News

Katia Ibarra of The Mustang student newspaper reported on Dia de los Muertos happenings on campus. Here’s a snippet of her article, but a link to the full story is at the bottom of this post. On Wednesday, the once quiet and tranquil Miller Library was filled with the rich sounds of Mariachi Plata in commemoration of the Day of the Dead. The event at WNMU began with a short film created by MEChA to illustrate the significance of the tradition and how it is celebrated in Mexico. Soon after, Mariachi Plata took over the floor and played a set of joyful songs. Miller Library was also home to altars done by The Center for Gender Equity and Social Justice and the library staff and work studies. ASWNMU helped pay for some Mexican treats offered at the event and for the sugar skulls for the public to decorate. Read the full story on The...

The West Shore Piano Trio continues the second annual President’s Chamber Music Series at Light Hall Theater on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. Founded on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in 2008 and based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, the West Shore Piano Trio has been praised for “fluid” and “sultry” playing. Made up of Jay DeWire (piano), Heather Haughn (violin) and Diana Flesner (cello), the trio has performed all across the nation at places like the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Chautauqua Institution. The group plays with colorful passion and also provides insight to the works on the program through commentary and interaction with their audiences. Because they believe that “education and live performance enhance each other,” the trio provides biographical details about the composer, frames the work in the context of its time, and highlights the piece’s thematic and compositional elements—all in jargon-free language accessible to...

Co-founder of Creative Startups Tom Aageson will speak at Western New Mexico University on Monday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Parotti Building next to the Fine Arts Center Theater. The first in a series of four Emerging Technologies and Creative Commerce lectures sponsored by PNM, Aageson’s presentation on Creative Startups is meant to engage the community in crafting a creative economy. He is an authority on this subject, as his Santa Fe-based Creative Startups reaches a global audience with its workshops and seminars as well as the Creative Startups Accelerator, which helps entrepreneurs grow their ventures “beyond the launch stage to profitability and growth,” according to creativestartups.org. Aageson has also launched several successful startups including New Mexico Creates, an initiative that links artists and entrepreneurs to the global marketplace. The former director of Aid to Artisans holds degrees from Columbia University and the Thunderbird School of Global...

Western New Mexico University graduate student Grecia Rivas’ political artwork will soon be featured in an exhibit called The Art of the Resistance at the Mimbres Region Arts Council gallery (1201 N. Pope St.) in the Wells Fargo Bank building. Co-sponsored by WNMU, the show will open with a reception on Thursday, Nov. 9, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and will hang through Thursday, Dec. 14. Rivas’ pieces in The Art of the Resistance will be for sale, and all proceeds will go toward the artist’s named scholarship at Western New Mexico University. The monies in this fund will benefit DACA and undocumented students specifically, as they do not qualify for federal financial aid. Her posters are political in nature, and most are Rivas’ attempt to raise awareness about immigration issues and uplift viewers. “Many of the concepts revolve around the life of an immigrant,” she said. At a recent forum about DACA on campus, Rivas showcased her art and sold some of the pieces...

On Thursday, Nov. 9, Western New Mexico University will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Cornali Field to celebrate the opening of a new fenced area designated for small dogs. The ceremony, co-hosted by the Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce, will take place at 11 a.m. in the WNMU-owned community dog park on West St. While Cornali Field has historically been undivided, local citizens recognized a need and raised money for a barrier separating little dogs from the large portion of the field where large breeds can frolic freely. Silver City resident Julie Cason, who visits Cornali Field with her 12-pound dog, spearheaded the fundraising effort, aiming to collect $1,500 for the new fence. “I want to thank WNMU for letting us do this. The dog park is a huge success. I’ve been there almost every afternoon, and we’re getting new dogs every week,” she said. Now that the new fence is erected, owners with dogs of all sizes feel comfortable visiting the park, said...

In honor and anticipation of Halloween, a few students reflected on what films creep them out better than any other. Here, the staff of The Mustang student newspaper and ASWNMU Attorney General weigh in on what to watch over Halloweekend. Anna Daggett, "Jeepers Creepers" (2001) For me personally, “Jeepers Creepers” is one of the best horror movies made to date. Its originality combines pop-up scares with long suspenseful themes, and the perfect amount of gore. There is even a level of sci-fi to it, as a woman named Jez seems to know a unique amount of things about the Creeper. Perhaps the best part of the film is the song indicating that the creature is not only near, but that he has found a new target as well. The iconic movie and theme song has been gracing radio stations and home TV’s for the past 16 years and proves that it doesn’t have to be Halloween for evil to be lurking…. Katia Ibarra, "Psycho" (1960) “Psycho” is of course the film with the classic...

Western New Mexico University entered into two more partnerships with Mexican universities on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017. WNMU signed an agreement outlining protocols between WNMU and Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas and signed a memorandum of understanding with Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas. “These kinds of agreements break down walls between countries,” WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard said. “I feel grateful because, with these agreements, part of Mexico will be here and part of New Mexico will be there." The agreement with Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas was made in order to embark on both academic and cultural exchanges that benefit the institutions mutually and allow for multicultural experiences through their association. The exchanges will be made available to undergraduate and graduate students. With a focus on research and academic development between the institutions, the agreement generally calls for cooperation and collaboration among representatives...

Western New Mexico University’s Writer-in-Residence’s novel, “Damnificados,” won another major award recently. Author J.J. Amaworo Wilson accepted the 2017 Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction in Washington, DC, last week. “The Hurston/Wright is particularly special to me because it’s an international award for the Black diaspora. The organization promotes both literature and social justice—two elements close to my heart,” Wilson said. Judges applauded “Damnificados” for a “fabulist and gritty dystopia that is nearly allegorical in its portrayal of the dispossessed,” according to an article in the Washington Post. Introduced in 2001, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award honors the best in Black literature in the United States and around the globe. Fiction, nonfiction and poetry honorees are selected in a juried competition. Other 2017 nominees in the Debut Fiction category included “Blackass” by A Igoni Barrett and “Born on...

For the next few weeks, Western New Mexico University is host to eight students from the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE) in Corrientes, Argentina. This group is participating in a student exchange program financially supported by UNNE and by the United States Embassy in Argentina. Hosted in various academic departments and living in Mustang Village, the students will be at WNMU through Nov. 17, 2017. From an aspiring botanist to a kinesiology major, the students have varied interests and academic focuses. Each is matched with a WNMU professor in the department most closely related to his or her field of study at UNNE, and each audits a few classes pertinent to his or her career goals. “Several WNMU professors have enthusiastically supported this visit,” program coordinator Imelda Olague said. WNMU’s College of Business is involved, as are the Humanities, Natural Sciences, Allied Health and Social Sciences/Cultural Studies departments. Fifth-year law...

In analyzing this fall’s census data, Western New Mexico University found that the 10 percent drop in enrollment this year was largely due to the decrease in dual enrollment students. In examining the causes, WNMU found a correlation between the decline and the loss in qualified instructors, due to the Higher Learning Commission’s new accreditation requirements. Dual enrollment accounts for nearly eighty percent of WNMU’s drop in overall enrollment. “We’re down 324 undergraduate students. Of those, 247 are dual enrolled,” WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard said. Some WNMU faculty members who facilitated the 100-level courses taken by dual enrollment students no longer met the Higher Learning Commission’s Qualified Faculty Requirements. “We had to change how we vet the instructors for the program. A handful of them did not have the current qualifications to teach the courses for college credit,” Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management...