and open to the public, the performance will begin after a brief talk by Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, WNMU Scholar-in-Residence, who will discuss the important historical origins of the Dia De Los Muertos holiday. On Tuesday, November 1, the UACJ mariachi group will perform at 4:00 p.m. in the courtyard of the Silver City Museum. Following the performance, an ofrenda procession will begin at the museum and make its way through downtown Silver city, ending at the Miller Library on the WNMU campus. Festivities will continue at the Miller Library from 7:00 p.m. to...

Western New Mexico University professor Deborah Heller’s book Bluestockings Now! (2015) has been chosen for inclusion in a new Routledge series: Routledge Historical Resources: History of Feminism. The new History of Feminism series selected Heller’s text “for its decisive contribution to the feminist history of ideas in an international context.” “It’s an honor to be included,” said Heller. “The new series will bring the book to an even wider audience.” Heller has already received international accolades for her writing efforts. Dr. Elizabeth Eger, King’s College London, called the book “an exciting intervention in the field of eighteenth-century literary studies…particularly innovative and thought provoking.” Heller’s book deals with the Bluestockings, a group of women active in England and Ireland during the late 1700s and early 1800s. “Their social and cultural accomplishments were nothing short of world-changing,” Heller...

Valerie Plame will be the guest speaker for the WNMU Lecture Series on Thursday, October 27 in Light Hall Theater on the Western New Mexico University campus. The event is sold out. A live stream of the lecture will be available for attendees without an advanced ticket in Light Hall room 213. Plame is a former CIA operations officer. The subject of a 2003 CIA leak scandal, Plame had her identity as a covert officer leaked to the press by members of the George W. Bush administration. The name became public causing Plame to resign from the CIA. Plame has written a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation. During her CIA career, Plame worked to protect America’s national security and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons. Plame sits on the boards of Global Data Security, a cyber security company; and Starling Trust, a predictive behavioral analytics company. Plame serves on several nonprofit...