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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.”...

The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents raised tuition by 8% and approved a 12% increase to student fees, also adding a $25 per credit hour textbook fee during their meeting Wednesday afternoon. The board also voted to permit the purchase of former St. Mary’s Church and Academy on Alabama Street in order to improve access to the acreage where the university plans to build a new early childhood center and “possibly a charter school,” according to WNMU President, Dr. Joseph Shepard. Members approved a change to the scope of the Deming Learning Center Infrastructure Project as well, citing a rise in construction costs. The board approved the third quarter financial actions report, a formality declaring that WNMU does not have any financial concerns at this point in the fiscal year. In his university president’s report, Dr. Shepard noted that the prospect of reaching his goal of increasing enrollment to 4,000 students by fall 2022 — dubbed 4k — was...

While many feel like different people than they were before March 2020, Alicia Figliuolo essentially is a different person than she was at the start of her Master of Social Work program. In 2016, using the benefits she earned as a U.S. Marine, Figliuolo enrolled at WNMU thinking, “Let’s go see what this rural program can teach me.” Seeing herself as unfit to be a clinical social worker but recognizing her affluent connections and sphere of influence, Figliuolo aimed to continue working in policy and go into national politics. She worked to get straight As and was on track to achieve her dreams. But in 2017, she suffered a traumatic brain injury. “My character changed. My mannerisms changed. I was dependent on my wife and my friends,” she said. Instead of finishing her master’s in 2018, Figliuolo was re-learning to walk and talk, create short term memories, and be independent. After years of effort and persistence, she was medically cleared to try graduate school...

The bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Agreement for Fiscal Year 2022 ensures #WNMU a portion of the Congressionally Directed Spending for New Mexico Higher Education. The university’s Outdoor Leadership degree program is receiving $343,000 thanks to Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, who secured $18 million to invest in college access, affordability and completion. "With today's need in mind and an eye to a brighter, more sustainable future, Western New Mexico University is developing leaders who understand the power of community, are attuned to the nuances of the outdoors being a key economic development driver, and have the tools to both leverage New Mexico's wildest assets and maintain the ecological integrity of our most precious natural resources," said WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard. See the complete list of higher education programs and projects that will benefit from the law here....

Last month, Dr. Alexandra Neves of the WNMU School of Education engaged with teens to recruit passionate learners into the field of education at the New Mexico Educators Rising conference. “After a couple years away, it was inspiring to return to this very lively conference and meet with students who are not only in our WNMU – Deming chapter but who live all across the state,” she said. Educators Rising is a community-based movement in which high school chapters, along with teacher preparation programs at higher education institutions like #WNMU and the New Mexico Department of Education, come together to provide a clear pathway to increase teacher diversity and teacher...

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Edith Lee, who earned her master’s from WNMU in 2016, is currently the Vice President of the U.S. Program at Americares, a global nonprofit improving health for people affected by poverty or disaster. In April, she will become the President and CEO of LifeBridge Community Services, which provides behavioral health services, youth development and asset-building resources for families in Connecticut. The native of rural Arizona is a first-generation college graduate who began her undergraduate education just ten years ago. She will assume the responsibilities of her new role with the awareness that the average CEO is in their 50s and finished their education much earlier in their lives and careers. Having earned her master’s from a regional university that offered a high-quality yet affordable program presented Lee prospects she might not have accessed otherwise. Although the MSW program is available fully online, being in Silver City...

Adriane M. Torrez' son is the reason why she's so passionate about helping others in schools. "I’ve been advocating for my son with ADHD since he was in kindergarten. I’ve learned how to get him the services he needs so he can be productive in school and be the best version of himself," she said. "He’s doing amazing now.” As a Master of Social Work student without a four-year degree in social work, she is anticipating needing to take about 60 credits--more than a bachelor's-prepared social worker would need to complete their program. "As a full-time worker and a mom of twins, I wondered how I would cover tuition, fees and books? Some people don’t go to school because of the financial commitment and I almost did that," said the WNMU Expanding Opportunities Program awardee. "Instead, I poured out my heart out on a piece of paper telling them why I want to become a school social worker." Aimed at increasing the numbers of social workers in rural and high-need schools,...

When New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 140, the Opportunity Scholarship Act, on campus last Friday, a number of recipients were present to express their appreciation for the support and one student spoke on behalf of all current and future recipients of the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. Below is her story. Grant County native Raquel Parga is finishing up a forest-wildlife degree at Western New Mexico University while raising her two-year-old son. “I’ve overcome some obstacles in my life but I’m still going strong with my degree,” she said. Before receiving the Opportunity Scholarship this past fall, she had taken out loans each semester. “I was always short about $600,” she said. “On top of worrying about how I’m doing in my classes, there was stress over how to afford each class.” Parga proactively set aside what she earned at her on-campus job in preparation for paying off student loans after graduation. “When I found out...