Press Releases

Acclaimed filmmaker Elise DuRant will present a screening of the award-winning movie Eden on Thursday, September 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Light Hall Theater. Eden is a bilingual film telling the story of nine-year-old Alma, an orphan who is forced to leave Mexico with her artifact-smuggling father, John. Years later, after her father’s death, she returns to Mexico to confront the man responsible for their emigration. The film is loosely based on DuRant’s quest to return to Mexico and find the answers about her father’s life. The film was released in 2014 and received wide acclaim including awards by the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Eden is the debut feature film by Elise DuRant, a Mexican filmmaker who has edited films directed by Spike Lee and Woody Allen. Since it’s release, Eden has been selected to appear in seven film festivals including the Montclair Film Festival where it received the Grand Jury Prize for the Future/Now...

Mariachi music will be the focus of a three-day event in the Fine Arts Center Theater beginning September 15 on the Western New Mexico University campus. Mariachi workshops will take place on September 15 and 16 for community members to learn about the history and culture of Mariachi music. Area talent will be on hand facilitating the workshops including members of Mariachi Plata of WNMU. The Thursday workshop begins at 9:30 a.m. and the Friday workshop begins at 10:00 a.m. Registration to attend is $45 and includes lunch and admission to concert. Two concert performances on Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. will culminate the weekend. Performers include Mariachi Plata and Raices de America, an El Paso based group. Admission to the concert is $15 for adults, $10 for 12-year-olds and younger, and free to WNMU students with Mustang Card. Tickets are available for purchase at all Food Basket locations, Fort Bayard Credit Union, The Bed Shoppe, Smoke Shoppe, First...

The Board of Regents at Western New Mexico University met on Tuesday at the Silver City campus for one of its four quarterly meetings of the year. Regent members discussed several items including the university’s plan to address accreditation in 2018. WNMU’s accreditation was reaffirmed in 2014 and has now begun a ten-year process for its next accreditation affirmation under the Open Pathway option for accreditation. WNMU is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and is preparing for an initial assurance argument document report to the organization in September of 2018. A presentation by Dr. Jack Crocker, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, included information on the university’s new distinction goals. Regent members previously established new areas of distinction and enhancers. The areas of distinction are (1) logistics/delivery, (2) drone certification and (3) applied liberal arts. The enhancers are (1) rural healthcare, (2) rural education,...

A recently presented review study on the relationship between news coverage and mass shootings in America has garnered international attention to a Western New Mexico University professor and graduate student. The 25-page review was originally presented at the annual American Psychological Association convention in August by Dr. Jennifer Johnston, WNMU Professor of Psychology, and Andrew Joy, graduate student in Interdisciplinary Studies. “More than summarizing, we unified a number of bodies of research to argue for the existence of homicide contagion,” said Johnston. The review sampled research from five fields of study: criminology, psychology, sociology, communications, and public health. They arrived at the conclusion that there is a probable connection between the rise of mass shootings and the media coverage of those events. “We began by defining the term mass shooter as an individual that either attempted or successfully killed three or more people,” said...

The computer as it was known in 1987 would be unrecognizable today. No one knows better than April Matthews who has been at Western New Mexico University for the last 28 years, witnessing the many transformations of the computer for nearly three decades. She was recently named the WNMU Employee of the Year. “In the beginning we had a COW, a computer on wheels,” said Matthews, Academic Computing Manager. “It was pretty wild.” The COW would be wheeled from room-to-room by a professor who would display the information onto a projector using a smart panel. “Those were our computer labs in the 1980s,” said Matthews. Today, Matthews oversees nearly 300 computers, mainly for student and faculty use in classrooms and in two labs. “It’s a fast changing job and we have to stay on the cutting edge always trying to figure out how to implement the latest change,” said Matthews. Matthews was recognized as the Employee of the Year by her peers who acknowledged the...

Officials from the Universidad Tecnologica de Camargo (UTCam), a Mexican university based in the state of Chihuahua, visited the Silver City campus on Monday to sign an agreement of understanding with Western New Mexico University. UTCam is a new, public university, established in 2012. The university’s mission focuses on creating professions that support the development of the region of Camargo, in the State of Chihuahua. The agreement has four points of cooperation including the exchange of faculty members and students for study and research; the practice of joint research activities and publications; the exchange of scholars to participate in conferences and symposiums; and the exchange of information in fields of interests to both universities. The agreement is the latest in a string of signed memorandum of understandings between WNMU and more than a dozen universities across Mexico and Latin America. “We are in a very good position to benefit from this...

Every calendar holiday, Dr. Felipe Ortego y Gasca sends an email to his colleagues at Western New Mexico University. The email is simple and includes an attachment with a short write up. Ortego, a professor of English and the university’s Scholar-in-Residence, is sharing thoughts on history and social issues he feels are important to his readers. Now he’s turning 90, and he finds himself the same way he has for several years, behind a computer screen and a keyboard, contributing his ideas on current issues important to culture and society. “Felipe is a rare combination of academic, activist and a person with sustained creativity,” said Dr. Jack Crocker, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at WNMU. “His intellect and experience are an important legacy to our university.” Considered the principal scholar of the Chicano Renaissance, Ortego is the founder of Chicano literary history having written the first study in the field, Backgrounds of Mexican...

A new school year brings a new leadership team for the School of Business at Western New Mexico University and with that comes a change in direction. As the School of Business focuses on an upcoming reaccreditation in 2018, new faculty members and a new associate dean will be sharpening their focus on what programs are viable for incoming students. “I’m very excited and optimistic about the future for the School of Business given the organization and creation of programs that benefit our students and community,” said Dr. Miguel Vicéns, the school’s new Associate Dean. Vicéns is in his third year as an assistant professor of Management at WNMU. He has served as the director of the MBA program and the university representative for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). Vicens is planning ambitious goals including program improvements and greater involvement in the community. “I’m confident that as a team, we will be successful in...

Western New Mexico University alumni will be teeing up for the fifth consecutive golf tournament, hoping to raise thousands of dollars for student scholarships.  The fifth annual Alumni Scholarship Golf Tournament will take place on Friday, September 30 during Homecoming weekend. More than 120 golfers participated in 2015 and more than $77,000 has been raised in the previous four events. Monies raised benefit the Earn To Learn Scholarship, helping students find jobs on campus, and the general scholarship fund. Interested golfers can register for $125 individually or as a foursome at $400. Fees include greens, tee prize, golf car, range balls, refreshments, complimentary breakfast, and attendance to the awards luncheon hosted by Burger Time. Area businesses can support the event through a tee-sign sponsorship ranging from $75 to $125. In addition, raffle tickets for a seven-day cruise for two with Royal Caribbean, or a seven-day Cancun resort vacation for two are being sold at the...

The Outdoor Program at Western New Mexico University will initiate a season of outdoor adventures with an overnight trip to City of Rocks and Faywood Hot Springs on Saturday, August 20. The weekend camping trip is the first of several ventures for WNMU students, employees and members of the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL). “We’re excited to begin a new semester of adventures for our new and returning Mustangs and for community members that are part of the WILL program,” said Dr. Kathy Whiteman, Outdoor Program Director. Community members that are paid members of the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning are able to participate in Outdoor Program trips because they are covered under WNMU’s insurance policy. “These trips are usually short in length and very affordable,” said Whiteman. “For a minimal fee, participants can register for a trip that includes transportation, insurance, permit and park fees, all gear and food.” Upcoming trips include a...