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Jaedyn Arellano has a younger brother with special needs. “I have seen the services he has been provided, and I want to become a physical therapist and offer similar help to others,” she said. Arellano is a senior in both the kinesiology and rehabilitation services programs at Western New Mexico University. “I chose to attend WNMU because it’s affordable and close by my family,” said the Bayard native. Receiving the Opportunity Scholarship is a relief for Arellano, who said she didn’t know about it until being awarded the support, which she uses to supplement what she earns at her on-campus student-worker job and to buy extra course materials. “I’m taking labs so my lab fees were high, and the books I needed were expensive. I probably wouldn’t have bought my books. I have gone without books. It’s terrible. It’s like being lost in the class,” she said. “This scholarship has given me the opportunity to pursue my dreams, because it covers costs I might...

A student-centered event celebrating National Poetry Month included readings by professor Heather Frankland’s English 99 class, Aldo Leopold Charter School students and the WNMU Undergraduate Writing Contest Winners. WNMU Provost and author Dr. Jack Crocker and New Mexico Book Association Vice President Miguel De La Cruz (both pictured), along with Silver City Poet Laureate and WNMU student Allison Waterman, were also featured. Organized by WNMU J. Cloyd Miller Library, WNMU Humanities Department, Mimbres Press of WNMU, and WNMU – Deming, the event was held in J. Cloyd Miller Library on the main...

Pull off fruit and leaves. Cut plant off at ground level and wash all soil from its roots. Take the plant top and roots to the lab. Weigh and measure the parts then wash, alternating three times between acid and water. Let dry. Divide the collection in half. Dry one half. Freeze the other half. That’s not a jam or cookie recipe. Those are directions for harvesting and processing the tomato vines in preparation for analysis with recently acquired spectroscopy instrumentation — all as part of an experiment being carried out by student researchers at Western New Mexico University. Elizabeth Sorells and Michael Shaw are among the group of students exploring applications of nanomaterials in agriculture, thanks to a $142,000 grant WNMU received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Technology in 2020 for the purpose of establishing a research program in nano-enabled agriculture at the rural institution not typically considered a research...

The Western New Mexico University Undergraduate Creative Writing Contest provides students across all academic majors the opportunity to practice the art of the written word and be recognized for their nonacademic writing. A committee selects the top work in two categories: poetry and prose/play. This year’s winning poem by senior elementary teacher education major. For #NationalPoetryMonth and in honor of those taking refuge in lands foreign to them, we’re sharing an excerpt. “Morning Serenity No Longer” by Atlantis Lopez Yesterday the rain fell upon the desert land Misty morning serenity as Kabul awoke Sun bright in the sky, radiant home of my heart I wonder when the rain turned into a river of tears and blood The children who used to play with kites Soaring above the souks, now lie Asleep in the river, eyes closed forever Today, the English sea, a dark opaque kind of blue is angry waves lapping violently on the shore It reminds me of the water I had to...

Western New Mexico University ensures that the cost of books won’t be a barrier to student success. Required course materials like textbooks and lab kits will now be delivered as part of tuition and fees, providing students of all economic backgrounds access to these essentials at the very start of each semester. “Every student will have their textbook by the first day of class,” said Dr. Isaac Brundage, who is WNMU Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. The new WNMU program levels the playing field, reduces stress and saves students about 30% while allowing the charges to be covered by financial aid and even New Mexico’s Opportunity Scholarship. For $25 per credit hour, WNMU aims to help students stay in school longer and graduate at higher rates. Similar programs have been shown to support students in raising their grades by as much as 11%. “All WNMU undergraduate and graduate students, whether they attend online, part-time or in...

A single mother of two college students, Maria Saenz is a freshman student working on her prerequisites for the Western New Mexico University School of Nursing program while her children attend NMSU. “I always pushed my kids so hard. I want to push myself too,” she said. “I’m proud of my kids. I want them to be proud of me.” Saenz enrolled at WNMU – Deming after getting divorced and took just one or two classes a time at first. But she had already noticed her vision becoming a reality. “I want my kids to see that hard work and grit can get you to surpass dreams,” she said. After completing her FAFSA, she was notified that she would be supported in her educational journey through the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. “When I got it, it was very nice for me. The Opportunity Scholarship helps me to finish sooner, because I can take more classes,” she...

Fifty-five years ago, Great Race was founded by Western New Mexico University students who sought creative ways of involving the entire region in a festival they conceptualized and organized purely for entertainment. Today, Great Race is the university’s longest standing tradition. It returns in 2022 with a week of student-led events revolving around the customary human-powered cart races plus two evenings of music and merriments under the stars, an addition dubbed GR 55 Live. Hosted by WNMU Cultural Affairs on Friday, April 22, and Saturday, 23, the music festival features headliners Alec Benjamin and Los Lobos. “To mark the return of the tradition generations of Mustangs have carried on, we are inviting those from near and far to come celebrate the ingenuity and drive of our student body at GR 55 Live. The festival is our way of allowing everyone — whether 1967 alumni or incoming WNMU freshmen, to revel in campus culture and dance to music by this generation’s rising...

WNMU Millennium III Honors program students retreated to the Wilderness Lodge in Gila Hot Springs earlier this month. Drs. Jennifer Johnston, Eric Casler and Phil Schoenberg, who are WNMU faculty members from across the university, accompanied them for an educational and relaxing weekend. For academic credit during the retreat, Honors students gave workshops about how climate change was relevant to and would impact their field of study and future work. The student-led workshops ran the gamut from forest-wildlife to education and psychology. Students also soaked in the hot springs and went on an all-day hike. “This is an outstanding group of dedicated, hard-working Mustangs,” said Dr. Schoenberg, Director of the Honors program. “I am really proud of them.”...