Community News

SILVER CITY, NM — The Humanities Department at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) recently held its final Sin Fronteras Creative Writing Project for Undergraduate Students, a creative writing project to foster community, encourage reading international and regional literature, and investigate the idea of a border in different ways. Professional guest writers/teachers each gave one craft talk/generative workshop, and Associate Professor of English Composition, Professor Heather Frankland, MFA, organized the special project. This session brought together 13 dedicated students, primarily undergraduate students, for an intensive exploration of narrative, poetry and the transformative power of the written word.

Christina Nealson was recognized by Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith on May 26 as the new Poet Laureate of Silver City and Grant County. She is the latest honoree in a long line of distinguished poets beginning in 2012. Christina will serve from 2026-2028, and has exciting ideas to bring poetry into the community.

Nealson is the author of five books and photographer of four. Her career in photojournalism has taken her to Africa, Central America, and throughout the west from Alaska to the tip of Baja.  She has received numerous honors for her writing. Her love of the wildness of the southwest, its non-human and human inhabitants, geography, history, and culture is long standing.  She has also worked as an interpretive park ranger. After many years in various locations throughout Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, she has chosen Silver City for its location near the Gila, its vibrant creativity, and absence of pretense.

Caleb Loughran, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of ecology and evolution at WNMUSILVER CITY, NM — Western New Mexico University (WNMU) Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution Caleb Loughran, Ph.D., published extensive findings that decode the complex survival and social behaviors of rattlesnakes in Central and Eastern Washington State. His research was primarily conducted in the rugged shrub-steppe landscapes of the Columbia Basin in the Pacific Northwest; the research provides a detailed look at how environmental temperatures and communal social structures dictate the lives of these apex predators. 

Loughran's research on the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) demonstrates that for these snakes, body size most critically determines their daily "schedule" and survival. Juvenile snakes possess a much higher surface-area-to-volume ratio than adults, meaning their outer skin area is large compared to their overall body mass. As a result, they heat up and cool down more quickly. 

Eastern Washington's volatile climate brings dramatic temperature swings between dawn and dusk, forcing these snakes to operate within much narrower safety windows. Loughran's thermal modeling shows that an adult snake can use its mass to buffer against a sudden spike in solar radiation or intense sunlight. However, a younger snake can overheat lethally in just minutes. This high-stakes balancing act forces younger generations to adjust where they hide and when they hunt prey.

KOAT reports: https://www.koat.com/article/former-star-trek-star-nichelle-nichols-family-suing-silver-city-medical-center/71499239 

From the article: "Nichelle Nichols' family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Gila Medical Center in Silver City, New Mexico, where Nichols was treated in 2022. A jury awarded $13 million to the family."

An unofficial source told the Beat that only $400,000 would be collected. The Beat was unable to confirm this allegation. 

SILVER CITY, NM — Western New Mexico University (WNMU) celebrated National Poetry Month in April with an event organized by Miller Library and The Humanities Department.  Additionally, WNMU was a part of a series of poetry events, called, "The Poetry Long Weekend." This long weekend of poetry events was curated by WNMU Associate Professor and Silver City/Grant County Poet Laureate, Heather Frankland, and co-organized with local libraries, poets, and businesses. The kick-off event was at the Miller Library and extended into the heart of Silver City and Bayard. 

Assistant Professor in the College of Education William Lane, Ph.D., BC-TMHSILVER CITY, NM — For rural and underserved communities in New Mexico, accessing professional counseling services has historically meant long travel and logistical challenges. To address this, Western New Mexico University (WNMU) is working to eliminate these barriers by expanding its telemental health training and services and positioning itself as a leader in modern counseling education.

Central to this growth is the WNMU Department of Counseling's curriculum. Led by Assistant Professor in the College of Education William Lane, Ph.D., BC-TM, the program offers four tracks: clinical mental health counseling, clinical rehabilitation counseling, school counseling and addiction counseling. All tracks are offered through a 60-credit, fully online Master of Counseling degree: 

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling track is versatile and focuses on managing complex cases, like trauma and depression, via encrypted platforms to ensure urban-level care reaches "frontier" residents.

BLOOMINGTON, IL (06/02/2026)-- Patrick Waters, of Silver City, New Mexico, was named to the Dean's List for the spring semester of the 2025-26 academic year at Illinois Wesleyan University. Waters is a Junior majoring in Public Health.

Waters was among 883 students from 29 states and 18 countries named to the spring 2026 Dean's List.

To qualify for the Dean's List, students must earn a GPA of 3.50 or better during the semester, based on 4.0 for straight As.

Founded in 1850, Illinois Wesleyan is a nationally recognized, highly selective liberal arts university. The University is exclusively undergraduate and enrolls approximately 1,700 students from across the nation and around the globe. Illinois Wesleyan prides itself on producing graduates who are well-rounded, broadly educated individuals with a spirit of inquiry who can successfully adapt to the demands of a rapidly changing, complex world.

Mescalero Apache students and staff visit WNMU before their trek to the annual mezcal harvestSILVER CITY, NM — Western New Mexico University recently welcomed dozens of seventh-grade students from the Mescalero Apache Schools for a multi-day visit that blended cultural preservation with an introduction to university life. The visit served as a gateway to the students' annual mezcal harvest, a cornerstone of their cultural heritage, held in early May. 

The long-standing partnership between WNMU and the Mescalero Apache community aims to provide students with an early look at the opportunities afforded by higher education. Rena Nash, cultural and language director for the Mescalero Apache Schools, emphasized the importance of the trip in broadening the students' horizons.