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On Friday, September 10, the Western New Mexico University School of Nursing is hosting its White Coat Ceremony, a rite of passage to emphasize the importance of compassionate patient care at the very start of training. The ritual will begin at 2 p.m. in Light Hall Auditorium. “Nurses are integral to patient survival, and we witnessed this to an even greater extent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite fears, risks and the unknown, nurses keep caring and keep working. By accepting the white coat, our nursing students demonstrate that they are entering our noble profession and will persevere too,” said WNMU School of Nursing & Kinesiology Associate Dean Dr. Kimberly Petrovic. With family and friends as witnesses, 31 nursing students will recite an oath to patient care. As the Level 1 professors, WNMU School of Nursing faculty members Krista Wood and Erin Wood will cloak each student in the iconic white coat that signifies their status as healthcare...

Lindsay Bryner started a graduate certificate program at WNMU to become qualified to teach at the college level, and in Dr. Heather Steimann’s Advanced Composition course, she completed an article that was published in the fully refereed journal “Education and Society” this July. Lindsay lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and took advantage of the online program offerings at WNMU, which was recommended by teachers she worked with. “Along with taking us step-by-step through the process developing our essays, Dr. Steinmann did a great thing from the start: She said, ‘Choose a topic that’s personal to you,’” Lindsay said. “Through the use of research in academic journals and articles as well as personal anecdotes, I attempt to prove that if the right changes are made then the teacher retention rate can be improved. Since students are the best possible investment in our future, it would be great to be able to retain teachers who are passionate about teaching and have...

On Friday, August 27, a few community members gathered to celebrate art on campus, dedicating the “A Community Reads” mural gracing Miller Library’s north entrance and also unveiling new works in the WNMU Permanent Collection. The Silver City Youth Mural Program’s Diana Ingalls Leyba discussed the ideas behind the book-based mural design, and one of her iconic paintings was also introduced as part of the WNMU Permanent Collection. Community members heard the story behind the 9- by 6-foot painting recently donated to WNMU by her relatives Bob and Nancy Phillips, heirs of Aunt Bonnie’s portrait by a one-armed artist of some regional renown. The Phillips said Bonnie Bledsoe Ramos had run away to Mexico to marry her handsome picador and lived with him on his substantial ranch in Mexico, where Ximénez painted her. When Mexican authorities deported Bonnie after her husband died, she moved to Roswell New Mexico, where lived until being killed by a driver who ran into the...

Motivated by nursing compassion, the WNMU School of Nursing is honoring the 13 soldiers lost in last week’s Kabul airport bombings with a memorial dedicated to them and in recognition of the care and support Gold Star families and friends need. “The ability to understand and share the feelings of another is fundamental because that is how we can provide better care for our patients,” Assistant Professor Leah Tolley said, “but compassion, which literally means ‘to suffer together,’ is even more important, because when confronted with another's suffering, compassion prompts action to...

The award-winning Mariachi Plata de Western New Mexico University was invited to perform in Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park during the Mariachis de Nuevo México promotional game against the El Paso Chihuahuas on Tuesday, September 14. Plus, the honor of throwing the first pitch will be given to WNMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Jack Crocker, who is best known as a poet and songwriter but also has a storied baseball background having once pitched at the semi-pro level and been scouted by the Detroit Tigers. As the only competitive university mariachi in the state, Mariachi Plata de WNMU regularly delivers award-winning performances at showcases like Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque and at events throughout southwest New Mexico. The chance to play for a new audience in an 11,000-seat outdoor venue excites the student members, who have had few occasions to don their traje and share their talents since March 2020. “Our students...

“I’ve always been good at convincing people to do something,” said Rebeca Portillo. “When I was little, I didn’t know that you can make a career out of that.” With marketing as her focus, she is enrolled in dual degree program offered jointly through WNMU School of Business and the University of Sonora, where Rebeca is from. As a student, she’s discovered how to infuse creativity into her work. “It’s not only selling. It’s getting to know the products and what people want then making people want the things you’re selling,” she said. It’s a topic Rebeca will be delving into more over the next year and a half while she’s on campus in Silver City. “I think we’re prepared. We were good students back home, but this will be tough,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity.” Normally, Rebeca likes escaping to the beach in her free time, but for now, she’s looking forward to getting into the Gila National Forest....

The Western New Mexico University Office of Veteran Affairs will observe the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with a memorial event on campus Saturday, September 11, 2021. “The university invites the community to join us in solemnly remembering the 2,977 lives lost that day in 2001, and also in honoring the 5,448 service members and civilians killed in action during the resulting Global War on Terror,” said USAF Sep. Staff Sergeant Jason Quimby, who manages the WNMU Office of Veteran Affairs. The event begins at 8 a.m. with a presentation of the colors and the national anthem sung by Mariachi Plata de WNMU and continues through noon with periodical observed silences in remembrance of the attack’s most devastating moments. Giving the keynote address will be 1984 WNMU alumnus J.R. Calkins, who worked on a Type 1 Incident Management Team that mobilized to New York City on September 12, 2001, to assist with search and rescue efforts at ground zero. The...

Rita Escalante is in her second week of a three-semester program at WNMU that will enable her to earn double degrees—one from her home institution, University of Sonora, and one from the WNMU School of Business. It’s a prospect made possible through a memorandum of understanding that enables Mexican students to finish off their studies at a U.S-accredited university for the in-state tuition rate and with support from scholarships available through their government. From Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, the marketing student jumped on the chance to study at an American university, as she hopes to spend her career in the United States. “Marketing here and in Mexico is very different. Learning from you guys is a great opportunity for me to work and get a better job in the future,” she said. Along with two of her peers from University of Sonora, Rita is getting adjusted to life on campus and settling in for the experience, which will last a year and a half. She said that the...

Three students from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, began an exchange with Western New Mexico University last week. Undergraduates Rebeca Portillo Parra, Rita Paulina Escalante Alegría and Ivanna María Chavarría Martínez will spend three semesters studying marketing in the WNMU School of Business in order to earn double degrees—one from each institution. WNMU School of Business offers dual degrees and student exchange programs as a result of signed memorandums of understanding with four partner universities, including: -University of Sonora, -University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, -Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, and -Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Puebla. Collaborating with foreign universities to offer dual degree programs is an enormous effort that faculty initiate and ultimately undertake for the benefit of participants. “These conversations take long hours of additional planning and curriculum equivalency negotiations,” said Dr. Miguel A. Vicéns, who is...

Western New Mexico University Deming student Lauren Paulk has co-authored two papers published in scientific journals. The 17-year-old is a senior in high school, who through the dual enrollment program is also working toward an associate degree. Learning through research experiences with Dr. Niccole D. Rech, who employs a teaching method known as cognitive apprenticeship, she has gained proficiency in lab practices such as collecting specimens and operating equipment. And she has learned to lay out her findings in writing and present them in a scholarly setting like the WNMU Academic Symposium. During her sophomore year, Lauren and a few other students studied Wolbachia in Africanized bees in Luna County and the surrounding area. Next, she participated in the study of Rhizobia in pinto beans—a project that was cut short due to the onset of the pandemic. And this past spring, Lauren again worked with Dr. Rech and a fellow student to identify seven previously undocumented...