Community News
Meet Iris Nolasco, New Executive Director of The Commons
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 21 March 2024 21 March 2024
Meet Iris Nolasco
New Executive Director
As I wrap up my first three weeks as the new Executive Director of The Commons, my heart is full of appreciation. The welcome I have received is incredible and indicative of what this community represents and the reason why I choose to help support it through the mission and the work of this organization.
Part of my journey started at The Volunteer Center (TVC) of Grant County as an AmeriCorps volunteer and then staff member from 2007-2009.
Transplanted from Idaho, a WNMU Family Puts Down Roots in NM
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 19 March 2024 19 March 2024
Cell and Molecular Biology major Stacey Bernstein is one of three people in her family attending WNMUStacey Bernstein is a featured student in the upcoming Amazon Prime TV episode of “The College Tour” that was filmed on campus in November. Link to article at end.
Attending WNMU is a family affair for first-year student Stacey Bernstein. Her mother is also a student at the university, earning her Master’s of Social Work, and her younger sister, who is a senior in high school, is a dual-enrollment student at WNMU.
The family of six lives on 26 acres near Silver City with a bevy of animals: donkeys, a cow, chicken, geese, cats, a sugar glider and Saint Bernards, including a recent litter of puppies.
Whether surrounded by animals or humans, community is very important to Bernstein and one of the things she appreciates most about WNMU. “It is very community oriented,” she said of the university campus, “Every day I see friends that I went to high school with. It is nice to see familiar faces.”
Tour of the Gila applies grant award
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 18 March 2024 18 March 2024
Tour of the Gila applies grant award to highlight event’s heritage and impact
while inviting others to the experience
$30,000 from New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division supports marketing iconic bike race
Silver City, NM — Recognizing the impact of Tour of the Gila and rewarding the longevity of this internationally renowned cycling event, the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division awarded $30,000 to the race’s nonprofit, Gila Community and Tourism Development.
Graduate Student Finds a Home in Silver City
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 17 March 2024 17 March 2024
Oscar Arteaga Romero, a graduate student originally from Venezuela, graduated in December with a master’s of interdisciplinary studies degree. He is seen here holding the Venezuelan flag during the filming of “The College Tour,” Nov. 6, 2023Oscar Arteaga Romero will be in the cast of the upcoming Amazon Prime TV episode of “The College Tour” that will be filmed on campus in November. Link to article at the end.
From Venezuela to Colombia to Kansas to New Mexico, Graduate Student Finds a Home in Silver City
Oscar Arteaga Romero expected to spend recent years working on his MBA in Kansas, but when his husband found a job in Silver City, he transferred to WNMU and quickly decided to expand this educational experience beyond business.
While business administration remains one of his concentration areas in the WNMU MA in Interdisciplinary Studies program, he has added two others: sociology and kinesiology.
Art Major Finds Inspiration in Southwestern New Mexico
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 15 March 2024 15 March 2024
Natalee Drissell speaks with director Daren Woolsey during production of “The College Tour,” Nov. 8, 2023.Natalee Drissell is a featured student in the upcoming Amazon Prime TV episode of “The College Tour” that was filmed on campus in November. Link to article at the end.
It was a bit of serendipitous timing that brought art major Natalee Drissell to WNMU. Drissell moved from Iowa to New Mexico in 2022 after her father, WNMU Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing Matt Drissell, accepted his position with the university. That same year, New Mexico created the Opportunity Scholarship, which allows in-state students to attend state-funded colleges and universities for free.
But it was not just the prospect of a debt-free education that encouraged Drissell to stay close to home. “I like that WNMU is a small college,” she said, “I did not want to go to one of the larger state schools because I am interested in the personal interactions with professors, especially in art. I do not want to be in a huge studio class; I want to be in a class with, like, twelve people I get to know really well.”
Persistence Pays Off for WNMU Nursing Student
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 13 March 2024 13 March 2024
Nursing major Megan Custer is working on her second bachelor's degree at WNMU. She is seen here during the filming of the Amazon Prime TV series "The College Tour.Megan Custer is a featured student in the upcoming Amazon Prime TV episode of “The College Tour” that was filmed on campus in November. Article link at the end.
The path toward a nursing degree has never been straightforward for nursing major Megan Custer (BAS ’22). “I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said.
What she did know was that she enjoyed playing volleyball. “I got into sports when I was really young and have always kept that going,” she said, “It is not something anyone pushed on me; it was an option and I always liked it.”
Please respond to this Community Needs Assessment and FairHousing Survey
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 13 March 2024 13 March 2024
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Governor Appoints Sabrina Pack to State Game Commission
- Category: Community News Community News
- Published: 13 March 2024 13 March 2024
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Sabrina Pack, DBA, to the State Game Commission on March 7, 2024, and was sworn into office during the NM Game and Fish Department Commission meeting held on March 8, 2024, in Albuquerque (pictured). Sabrina Pack will be serving on a seven-member citizens’ body. According to the NM Game and Fish Department’s website, “the commission sets hunting and fishing regulations, hires the Department of Game and Fish director, oversees spending of a more than $35 million annual budget, and sets the department’s overall direction.”
Sabrina Pack will be representing southwest New Mexico on the Game Commission. She, along with Richard Stump, who is also a new appointment, are joining Senator Gregory Fulfer, Tirzio Lopez, Sharon Salazar Hickey, Edward Garcia, and Fernando Clemente, Jr. on the seven-member commission.