Article and Photos by Shirin McArthur
Arrest a Professor 100815
Arrest a Professor WNMU 100815
Zach Serowik, bookstore manager, talks with Bel Crotts, bookstore shipping and receiving clerk, after posting part of her bail-?`^
Arrest a Professor WNMU 100815
Abe Villarreal, director of communications, was arrested for possession of a liquid controlled substance consisting of multiple types of chiles
Arrest a Professor WNMU 100815
Professor Linda Baldwin digs deep in search of sufficient bond funds as, from left, Brandi Alcorta and Itzel Perez watch to see if she has enough
Arrest a Professor WNMU 100815
David Cota, student services specialist, gets his mug shot
Arrest a Professor WNMU 100815
Bel Crotts and David Cota seem dispirited to be stuck in jail
Arrest a Professor WNMU 100815
Cari Lemon, interim director of alumni affairs, hands over a bail check to Itzel Perez for Jim Helgert, professor in the chemical dependency program
Western New Mexico University's Criminal Justice Chemical Dependency Club held its annual homecoming-week fundraiser, Arrest a Professor, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Perhaps in an effort to treat everyone equally, WNMU staff are now being arrested as well.
With the assistance of officers from the Grant County Sheriff's Department, WNMU Campus Police, and the Bayard Police Department, various members of the WNMU community were arrested, booked, and jailed in the stairwell of the Student Center until bond could be posted in the form of donations to the Criminal Justice Chemical Dependency Club's travel fund.
The fund is used for two annual educational trips to correctional or treatment facilities. The Club has been active on WNMU's campus for 19 years, and some of these educational trips have taken students as far as San Diego and Hawaii. There are currently 11 active members of the Club, which is in a rebuilding phase after a large group of seniors graduated two years ago.
This annual fundraising effort takes two forms. In addition to helping professors, faculty and staff post “bail,†members of the WNMU community can also pay to keep the culprits in jail.
When this reporter arrived on the scene a little after noon on Thursday, three Club members were working the desk, processing suspects and posting bail payments. Brandi Alcorta, President of the Club and a Chemical Dependency major, says that she wants to be a children's counselor. (Full disclosure: this reporter thought this an admirable goal and chose to help post bail when Alcorta ended up in jail shortly thereafter.) Victoria Findley is also studying chemical dependency. Itzel Perez is studying criminal justice and considering a career as a divorce lawyer.
Cari Lemon, interim director of alumni affairs, stopped by to post bail for Jim Helgert, one of the Club's faculty representatives. “It's a big deal that I'm taking time to do this during homecoming week,†she said.
WNMU's homecoming events began on Thursday evening, October 8 with a kickoff social and end with a homecoming fiesta on Sunday afternoon, October 11 at Old James Stadium. A homecoming parade will begin at the Fine Arts Center Theater at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 10. The homecoming football game begins at 1:30 p.m. in Ben Altamirano Field.