Mirage Spring 2020

SPRING 2020

M A G A Z I N E THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO I ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

A Life In Verse Joy Harjo Is U.S. Poet Laureate

“The Street Vet” Doctors Homeless Animals / Geology Grad Looks to Jupiter May 1970: Alumni Recall Conflict and Violence / Soundpack: They’re Big and Brassy and Rocking The Pit

Contents 16 HANDCUFFS AND BAYONETS Five alumni look back on one day in 1970

By Leslie Linthicum

22 TO BOLDLY GO

Geology grad looks for life on Jupiter

By Benjamin Gleisser

24 HELPING HOMELESS PETS Alumnus Kwane Stewart is the Street Vet

By Leslie Linthicum

28 IT’S SOUNDPACK! The first weeks of May 1970 were rife with protest and conflict on the UNM campus. Some alumni share their memories.

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LETTERS

5 ALBUM

7

Keeping current with classmates

MESSAGE

From UNM President Garnett S. Stokes

8 CAMPUS CONNECTIONS

What’s going on around campus

12 THE JOY OF POETRY

Alumni join current students in the peppiest pep band in the West

By Leslie Linthicum

30 LOVE OF LIBRARIES

The Hulsmans’ gift supports

student research

By Hilary Mayall Jetty

Alumna Joy Harjo is the U.S. ambassador for poetry

By Leslie Linthicum

On the cover: Joy Harjo (’76 BA), in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., is the nation's current poet laureate.

Photo: Shawn Miller

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MIRAGE MAGAZINE

Mirage was the title of the University of New Mexico yearbook until its final edition in 1978. The title was then adopted by the alumni magazine, which continues to publish vignettes about UNM graduates and news of the University.

M A G A Z I N E

32 SHELF LIFE

41 FROM THE VEEP

Spring 2020, Volume 40, Number 1

Books by UNM alumni

A message from Alumni Association’s Connie Beimer

The University of New Mexico

34 HONORING ALUMNI Meet our award recipients

42 ALUMNI NETWORK

40 ALUMNI CALENDAR

Did our cameras catch you at an event?

44 IN MEMORIAM

Garnett S. Stokes, President Connie Beimer, InterimVice President, Alumni Relations UNM Alumni Association Executive Committee Alexis Tappan (’99 BA, ’17 MA) President Chad Cooper (’01 MBA) President-Elect John Brown (’72 BBA) Past President Daniel Trujillo (’07 BBA, ’08 MACCT) Treasurer Connie Beimer (’76 BA, ’79 MPA) Secretary Appointed Members Melissa Henry (Student Regent)

Harold Lavender (’69 BA, ’75 JD) James Lewis (’77MPA, ’17 LHD)

Rosalyn Nguyen (’03 BBA, ’07 MBA, JD) Jim Novak (’96 MBA) Gus Pedrotty (’17 BA) Jaymie Roybal (’12 BA/BS, ’16 JD) Mirage Editorial Connie Beimer, Interim Vice President Leslie Linthicum, Editor Wayne Scheiner & Company, Graphic Design Address correspondence to MirageEditor@unm.edu or The University of New Mexico Alumni Association, MSC 01-1160, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001. You can also contact us at (505) 277-5808 or 800-ALUM-UNM (800-258-6866).

Web: UNMAlumni.com Facebook: Facebook.com/UNMAlumni Instagram: Instagram.com/UNMAlumni

Kwane Stewart (’93 BS), a veterinarian and star of the TV series “The Street Vet,” relaxes with a canine friend. Photo: Malik Daniels Photography

Flickr: Flickr.com/UNMAlumni Twitter: @UNMAlumni

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SHOW YOUR UNM PRIDE

WITH THE NEW LOGO ON YOUR PLATE!

GET THEM WHILE THEY’RE RED HOT New UNM license plates are hot off the presses and available NOW! You don’t have be an alum to sport the cherry plate featuring

UNM’s new signature logo. Anyone with a vehicle registered in New Mexico can apply for a UNM license plate. The annual fee is $37 and $25 from each plate is donated to the University.

MORE INFO AND APPLICATION FORMS AT: www.UNMAlumni.com/license-plate

Letters to the editor FROM THE EDITOR:

O

rganizing my Spotify playlists the other day I was surprised at the staying power of the music produced in just a few years in the late 1960s. If ever there was a soundtrack of a movement, it was recorded by the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Dylan, the Animals and, well, the playlist can go on and on.

Certain historical eras are packed with strife and change. In this issue of Mirage I look at the year 1970, during which campus protests shut down the University, canceling classes and prompting officials to call in police and the National Guard. More than 100 students were arrested in one day and 11 people, many of them students and alumni, were bayoneted by National Guardsmen. The same year saw a wave of new curricula, with Chicano Studies, Women’s Studies, Africana Studies and Native American Studies programs formed.

Why look back on a single year in the development of a school that has been around for 131 years? And why focus on such an unsettled time? There’s something about 50-year anniversaries that brings about nostalgia and introspection and compels people to take stock of their pasts.

In the story “Battle lines being drawn…” a few of the alumni who were either arrested inside the Student Union Building or stabbed by Guardsmen outside the SUB look back on the week of protests and the single day — May 8 — when it all came to a head.

Were you on campus in 1970? What do you remember? I’d love to hear your memories and share them in the next Letters to the Editor section.

Look for a friend on every page!

Send your alumni news to Mirage Editor, The University of New Mexico Alumni Association, MSC 01-1160, 1 University of just finished reading the Fall issue of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131Mirage. I initially intended to scan the 0001. Or better yet, email your news to Album section and “In Memoriam.”

I ended by reading every article, because Alumni@unm.edu. Please include your middle name or initial and tell us where they were interesting and meaningful. you’re living now.

Having grown up in the Rio Grande

TO THE EDITOR:

I

Valley of New Mexico and lived among various tribes and pueblos, I wonder why we didn’t engage with those communities more when I was a student.

It was sad to see that the number of 1960s entries in the Album section was far shorter than those “In Memoriam.”

I did enjoy seeing Scott Momaday’s name there; I sat beside him in Analytic Geometry in ’54.

I also echo the words of Jeff Alexander (Letters To the Editor) on the quality of your work.

Gordon Blankenship (’63 BBA) Lakewood, Colorado

Leslie Linthicum MirageEditor@unm.edu

FALL 2019

Amanda Torrez

1950s Clem Charlton (’51 BSPE, ’57 MA) was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor as a 2019 Distinguished Service Award recipient.

N. Scott Momaday (’58 BAEd, ’01 HOND) was the subject of the PBS documentary “N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear,” which aired as part of the “American Masters” series.

M A G A Z I N E THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO I ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

UNM-021-A-Mirage-Fall-2019-Single-Pages-Final.indd 1

1930s Amanda Torrez (’37), Hondo Valley, N.M., celebrated her 105th birthday in November 2019. After graduating high school in 1932, she attended UNM to become a certified teacher. In Hondo Valley, Torrez is known as “everybody’s grandma.”

Manuel D. V. Saucedo (’57 BBA, ’77 JD), Lordsburg, N.M., has completed a four-year term on the National Advisory Council of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is a retired New Mexico Sixth Judicial District judge and has served on the Lordsburg City Council and Lordsburg Municipal Schools Board of Education.

Deadlines: Spring deadline: January 1 Fall deadline: June 1

9/3/19 10:38 AM

1960s Joseph Baca (’60 BAEd) and Dorothy Lee Baca (’66 BSEd, ’90 MA) celebrated 50 years of marriage on June 28, 2019. Joe graduated from George Washington University Law School and earned a graduate law degree from the University of Virginia. He is a retired chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Dorothy is a retired Albuquerque Public Schools bilingual elementary teacher.

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Our UNM Legacy “It’s important for us to give back in appreciation for what we’ve been able to enjoy, and hopefully because of it, others are also able to enjoy a better quality of life and continue to extend the rewards of giving.”

- Ann Rhoades (MBA ‘85) and Russell Rhoades (BS ‘66)

In their estate plan, Ann and Russ have provided scholarships for part-time graduate students at the Anderson School of Management. They are members of the New Horizons Society, a group honoring individuals and families who have included UNM in their estate plans. For more information about how you can create a legacy at UNM or to share that you’ve already done so, please call (505) 313-7610 or email giftplanning@unmfund.org.

Look forward by giving back.

@UNMFund

UNMFoundation

@UNMFund

505-313-7600

Opportunity isn’t simply found – it’s created

O

pportunity isn’t something that simply happens; it’s the result of timing and preparation. It’s defined as a set of circumstances that make it possible to do something. And although those circumstances are sometimes outside of our control, there will be times in our lives when timing, preparation and hard work can help us find and initiate opportunities in the world around us — and maybe even do something groundbreaking.

As we celebrate another graduating class — the first wave of our class of 2020 — I think about what it means to be a UNM alum. About the prospects our students have after leaving campus, and the many opportunities Lobos will create and build upon around the globe.

Achieving a UNM degree opens doors. It makes Lobos more competitive in the job market, more prepared for higher degree programs and more well-rounded as community members.

It is a connection to other Lobos — a network of people to assist in career growth or research excellence. Put simply, a UNM degree can be defined as opportunity.

But that opportunity is bigger than just one person. Lobos have gone on to start and lead businesses. They’ve founded philanthropic missions and assisted in advancing society. There are countless stories of you, our Lobo alumni, creating opportunities in your communities and around the world. This makes the impact of a UNM degree exponential.

Locally, two UNM alumni from the Anderson School of Management opened a second Little Bear Coffee location and retail collective near campus with the mission of rejuvenating the oncevibrant Nob Hill into a thriving center of the community, giving local businesses retail space.

Meanwhile, three Lobos working for Ideum helped to imagine and build the interactive penguin exhibit at the Albuquerque BioPark, giving young learners a fun and educational experience that may inspire a few future zoologists or even tech developers.

Farther from home, UNM alumna Rachel Balkovec is breaking barriers in Major League Baseball, becoming the first female full-time hitting coach hired by a major league organization.

She is an example of a trailblazing Lobo forging groundbreaking opportunities for other women, and inspiring them to challenge the status quo in similar ways.

These are only a few of the countless stories of UNM alumni building communities, inspiring students and initiating new and exciting job prospects. Creating opportunities is part of the Lobo tradition — and it doesn’t just happen; it’s the result of hard work and preparation.

You’re prepared, Lobos — create opportunities.

Make a difference.

Garnett S. Stokes President, The University of New Mexico

James E. Bonnell (’61 BM, ’71 MME) received the New Mexico Music Commission Platinum Award for Lifetime Achievement.

He is a retired music teacher and professional violist.

Rudolfo Anaya (’63 BA, ’69 MA, ’72 MA), Albuquerque, was honored by the state of New Mexico with a proclamation that Oct. 30, his birthday, will permanently be known as Rudolfo Anaya I Love to Read Day. Anaya also was recognized with a Kellogg National Fellowship from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Jim Ottmann (’63 BSEd, BSPE) was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor as a 2019 Distinguished Service Award recipient.

John R. Cooney (’65 BA, ’65 JD), Albuquerque, a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America.

Arthur D. Melendres (’65 BA, ’71 JD), Albuquerque, a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized

by Best Lawyers in America.

Arthur D. Melendres Jesse Drew Cann (’68 BM) has recorded a music video for the song “Land of Enchantment,” which is from his 2019 album, “A New Song.”

John P. Salazar (’68 JD), of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Joseph Powdrell (’69 BSPE, ’70 BSEd) was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor in 2019.

1970s George E. Campbell (’70 BA), Tucson, Ariz., has retired after nearly 50 years in journalism, the last 40 of which were spent at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson.

Eloy R. Gonzales (’70 PhD) just completed eight years as volunteer instructor and board member for Have Hammer… Will Travel, A.C., a nonprofit at Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico, where he trained Mexican youth and young adults to create Spanish colonial furniture.

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Campus Connections

Siobhán Mattison

WHO RUNS THE WORLD? A new study led by researchers at UNM throws some shade on the long-held belief that it is males — be they humans or other animals — who provide for and glue together societies.

“Anthropologists have argued for a long time that men are central to building successful human families,” said Siobhán Mattison, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology and director of the Human Family and Evolutionary Demography Lab at UNM and the study’s lead author.

“But human families are much more complex than that,” Mattison said, “and, while it is undoubtedly the case that men provide important contributions to their families under many circumstances, they are also frequently the least reliable providers.“ The study, published in Philosophical

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MIRAGE MAGAZINE

Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B, reviewed evidence from human and animal studies to question assumptions underlying claims that men are always central to the functioning of human families.

The study focused on the 17 percent of human societies that are matrilineal, with property and lineage passed through women in the communities.

Mattison and her colleagues could find nothing to support anthropologists’ claims that even in matrilineal societies men are more important than women because they provide for their sisters’ sons over their own children.

This led Mattison and her colleagues to speculate that men in many matrilineal societies take on more peripheral roles than anthropologists have often argued, and that men might even enjoy a relative lack of responsibility.

“We were really surprised to see how differently people studying humans and people studying animals view femalecentered societies,” said Darragh Hare, a co-author on the study who is a postdoctoral fellow in evolutionary anthropology at UNM. “Some of the most exciting aspects of social organization, for example,

achieving large-scale cooperation, accumulating vast stores of ecological knowledge and multiple generations helping to rear offspring, occur in species with female-centered societies,” Hare said.

Mattison hopes that the findings encourage other researchers to try to understand the full range of how people contribute to families across societies and take care not to overemphasize the significance of males in human and animal societies.

“If nothing else,” Mattison says, “our study shows the vast flexibility in a human family and economic system, undermining any claims about universal differences in men’s and women’s capabilities and roles.”

THERE’S A NEW BEER IN TOWN Rio Bravo Brewing Co., which holds beer-making rights for UNM, rolled out an IPA last fall just in time for Homecoming. Lobo Louie’s IPA, an American-style IPA, joins El Lobo Rojo, a cherry wheat brew, which was the first UNM-licensed beer for the

Lynn H. Slade (’73 BA, ’76 JD), Albuquerque, a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was named a New Mexico Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation. He was also recognized

by Best Lawyers in America.

Albuquerque brewery. Under an agreement with UNM, 12 percent of the Rio Bravo distribution sales of Lobo Louie’s IPA and El Lobo Rojo outside of the brewery’s taps goes to support the UNM Athletic Department. Lobo Louie’s IPA comes on tap and in turquoise cans stamped with the lip-smacking old-school Louie.

FACULTY UNIONIZE IN A LANDSLIDE

In a vote last fall, regular and adjunct faculty at UNM overwhelmingly chose to unionize, following a nationwide trend that now sees faculty union representation in one in three U.S. universities.

The vote for regular faculty was 500 to 304 in favor of unionization.

For adjunct faculty it was 256 to 26.

The union, United Academics of UNM, will have separate bargaining units for regular and adjunct faculty.

SWIPE RIGHT FOR HAPPILY EVER AFTER UNM sociologist Reuben “Jack” Thomas met his wife the old-fashioned way — they were fellow graduate students. Thomas’s latest research shows just how old-fashioned that is in the age of the Internet.

According to Thomas, recent research conducted by the UNM Sociology Department revealed the trend of finding dates and eventually partners online started slowly in the 1990s, took off in the 2000s and continues to rise.

Thomas and colleagues from Stanford University published their findings in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“By far the most common way of finding romance online is through the online dating websites,” Thomas said.

Dating apps (like Tinder) are growing in popularity but still lag behind websites (such as eHarmony).

Couples also meet through online communities, online games, chat rooms, social media and social networking sites, Thomas said.

“We can't really say from our data which ‘works’ better than others, but the search for love through online dating sites and apps seems to be the most direct path into a relationship,” Thomas said.

Young people use the sites and apps more, but it’s older people who are more apt to find long-lasting love there.

“Middle-aged people are the group most likely to find a partner online,” Thomas said. “Younger people may be more tech-engaged and may actually visit these sites and apps at a

Barbara G. Stephenson (’74 BA, ’79 JD), Albuquerque, has joined the firm of Sutin, Thayer & Browne as its newest attorney.

Michael N. Linver, M.D. (’76 GME), is the 2020 recipient of Barbara Stephenson the Gold Medal of the Society of Breast Imaging. The society is the world's largest organization for radiologists who perform breast imaging, with more than 3,000 members worldwide. Linver has served on the clinical faculty in the UNM Department of Radiology since 1991, and is currently a clinical professor in the department.

Leslie McCarthy Apodaca (’78 BA), of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Doris “Dori” Ellis (’78 BSE, ’79 MS) was named deputy labs director of Sandia National Laboratories. Ellis has an extensive career working in national security, including more than 30 years at Sandia.

Rick Beitler (’79 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Randy Taylor (’79 JD) has joined the Rodey Law Firm as an associate member of the firm’s Litigation Department in Albuquerque.

1980s Randy Taylor W. Mark Mowery (’81 JD), Santa Fe, of the Rodey Law Firm, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America as Santa Fe Lawyer of the Year for administrative/regulatory law.

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Campus Connections NOT JUST THE NICOTINE

higher rate, but they have a lot of offline venues to find partners in as well: their schools and social circles tend to be full of single people who they could date. Those in midlife more often have everyday lives that connect them to few viable romantic options, so online dating is more likely to be where they find love.”

People in relationships formed online often marry faster, Thomas found; and they do not break up at a greater rate.

The online trend of finding a partner is likely to have long-lasting and wideranging social effects, Thomas said.

“One way it is already affecting the U.S. is that couples who meet online are more likely to be inter-racial, interreligious, and from different education backgrounds, though more similar in age,” Thomas said. “So, the Internet is currently desegregating families in America. It is not a huge effect right now, but it could become larger, and this can have ripple effects across other interpersonal relationships that weaken the boundaries between racial/ethnic, religious and social class groups. But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. One can easily imagine a not-sodifferent practice of online dating that instead reinforces group boundaries.”

The widespread adoption of vaping — especially among young people — has a troubling downside. A UNM scientist joined in a landmark study showing that e-cigarette use directly impairs lung function and the body’s ability to ward off infections.

of trash cans. When he is adopted and discovers the tuba in middle school, his life is changed.

That boy grew up to be Richard Antoine White, associate professor of music at UNM. White was a successful freelance musician in Indianapolis (where he was the first African American to be awarded a doctorate in music for tuba performance) before coming to New Mexico 15 years ago to play in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and in the Santa Fe Opera. Today, he juggles playing as the principal tubist for the New Mexico Philharmonic, performing around the country and recording with his tenure-track faculty position.

The R.A.W. in the film’s title comes from White’s initials. While the documentary makes the rounds of the ‘R.A.W.TUBA: FROM film festival circuit, White is hoping his story will inspire others.

SANDTOWN TO “I hope to touch everyone or as many SYMPHONY’ people as I can in America with my The documentary “R.A.W. Tuba: From story and show them that regardless of Sandtown to Symphony” tells the story their circumstances, they can achieve,” of a young boy in Baltimore, growing White says. “Your background, your up mostly homeless and on his own — ­ circumstances shouldn't dictate your sleeping on cardboard and eating out ability to climb the ladder of success."

What’s The

The culprit appears not to be the nicotine, but other ingredients used in e-cigarette liquid, says Matthew Campen, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and an expert on the health effects of air pollution, such as ozone and smoke.

Campen and his colleagues focused on surfactant — the thin layer of fluid that lines the alveoli, delicate balloonshaped sacs in the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide cross into bloodcarrying capillaries.

Macrophages — a type of immune cell — keep the surfactant healthy by finding and “recycling” damaged

Big Idea?

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Rita Padilla (’81 MA) serves on the New Mexico Livestock Board. She recently completed a 10-year term on the New Mexico Land Grant Council.

proteins, as well as killing inhaled viruses and bacteria. “That’s their job,” Campen says. “Throughout your life, they’re cleaning things up.”

But the new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, finds that the inhaled e-cigarette vapor damages the macrophages, hampering their ability to protect the lungs, Campen says.

“These changes in the lung-lining fluid and the macrophages may relate to the severe cases of vapingassociated lung injury being seen around the country,” Campen says, adding that further research will be needed to determine which of the e-cigarette liquid ingredients is responsible for the damage, and who might be vulnerable.

MINING DATA TO REDUCE SELF-HARM When it comes to making sense of big data, it’s sometimes hard to see the forest for the trees.

But Christophe Lambert, PhD, and his colleagues in UNM’s Center for Global Health recently used a machine learning method to detect a

disturbing pattern hidden in millions of medical insurance billing records.

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, the team reported their finding that instances of self-harm among people with major mental illness seeking medical care might actually be as much as 19 times higher than what is reported in the billing records.

The finding suggests that physicians and other care providers often assign standardized billing codes for the care they provide that obscure the possibility a patient’s injury might really be due to selfharm, rather than accident.

Tracy Sprouls (’81 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Loretta Lopez (’82 BN, ’89 JD) has been appointed director of the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration.

She was previously deputy director of the Risk Management Division of the New Mexico General Services Department.

Bradley Preber (’82 BBA) has been named CEO of Grant Thornton, an independent audit, tax and advisory firm.

Earl E. DeBrine (’84 BBA), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized by Best Bradley Preber Lawyers in America in the area of Railroad Law, and was selected as 2020 Oil and Gas Lawyer of the Year in Albuquerque.

Andrew Schultz (’84 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list and the Albuquerque First Amendment Litigation Lawyer of the Year.

Charles Vigil (’86 BBA) of the Rodey Law Firm is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Nelson Franse (’87 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

“Forthcoming studies of ours suggest that a person faces a more than three-fold risk of self-harm if he or she has done it once before,” says Lambert, an associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.

If medical team members aren’t coding and including previous selfharm in the medical record, future treatment of the patient may be compromised by not having that important information in their history.

Christopher P. Muirhead (’88 BA, ’93 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America for 2020.

Stuart R. Butzier (’89 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was elected vice president of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. He was also recognized

by Best Lawyers in America, and was Stuart Butzier selected as 2020 Litigation-Environmental Lawyer of the Year in Santa Fe. (continued on page 31)

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Photo: Shawn Miller

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Poetfor Our

Time

Joy Harjo (’76 BA) discovered the power of words at UNM

By Leslie Linthicum

P

rof. David Johnson saw it again and again in his beginning creative writing class at UNM — young writers progressed throughout the semester, opened up and discovered they had a voice.

In 1972, a young Muskogee Creek student, a single mother from Oklahoma, took Johnson’s class after being inspired by the burgeoning Native American literary scene on campus. Johnson watched and mentored as she tapped into the storytelling traditions of her people and quickly developed a unique and sophisticated voice.

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The student was Joy Harjo (’76 BA), who would go on to graduate with a degree in creative writing and become an internationally renowned poet and performer, the author of multiple awardwinning poetry collections and a memoir.

She now holds the title of United States Poet Laureate.

Back at the dawn of her creative career, Johnson remembers an enthusiastic young writer with long dark hair who worked hard and tapped into deep and universal themes.

“Joy very quickly moved from talking about personal experience in her poetry to talking about larger stories, the story of her people, and moving toward the epic and myth and vision,” Johnson remembers.

Catching up on some loads of laundry at her home in Tulsa, Harjo, now 68, also remembers the early 1970s at UNM as a time of awakening as an activist, an artist and a writer.

After graduating high school at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, which she attended to escape

an abusive stepfather, Harjo went back to Oklahoma and gave birth to a son. She returned to Santa Fe, working as a miniskirted gas station attendant and then a nursing assistant, before enrolling at UNM in pre-med.

On campus she connected with the KIVA Club, and found her place among other young Native American students who were discovering their voices.

“It was a great intellectual community and a community of social activism,” Harjo remembers. “It became a basis for my education, too — understanding that we were part of something larger and figuring out our place.”

Disheartened by the math requirements of pre-med, Harjo switched her major to studio art and began going to poetry readings and performances and taking her own first steps toward writing. Some of her earliest poems, sometimes jotted on bar napkins from Okie’s or during breaks between classes and taking care of children, were published in UNM’s student literary magazine, the Thunderbird, as early as 1972.

“I was writing what I was seeing,” says Harjo. Poetry quickly got a hold on her. “I began to realize then that it was something that was so compelling and I just kept following it.” In 1975 she switched majors to creative writing. “That was big for me, committing to poetry. Art had been my path and I was good at it. I was raising two children and to make that decision was risky.

It was because I needed to turn to poetry.”

Harjo has called poetry the art of listening and she speaks of her process as receiving poems rather than creating them.

On stage at the Poetry and Literature Center in the Library of Congress for her inaugural reading as poet laureate last September, Harjo was backed by a jazz combo, played the saxophone and flute and sang — a performance style that has been her signature for decades.

“Poetry,” she told the room full of invited guests, “has been my biggest teacher. I was reluctant to serve poetry, but it’s blessed me beyond words.”

After graduating from UNM, Harjo went to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, a

prestigious two-year master’s program at the University of Iowa, and then taught writing while she published collections that explored love, loss, ancestry, spirituality, struggle, displacement and Native American history and trauma.

While she published and collected writing awards, Harjo taught at IAIA, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Arizona, UCLA, the University of Illinois and the University of Tennessee. She had two stints on the faculty at UNM, from 1991 to 1995, and as the Joseph M. Russo Professor of Creative Writing from 2003 to 2008.

In 2018, Harjo's achievements were recognized with the UNM Alumni Association's James F. Zimmerman Award.

Sharon Oard Warner, then director of the creative writing program at UNM, tapped Harjo for the Russo professorship in 2003 and for the faculty of the Taos Summer Writers Workshop she directed.

“She’s a wonderful teacher and wonderful inspiration, especially to women and Native poets,” Warner says. Given her Photo: Karen Kuehn

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Photo: Karen Kuehn

Eagle Poem

own circumstances as an undergraduate and beginning writer ­— a single mother working to support a family while going to school — Harjo connected with students and showed them possibility of a career they might never have imagined, she said.

“She tries to be uplifting and inspirational and to let young women writers, and particularly young Native American writers, know that they can do this.”

Warner said.

Harjo took saxophone lessons while she was at UNM and began to pursue music

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as another form of expression and as an accompaniment to poetry. She formed a band, Poetic Justice, which she still performs in, as well as a second band, the Arrow Dynamics.

When Harjo was named the nation’s 23rd poet laureate last year, the first Native American poet to hold the title, the appointment was recognized as historic and the Library of Congress was flooded with interview requests for its unusual new ambassador — a tattooed jazz saxophonist whose work explores the government’s

To pray you open your whole self To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon To one whole voice that is you.

And know there is more That you can’t see, can’t hear; Can’t know except in moments Steadily growing, and in languages That aren’t always sound but other Circles of motion.

Like eagle that Sunday morning Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky In wind, swept our hearts clean With sacred wings.

We see you, see ourselves and know That we must take the utmost care And kindness in all things.

Breathe in, knowing we are made of All this, and breathe, knowing We are truly blessed because we Were born, and die soon within a True circle of motion, Like eagle rounding out the morning Inside us.

We pray that it will be done In beauty.

In beauty.

From In Mad Love and War. Copyright © 1990 by Joy Harjo.

Reprinted with the permission of Wesleyan University Press

taking from and killing of her ancestors.

Since her appointment, Harjo has been working non-stop, lecturing, performing in support of her new collection, “An American Sunrise,” and talking about her life and the art form she believes is central to the human experience.

“I think the reason I’ve gotten so much attention has to do with the time in which this appointment happened,” Harjo says. “It’s a time of great turmoil in this country. There’s a lot coming to head here that started years ago.

It started at the founding, at the Civil War.

she thinks and feels about it. In some ways she’s trying to impart what she’s learned about life and love and history to her readers — almost as somebody would as a friend or a family member. And we’re living through such a fractured, difficult political and cultural and societal period and she is a representative of our nation’s first people. I think she provides a service by writing poetry that, even if it’s sad or speaking about difficult periods in our past, it’s still her goal to be inclusive rather than exclusive. She’s a very positive person.”

The poet laureate job comes with a stipend and an office in the Library of Congress. Other than a required inaugural reading, there are no job duties. Harjo was a fellow at the Tulsa Artists Fellowship when she was tapped and she continues to be based in Tulsa, although she travels frequently and is enjoying doing research in the Library of Congress.

“I’ve been traveling as an ambassador of poetry for 50 years, so this just ups the ante,” Harjo says. “I’m doing what I’ve always done. In this position, there’s a little more room to move. And it’s a little more intense.”

The poet laureate appointment lasts for one year and may be renewed for a second year. If Harjo’s appointment is renewed, she will spend her second year on a project that focuses on the history and tradition of Native American poetry.

Meanwhile, Harjo is enjoying some of the surprises of her newfound celebrity. She was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in the garden of Winfrey’s Hawaii home. And she got to present Cherokee actor Wes Studi with an honorary Oscar at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences annual Governors Awards.

“I think what has been most exciting for me is it has opened such a door for Natives, for people of my tribe, for women, for New Mexico and Oklahoma,” Harjo says. “It helps people feel good about who they are and where they are. And we need to hear all the stories, everybody’s stories.

We need to stop and listen and take a look at others and ourselves. If we look deep within ourselves we will see deep within others.” ❂

Books: 1979 What Moon Drove Me To This?

1983 She had some horses 1989 Secrets From the Center of the World 1990 In Mad Love and War 1994 The Woman Who Fell From the Sky 1996 The Spiral of Memory 2000 A Map to the Next World 2002 The Good Luck Cat 2002 How We Became Human 2009 For A Girl Becoming 2011 Soul Talk, Song Language: Conversations With Joy Harjo 2012 Crazy Brave 2015 Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings 2019 Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light 2019 An American Sunrise Photo: Shawn Miller

We’re at a crucial point of history and poetry always emerges at those moments.”

Harjo, who jokingly refers to herself as having dual citizenship — in Oklahoma and New Mexico — takes on the role of ambassador for poetry and storytelling enthusiastically. She still remembers getting her first poetry collection on her eighth birthday, “The Golden Books Family Treasury of Poetry,” and discovering William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Lewis Carroll. She loved the words of Charles Dickens and the way “A Tale of Two Cities” could bring to life a distant world, while the rhythms of Creek rabbit stories could spark cultural memory.

“I remember learning the lesson in second grade — what do human beings need to live? They need food, clothing and shelter. But we’re not just bodies,” Harjo says. “We need to feed our spirit, we need to feed our minds and continue to feed them. It’s not just about going to school and getting your degree. It’s also important that the education never ends. We’re here to continue to learn. And what accompanies us on this journey of being a human being is poetry. It’s a way to speak beyond words.”

Part of her ambassadorship is to demystify poetry and remind Americans it is all around us.

“We always turn to poetry in times of grief and joy and moments of transformation like birth and death and marriage and falling in love and falling out of love,” Harjo says. “It’s not something you need to be a specialist in to understand or to write. I remember being turned off to poetry in school because we’d be asked, ‘What does this poem mean?’ as opposed to, ‘How does this poem speak to you?’

If we approach it that way it belongs to everyone, not just to academics.”

Warner, Harjo’s colleague from UNM who has remained a close friend, said the Library of Congress selection committee looks for a poet laureate who resonates for the moment in history.

“I feel like Joy was a really wise choice for this period of time, because she really does try to bring people together,” Warner says. “She looks very closely at whatever comes under her gaze and she writes what

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Black and white photos courtesy of New Mexico Digital Collection.

Color photos: Roberto E. Rosales (’96 BFA, ’14 MA)

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Being Drawn...

A pivotal semester in 1970 shaped students’ lives and the future of the University

By Leslie Linthicum

O

n April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia by U.S. troops, setting off a wave of Vietnam War protests at college campuses across the nation, including at UNM. On May 4, four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University, and later in the day actress and anti-war activist

Jane Fonda appeared on UNM’s campus to rally the anti-war protestors.

In the following four days, students marched on President Ferrel Heady’s house and clashed with ROTC students. On May 6, classes were suspended and students took over the Student Union Building. In the next two days there were more demonstrations, culminating on

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May 8 in the peaceful arrest of 131 students inside the SUB and the simultaneous bayoneting of 11 students, alumni, news media and onlookers by the New Mexico National Guard outside the building.

Fifty years later, those few days in May remain touchstones for alumni who were involved and an important part of UNM’s institutional history.

But other events in 1970 were as important to UNM. Student activism that

You don’t expect to go out taking pictures and run into someone who wants to kill you.

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John Dressman

year led to the formation of Afro American Studies, Chicano Studies, Native American Studies and Women’s Studies.

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Taylor Spence, a UNM teaching fellow who has taught a history of the University course since 2017, is part of a campus team planning events this spring on the anniversary of the May 8 conflict to commemorate and unpack the events of 1970 and to mark the 50-year anniversaries of the ethnic studies programs.

“Fifty years is a long time,” Spence says, “and so much was going on that had an effect on what the institution is today.”

The formation of ethnic studies programs encouraged even more student and faculty diversity and helped UNM in its mission as a minorityserving institution, Spence says.

And while conflict is often painful to look back on, Spence says examining the rough bits only strengthens institutions.

“Introspection always has an element of healing to it,” Spence says. “You can’t gloss over the tough stuff.”

John Dressman (’68 BAED) was back on campus visiting his girlfriend, Linda Galiskis (’70 BFA), for the weekend when National Guardsmen showed up on campus. She saw the troops lining up, holding their rifles with fixed bayonets toward the sky, and said, “I don’t like the looks of this. I’m getting out of here.”

Dressman, who taught speech and debate at St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe and was an amateur photographer, saw an opportunity for dramatic photos. He found a good vantage point on the raised ledge on the east side of the SUB and aimed his lens at the approaching troops.

“When I turned to take their picture, two came up and rushed me,” he remembers. “I jumped off the ledge and when I got down two more attacked me. I pushed a rifle away and turned and that’s when I got the bayonet.

It felt like being punched hard.” Then the blood started spurting out, like from a garden hose.

When Linda found him at the hospital he was in critical condition with a severed femoral artery in his left thigh. Dressman remembers a nurse taking his blood pressure saying, “Oh, shit,” and then he lost consciousness.

When he came to, he learned the extent of the damage. A few days later cardiovascular surgeon W. Sterling Edwards had saved his leg, but his sciatic nerve had been nearly severed. He had received a lot of blood and would find out later that the transfusions had given him hepatitis C. He got out of the hospital two weeks later and was on crutches for months, learning to walk again.

And there was the emotional toll: He was angry, so he threw himself into activity. He got a master’s degree, and putting the anger behind him, taught seven more years, built four

houses and remodeled another and with Then Dressman smiles again and Linda created four businesses. Dressman, recounts his experience when his number along with five others who were stabbed came up and he reported to the draft board on campus, took part in an unsuccessful in Santa Fe for his physical. He was still lawsuit against the National Guard and on crutches and the doctor asked what New Mexico State Police. happened. “I was bayoneted by the U.S. Dressman is a fit 72-year-old today, Army,” Dressman replied. married to Linda since 1971, and enjoying an We sat down and active retirement. He has a breezy personality the cops came in and and talks matter-of-factly tapped us on the shoulder about his injury, but tears up when he considers and we got up. how close he came to

Kathleen McNerney dying at age 22.

“Real close,” he says, and wipes away tears. “You don’t “I was already pretty far to the left,” expect to go out taking pictures and says Kathleen McNerney (’67 BA, ’69 run into someone who wants MA, ’77 PhD) when the UNM campus to kill you.” erupted in demonstrations following the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. She had protested at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in the summer of 1968, then returned to UNM to complete her master’s degree and was a teaching assistant in Romance languages in 1970 while she pursued a PhD. “The campus was agitated and there were demonstrations all the time,” McNerney recalls.

As campus unrest simmered and students went on strike, the SUB became the gathering spot for students to plan and organize. On May 8,

”

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following the march downtown, the SUB was filled with hundreds of students.

“They ordered us to leave,” she says. “It was the Student Union, it was our building, so we said no. And they sent the police.”

McNerney’s first (and to date only) arrest was uneventful. “We sat down and the cops came in and tapped us on the shoulder and we got up. Nobody wanted to fight.”

The women were fingerprinted and taken to the drunk tank to spend the night. They were unaware of the violence that erupted outside the SUB until they were released the following morning.

McNerney is one of the organizers of on-campus events commemorating the 1970 SUB events and she still has the arrest log of the 131 people ­— mostly students — arrested on May 8.

When she looks back at her time at UNM, she says. “I got a good education and I was glad for it.” It led to a career researching Catalan women writers and teaching at West Virginia University.

A Fulbright scholarship to study in Spain was pulled because of her arrest record, which she is still bitter about today. And she believes campus events might have unspooled differently if President Heady had agreed to meet with Jane Fonda and allowed students to continue meeting in the SUB. But, she says, “I don’t have any regrets.

I think it was something we had to do.

And we did stop the war. I think every movement I’ve participated in has pushed me further to the left. I’ve marched many times since then.”

Stephen Part (’68 BA, ’84 MA) hates it when the word “riot” is used to describe what happened outside the SUB.

I refer to it as the ‘National Guard incursion.’

”

Stephen Part

“There was no riot,” Part, a retired high school teacher, says today. “I refer to it as the ‘National Guard incursion.’ They are the ones who went wild. I was outraged by what they did.”

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Part had an undergraduate degree from Part stayed on at UNM for one more UNM and was working toward a master’s in semester and then left college to go into 1970. He was a photographer and the music the music business. He later returned to reviewer for the Daily Lobo as protests rumbled complete a master’s in education. He remains across campus in the first week in May. angry about that Friday — but at then-Gov. “As things began to build,” Part says, David Cargo, who called the National Guard “it was all hands on deck.” to campus, not at UNM officials.

He was sent to the National Guard “I still think UNM was doing the right armory in Albuquerque as rumors flew thing (by insisting the Guard not be armed that the National Guard was being sent with bullets) and the politicians were doing to campus. With nothing doing there he the wrong thing. It certainly radicalized my returned to campus and moved toward politics more.” the SUB as New Mexico State Police and Kirk Gittings (’73 BA) was a budding Army trucks began pulling onto the mall. photographer and a fledgling hippie in Part borrowed a helmet and wrote 1970. He was in a fraternity, Sigma Chi, but PRESS on it. found his politics leaning more to the left, “I went to the east side of the SUB by Mesa Vista We felt like we were Hall and I looked down the mall and on the north doing the brave thing, side there were all these being willing people,” Part remembers.

“People with their dogs, to get arrested. students carrying books.

Kirk Gittings And on the south side these guys were getting out of the trucks with gas especially after the free-speech controversy masks on and their guns with bayonets.” on campus about the infamous “Love-Lust Part started taking photos and saw Poem” that was taught in freshman English student athlete Harold “Sonny” Flowers, Jr., and led to the suspensions of two teaching who was using crutches, knocked down. assistants. On May 4, 1970, Gittings went to When someone bent down to try to help see Jane Fonda on campus. him get up, he was slashed in the arm by a guardsman’s bayonet. Part moved in to help “I remember her saying, ‘Really, you’re concerned about a pornographic poem stop the bleeding and he was jabbed in the when there’s this war going on?’” back by a bayonet.

He can divide his time at UNM as before “I reached back there under my shirt and Jane Fonda and after.

I look at my hand and there’s blood,” Part “For myself and a lot of other people it was remembers. He was taken to what was then kind of this wake-up call when she came. And Bernalillo County Medical Center (now things really broke loose, literally the next day,” University Hospital) for he says. “I became very active very quickly.” stitches for a four-inch Gittings stopped going to class and began deep wound just to the screen-printing protest signs. He marched left of his spine.

The next day he went to to the president’s house on campus and the Daily Lobo to develop to Robinson Park downtown. He started hanging out at the Student Union Building, his film and print his which had become a hub of campus protest pictures. A three-photo activity. He trailed ROTC students as they sequence of Flowers drilled on campus, mocking their efforts falling, being helped by walking in step with them and carrying up and surrounded by Guardsmen was banners bearing the likeness of Ho Chi Minh. published on the Daily Lobo’s front page.

Flowers, who left UNM and got his degree “It was really heady. You felt like you were really caught up in something,” he says. “And from the University of Colorado Boulder, you were very aware that the same thing was is an attorney in Denver.

”

going on at campuses all over the country, so you felt like a part of this big social movement that was going to have a real impact.”

On May 8, after the march to Robinson Park and back, Gittings heard a rumor that the Albuquerque police and the National Guard were going to clear out the SUB. He thought about whether he was willing to be arrested and decided to stay and take a stand.

“We felt like we were doing the brave thing, being willing to get arrested,” Gittings says.

An Albuquerque police officer tapped him on the shoulder, helped to his feet and led him to a school bus for the ride to jail. He and the 113 others were released the next morning, completely unaware of the violence that had occurred outside the SUB. The worst part of the ordeal for him was the jail food.

When he got back to campus, Gittings learned of the National Guard violence and discovered that the air had been let out of the protest balloon.

“The real radicals were inside getting arrested peacefully and the non-radicals who had left the building were outside getting bayoneted for doing nothing,” he says. “That’s an oversimplification, but the irony of that was astonishing and shocking.”

Gittings managed to pass his classes for the semester and went to Tierra Amarilla in northern New Mexico to volunteer with VISTA. He graduated and eventually built a career as a nationally known landscape and architectural photographer.

Students called a strike and took over the SUB on May 6. Layden’s chance came on May 8, when she joined a march downtown and then returned to the SUB and decided to join more than 100 other students and teaching assistants in violating a court order to vacate the building.

“The time came to decide whether to leave or stay, and this was my moment,” Layden says. “Have you gone to jail for justice? This was my time to say I had. I’m proud of it. I believe we stopped the war.”

The arrest process was peaceful and uneventful and Layden spent the night with the 30 or so women arrested in the jail’s drunk tank. Released and charges dropped, Layden was put on social probation back at UNM and returned that fall to continue her PhD. What did it all mean? For Layden the arrest was a defining moment.

“For some of us,” she says, “UNM is the bust and the SUB is our bellwether.”

She went on to pursue a career in academia, teaching management and specializing in research on violence.

Looking back, Gittings regrets harassing ROTC students. “I should have been more understanding of their point of view and more understanding of them,” he says. “I don’t think that’s how you win over people’s hearts and minds.”

But he’s glad he stood I was energized and up against the war and has no animus against involved and I wanted UNM for how the protests to do something were handled.

“I loved my time at to protest the war.

UNM,” Gittings says. He

Dianne Layden taught photography at UNM for 11 years and was honored by the Alumni Association with its “I am a child of the ‘60s. I was a civil rights Zia award. activist, and I still am,” Layden says. “That “I remember thinking when that happened, whole era was terribly exciting and we felt what a wonderful umbrella academia can be we could change the world. And I still do.” ❂ for free thought,” Gittings says.

Dianne Layden (’83 PhD), a 27-year-old teaching assistant in American Studies, often held classes outside in the spring of 1970 and talked about the escalating war in Vietnam with her students. Outside of class, she spent time in the SUB, where they served a good cheap breakfast and the air swirled with discussions of how the University leadership should address the war.

“The news was awful,” Layden recalls.

“There was a body count every night. I was energized and involved and I wanted to do something to protest the war.”

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Geology Grad Looks For Life on Jupiter

By Benjamin Gleisser

Photo: JHU/APL

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f there is life on Europa, the ice-covered moon of Jupiter, Johns Hopkins University planetary scientist Charles “Karl” Hibbitts (’98 BS) is determined to find it.

Hibbitts is the deputy lead scientist developing the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), an infrared spectrometer that will be aboard the Europa Clipper, an exploratory NASA spacecraft due to launch in 2023.

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As the Clipper makes its approximately 45 flybys around Europa — some as close as 15.5 miles from the surface — the ultra-sensitive MISE will use an infrared scanner to look for the remnant signatures of microbes and other debris that may have erupted onto Europa’s surface from its liquid water mantle.

The device is being built through a collaboration led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., with the Johns Hopkins

University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) under a NASA contract.

Europa fascinates Hibbitts because it’s possible that some form of life could exist in that cold, faraway world. In 2003, NASA’s Gallileo exploratory spacecraft discovered a saltwater ocean beneath the Jovian moon as well as an ice crust that covers a subsurface global ocean that’s about 60 miles deep. In fact, there is more water on Europa than in all the oceans on Earth.

“Where we find water, we find life,” Hibbitts says.

Even though Europa’s temperature is about -260 degrees at its equator, “Europa’s icy shell may protect any fragile life in the ocean beneath it, similar to the way our atmosphere protects us from harmful cosmic rays that can’t penetrate it.”

Hibbitts doesn’t expect the Clipper mission to find fish swimming in Europa’s ocean — or any intelligent life. “The mission isn’t so much to discover life, but to explore and determine conditions that are possible for hosting life,” Hibbitts says. “We don’t exactly know how life evolved on Earth, and perhaps the mission can show us how life evolved on other bodies.”

The Clipper is not a return mission; like Galileo, the Clipper will crash into Jupiter when it has exhausted its exploratory functions. Why scuttle the multi-billion dollar spacecraft? Star Trek fans will understand “The Prime Directive” — Starfleet Command’s guiding principle that prohibits humanity from interfering with the development of alien civilizations.

“We don’t want even the remotest chance of infecting Europa with an Earth-like microbe” that may have attached itself to the Clipper,” Hibbitts says. “If, based on data from this mission, further research is warranted, and we get a better understanding of the moon’s icy surface, we could send another mission to possibly land on Europa to look more closely for life.”

At Johns Hopkins, Hibbitts is working with three other scientists and about 35 engineers that have at least a partial role in developing the MISE. “I don’t manage the engineers, but as a scientist, I provide guidance and requirements in regards to instrument capabilities and performance,”

Photo: JHU/NASA

he says. “But ultimately, the success or failure of the APL portion of the instrument does rest with me.”

Helping to further our understanding of the universe is a planetary geologist’s dream vocation. “I love the fact I get to do work that’s more than just interesting to me, but may also impact humanity’s exploration of our solar system,” he says.

As a youngster growing up in Nashville, Hibbitts loved science, the original Star Trek series, and was an avid rock and mineral collector. “I may even still have some of the samples I collected back then,” he says with a laugh.

After earning a BA in physics in 1989 from Cornell University, he served in the Marine Corps, and was stationed in Japan during the Gulf War. After his discharge, he studied geology at UNM, then received a master’s in 1998 and a PhD in 2001 in geology and geophysics from the University of Hawaii.

“Studying at UNM gave me the opportunity to rekindle my passion for rock-hounding, which, sadly, I don’t have much opportunity to do anymore,” he says.

“One thing I miss from my time at UNM

is the green chile cookoffs. And these days, I still enjoy attending UNM functions in Washington, D.C.” Staring into a clear night sky gives Hibbitts a sense of peace, and as he gazes into the infinite sea of stars, he wonders about the possibility of intelligent life on other planets — and whether a planetary scientist on another world is perhaps staring back.

“There are a lot more planets in the universe than we will ever discover, or can even imagine,” he says. “Planetary systems are very common around stars, and given the great number of stars there are, there’s a great chance that life can exist on some of them.”

His greatest hope is that one day, his children or his children’s children will explore the universe.

“I’d like my children to have the opportunity to explore outer space,” says Hibbitts. “I think it’s very possible, the way that so many nations and even commercial enterprises are discovering space exploration. It’s inevitable that humans will live off-planet in the near future.” ❂

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Photo: Malik Daniels Photography

Kwane Stewart, DVM, and vet tech Genesis Rendon take care of the pets of the homeless.

Meet The Street Vet

Kwane Stewart takes veterinary medicine to where the homeless live

By Leslie Linthicum

D

ressed in blue scrubs, Kwane Stewart (’93 BS) bends down to take a look at Mamas, a squirming two-year-old terrier mix.

“Hey baby,” Stewart says, scratching the dog’s head. After a quick exam, Stewart discovers that stitches left over from the dog’s spay surgery at the animal shelter where she was adopted haven’t dissolved and are becoming covered in belly skin.

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The veterinarian decides they must be removed immediately and he pulls surgical scissors out of his medical kit. While Mamas’ owner holds the wiggly pup, Stewart squints into the sun and gets to work.

“I’m not usually removing stitches out on the street, so this is a little different for me,” Stewart says.

Stitches removed, Stewart turns to Desiree, Mamas’ owner, gestures toward her

tent and belongings on the sidewalk, and asks, “If you don’t mind my asking, what brought you here?”

She was following her dreams to California after a divorce and when she lost her place to stay, Desiree joined the ranks of the homeless in Los Angeles where she has been living for a year and a half.

“This is my emotional support,” Desiree says, running her hand over Mamas. “This is my baby.”

Photo: Two Sons Productions

Stewart has volunteered for more than a decade offering free veterinary care to the animals of homeless people in California.

With medical bag in hand, he walks parks and Skid Rows and ventures under highway bridges where he approaches homeless people with pets and asks the simple question: Can I take a look at your pet?

He calls himself The Street Vet and, despite a high-level career in veterinary medicine, he counts caring for the oftenneglected pets of the homeless as his most rewarding work.

“The first time I did it, it was like a light went off,” Stewart says. “I realized this is a population that needs the help the most.”

Stewart apologizes for his voice being a little scratchy. He’s getting over a cold and earlier this morning he appeared by satellite feed on an episode of “The Dr. Oz Show,” where he talked about his street work.

One in four people living on the streets has a pet, and without resources to meet their own basic needs, veterinary care for their animals is rarely met. Sometimes

Stewart finds major problems that require a clinic visit, but often he can take care of the pets right on the sidewalk.

“Vaccines, fleas, ear problems. You can actually do a lot out of a little medical bag,” Stewart says. “I just show up and introduce myself and do what I can.”

As his street volunteer work grew, Stewart teamed up with his brother, Albuquerque-based film editor Ian Stewart (’02 BBA), to develop a reality television show. They taped 12 30-minute episodes in which Stewart and a vet tech take to the streets in L.A., San Diego, Sacramento and around the San Francisco Bay and help dogs, cats and birds belonging to homeless people.

“The Street Vet” airs in more than 30 countries, including Canada, Hong Kong, Scandinavia and in eastern and central Europe. A distribution team is shopping the show around in the U.S. While episodes feature routine pet care and emergencies, a good portion of screen time centers on the pet owners.

As he does with Desiree — the owner of terrier Mamas — Stewart casually draws out their stories.

“That was the intent going in,” Stewart says. “I knew, having done the street work prior to starting the filming, that the fascinating part, as much or more so than the pets, was the people behind the pets and how they wound up on the streets and their stories. It’s a whole other world that people like us are really not familiar with and I wanted to dive into that.”

The Albuquerque native and former Lobo hurdler has been a practicing veterinarian since 1997, when he graduated from Colorado State University and hit the road for sunny Southern California.

“I always had this dream of living near the beach,” Stewart says. “After growing up in the dusty desert, I wanted to be near the water. So as soon as I graduated veterinary school I packed up my old car and drove straight to San Diego.”

He quickly found a job in a clinic there and embarked on a fast-track career. He focused on emergency work and critical care and before long was the chief medical officer for the national chain VETCO. When divorce compelled Stewart to relocate to Modesto to be near his young son, a different door opened. Stewart

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Photos: Two Sons Productions

became county veterinarian in Stanislaus County, overseeing care in the county animal shelter.

When he arrived in 2007, the county had one of the highest euthanasia rates in the country and a 35-year-old shelter crowded with twice as many animals as it was built to house.

“Probably one of the things I’m most proud of in all of my career is we reversed the euthanasia rate, we increased adoptions and we got a brand-new state-of-the-art shelter built,” says Stewart, who left in 2013 to take the job of chief veterinary officer for the animal welfare nonprofit American Humane and director of the organization’s No Animals Were Harmed program.

Founded in 1877, American Humane is based in Washington, D.C., but has a large office in Studio City, Calif. In addition to auditing farms, ranches and zoos, the organization works with film and television productions to ensure that during the course of filming no harm is done to animal actors.

While most of Stewart’s time was spent behind a desk managing the 50 animal safety representatives that monitor productions on sets all around the world, two or three times a month

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he would travel to a location to oversee animal treatment.

The program was launched in the 1930s after a stunt horse was driven off a cliff to its death so the director of a Western could get the shot he wanted.

“We’ve come a long ways from a lot of the overt abuse and mistakes that were made while having animals participate in films,” Stewart says. “They were almost disposable decades ago. They were props.”

During his six years at American Humane, Stewart looked for the less blatant mistakes made with animals in film today — not giving animals enough rest or behavioral enrichment or putting them at unnecessary risk in stunts.

If everything went well, Stewart was the one who signed off on the production and gave it the “No Animals Were Harmed” stamp of approval in the end credits.

While Stewart was looking out for movie animals, he kept up his clinical skills by taking some night shifts at the Beverly Oaks Animal Hospital in Sherman Oaks, Calif., but he found he missed the street work.

“That’s a stark contrast — working in Hollywood and being behind a desk and wearing a suit to walking the streets and seeing all these homeless people,” he says.

Laurie Leach, DVM, at Beverly Oaks was taken with Stewart’s commitment to the homeless and their pets that she has taken in many of the more complicated cases, especially those requiring surgery, and donated the clinic’s services.

“I think there’s a need for what he’s doing,” Leach says. “It’s been an honor to help Dr. Stewart in his efforts and to get to know his clients and their pets.”

The Stewart brothers began taping “Street Vet” in 2018. As he became more of a public persona, publicity and endorsements and sponsorships created conflicts with his work at Animal Humane, so Stewart quit last year.

“It really felt like it was time,” Stewart says. “I thought, ‘This is probably the universe telling me it’s time to move on and pursue this full time.’”

Since then Stewart has made some TV appearances and wouldn’t shy away from becoming the Dr. Oz of the animal kingdom, but he’s more committed to continuing to be Street Vet than becoming Celebrity Vet. “It’s obviously a platform where I can shine a light on homelessness, which is such a big issue in our country right now,” Stewart says. ❂

Coming Full Circle Double alumna finds a home in Hodgin Hall

Connie Beimer (’76 BA, ’79 MPA) meets with Alumni Association staff as she begins her new job as interim vice president of Alumni Relations.

Photos: Roberto E. Rosales (’96 BFA, ’14 MA)

I

f it wasn’t for that cute Datsun hatchback, Connie Beimer might have transferred to New Mexico State University and never become a Lobo.

As a UNM freshman, Beimer considered transferring to experience life outside Albuquerque, where she grew up. She left school, got a job and saved. But faced with the choice between using that money to pay for room and board in Las Cruces or living at home and getting a car, well, Beimer chose the Datsun and UNM. She never regretted it and, following careers in business, media and government, she returned to UNM 15 years ago to serve in a number of roles, most recently as the director of the Office of Government and Community Relations.

By Leslie Linthicum

And now Beimer has a new gig that perfectly marries her University experience with her alumni spirit. In December she was named interim vice president of Alumni Relations, replacing Dana Allen, who left to work in alumni relations at the University of California, Davis.

In announcing Beimer’s appointment, President Garnett S. Stokes said, “Her energy and ability to connect people to their passions will be a valuable asset to our alumni and the University.”

Beimer graduated in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation and completed a master’s in public administration in 1979.

She’s a mid-distance runner, completing half marathons and regularly burning it up the Pino trail in the Sandia Mountains. And she’s a passionate alumna who has served on

the Alumni Association’s board of directors, including a year as president, and chair of the Homecoming Committee.

Beimer sees her role as shoring up the foundation of the Alumni Association so it is poised to meet the needs of UNM alumni and their alma mater.

“I think the key thing is to ensure the structure of the organization so it can meet the goals of the Alumni Association board and the University president,” Beimer says.

Coming full circle, from UNM freshman to UNM staff and now a corner office in the Alumni Association’s Hodgin Hall, isn’t lost on Beimer.

“I’ve been granted an opportunity that is unique and special,” she says. “It’s phenomenal and it’s rare and I treasure it.” ❂

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Daniel Villanueva (’15 BA)

Photos: Roberto E. Rosales (’96 BFA, ’14 MA)

What’s loud and loves Lobo basketball?

It’s Soundpack!

By Leslie Linthicum

T

he Pit is legendary for its mile-high elevation that leaves visiting teams bent over and gasping for breath and for its decibel rating, which can drown out coaches and frazzle the most dialed-in free throw shooter.

Instrumental in bringing da noise to every home basketball game are 30 to 40 crazed fans perched on the benches in the student section on the arena’s north side. If there’s an unofficial Sixth Man that contributes to Lobo success, it just might be the members of Soundpack, the tight pep band that gets the crowd going with brassy beat-heavy renditions of everything from The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” to the inevitable “Hey Song” and “YMCA.” The band is made up of students and alumni who not only play in the pocket but

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have grown into a beloved cheering squad that brings its unique brand of goofy humor to even the most tense rivalry.

“How to describe Soundpack,” says Elizabeth Martin (’15 BA), who played mellophone for the band during her four years at UNM and continues to join the brass section as an alumna. “It’s like your cool uncle that goes to all of your games and cheers really loud for you.”

Ah, yes, loud.

“I like to think of it as a big tower of power,” says Daniel Villanueva (’15 BA), who played drums — a critical element of the Soundpack sound — as an undergrad and is one of the band’s two graduate assistant conductors this year as he pursues a master’s degree in music.

“We’re loud. We’re big and boisterous.

But we really pride ourselves on how good we sound.”

Villanueva likes to think of Soundpack as a tight gig band — one that happens to perform in a basketball arena and gleefully jeer air balls in between songs.

Any Lobo fan knows the Soundpack cheers.

When a Lobo makes a three-pointer it’s, “Oh, baby, a triple!”

On free throws the band is on its feet making Lobo fingers and whooping.

There’s the synchronized “Hey” shout.

The chant of “You, you, you” on opponents’ fouls. And the one and only call and response of “Is that not the winning team?

Yes that is the winning team!”

Chad Simons, associate professor of music and director of UNM’s athletic bands, oversees Soundpack and its larger

sibling the Spirit Marching Band. The marching band is comprised of 100-150 members and has its own personality when it cheers for football. Soundpack is made up of 90 to 100 marching band members, with 30 to 40 appearing at any one of the 40 or so home basketball games each season.

Soundpack is set up that way to keep a rolling quorum of players while not having band responsibilities take over students’ lives, Simons says.

About those cheers, jeers and chants in between Soundpack songs, Simons says they are left to the musicians to dream up and execute.

“We have worked hard to develop a culture in the bands,” he says. “I like cleverness and I encourage it. Never vulgarity. Never meanness. And if you allow college students to be clever, really interesting things happen. There are some rabid fans in Soundpack. We cheer for the Lobos but we never cheer against the other team.”

Unless that other team is trying to concentrate on sinking a free throw at the north basket and then, well, there’s going to be some noise.

“We point in the air. We clap our hands.

We shout ‘brick!’” That’s Carina Melero, (’19 BA) who just graduated with a degree in secondary education. She plays either the baritone or the euphonium (imagine

something between a small tuba and a gigantic trumpet) in Soundpack’s low brass section.

And before she joined the band, she wouldn’t have known a free throw from a layup.

“I didn’t know anything about basketball,” Melero says. “My first game, I was just so confused about what was going on.”

But she has developed into a basketball fan and especially a Lobo fan. Now the chants, some of which are passed down from year to year and taught to incoming band members, some of which are made up on the spur of the moment, make sense.

And she and some members of Soundpack even get together and watch away games on TV. “We’re huge fans. We’re there to support the teams and play really good and really loud.”

Melero lights up when the conductor calls for Blink-182’s “Come Out and Play” (“You gotta keep ‘em separated…”) or Boogie Shoes by KC and The Sunshine Band (“I want to put on my, my, my, my, my boogie shoes…”) Her favorite song to play is Edgar Winters’ “Free Ride” when Soundpack members put on a horn waving and dancing show.

For Melero, who started band in the sixth grade and participated in concert band, marching band and jazz band at Del Norte High School, getting to play in

the marching band and Soundpack has allowed her to continue to perform as a non-music major and to show school spirit while also earning $20 a game that goes toward tuition and fees.

“I really love the environment,” she says.

“We’re super enthusiastic and just really into the game.”

Conductor Villanueva considers Soundpack the Sixth Man on the court, but he is most proud of its inventive 60song repertoire and professional chops.

The band plays about 20 songs during each game and the conductor chooses the music to respond to what’s happening on the court.

“No. 1 for us is sounding really great,” he says.

The band gets together three evenings before the Fall semester starts to rehearse the songbook and after that playing together at games keeps the band tight.

Martin, who by day has an internship in computer programming, hopes to continue to play with Soundpack for years post-graduation, because she loves playing in an ensemble and because of the level of hilarity that each Soundpack gig provides.

“I’m a pretty quiet person,” Martin says.

“But the band is like my family and with them I can kind of be crazy and it’s OK. I want to do it as long as I can. I love it too much to stop.” ❂

“No. 1 for us is sounding really great” Carina Melero (’19 BA)

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UNM PEOPLE CHANGING WORLDS

A Love for Learning and Research Alumni Couple’s Gifts Benefit University Libraries and Students

By Hilary Mayall Jetty

Mary Lois and Jim Hulsman (seated) pose with the 2019 undergraduate research award winners during the Hulsman Undergraduate Research Award program, held April 2019 in Zimmerman Library. Photo: Patricia Campbell

W

ith the proliferation of the internet, and cafés on nearly every corner, one could assume that libraries have become nearly empty echo chambers. Yet Zimmerman Library in the heart of the UNM campus is a lively space, with hundreds of students engaged

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in academic and creative pursuits at any given time.

Luisa Pennington might be described as a library super user. “Nearly every weekday I’ll swing by Zimmerman and spend at least an hour there,” she said. Pennington, who graduated

in December 2019 with a double major in English and Environmental Communication, appreciates the library’s unique atmosphere.

“It’s about mindset,” she explained.

“You can be at home and have a twopage memo to write, but it’ll take hours

because there are all kinds of distractions.

Zimmerman is set up for success. It’s a lownoise environment, there’s easy access to resources, and they have charging stations.”

A paper she wrote on emotional aspects in Shakespearean sonnets earned Pennington a cash gift, and now resides in the UNM Digital Repository, thanks to an award funded by Jim and Mary Lois Hulsman. They are alumni and longtime educators who value the importance of the University Libraries to the UNM community and scholars worldwide.

The competitive Hulsman Undergraduate Library Research Award recognizes excellence in the use of the University Libraries’ resources.

“It was an unexpected honor,” Pennington said, “that even as an undergrad, my work could receive recognition at a university level.”

The Hulsmans also contributed to the creation of The Commons at Zimmerman Library, helping to transform the lobby area into a space for students to study and gather in groups. “We wanted to sustain it as a comfortable, attractive, workable place for students, so they’d want to be there,” said Mary Lois.

The Hulsmans are revered members of the Albuquerque community. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Health and Physical Education from the College of Education, where Mary Lois received her Master of Arts degree in Guidance and Counseling. He went on to serve as the beloved head basketball coach at Albuquerque High School; she eventually retired as chair of the guidance department at Del Norte High School, and then began a new career as a taxation specialist. Together they shared half a century of involvement with students.

Jim’s involvement in coaching track, baseball, football and basketball spans decades. He knew many athletes who

went on to be Lobo stars and community leaders, and taught the theory of basketball at UNM. He amassed an impressive body of research, which now resides at the UNM Center for Southwest Research in Zimmerman Library as the Jim Hulsman Albuquerque High School Sports History Collection. When he retired in 2003, he was honored with the UNM Alumni Association’s Rodey Award.

Education is of great importance to the Hulsmans, and their gifts to the UNM College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences (CUL&LS) reflect this.

“Because we’re interested in sports history, we established the Jim and Mary Lois Friday Hulsman Endowment for Southwest Sports History and Acquisition,” Mary Lois said. “Then we funded another endowment just for other acquisitions important to the library.”

In addition, they support an Outstanding Student Employee Award, recognizing the vital services that student workers provide to all areas and functions of the UNM Libraries and the CUL&LS. “Jim and Mary Lois Hulsman have been extraordinarily generous,” said CUL&LS Dean Richard Clement. “They are dedicated to supporting students in their engagement in research in the libraries.

There is no more fitting commitment for these two Lobos than supporting these young employees and researchers.”

“I’ll go up to Zimmerman Library and just wander through it,” Jim remarked. “I’ll observe the students and workers there, and they are very conscientious. They all want to learn, and the library opens doors to education. If we can help open those doors, that’s marvelous.” ❂ If you’d like to contribute to the Hulsman Fund for the College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences, please visit https:// www.unmfund.org/hulsman

1990s Simon Arkell (’91 BA) was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor.

David Bunting (’91 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, was named Best Lawyers in America’s Lawyer of the Year for 2020.

Maria O’Brien (’91 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was named a New Mexico Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation.

She was also recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the area of Water Law. Cameron M. Weber (’92 MBA) recently produced his 25th television show for the Brooklyn Free Speech Media Network.

The monthly show on libertarian political economy is called “Hardfire TV” and is also available on YouTube.

Sonya K. Chavez (’93 MPA) was appointed by the White House as United States Marshal for the District of New Mexico and was named to the director’s U.S. Marshal Advisory Committee. She is New Mexico’s first female U.S. Marshal.

Jeffrey Croasdell (’93 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America as Albuquerque Lawyer of the Year for mass tort/class actions litigation defense and for product liability litigation defense.

Stan N. Harris (’93 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was selected by Best Lawyers in America as 2020 Litigation-Land Use and Zoning Lawyer of the Year in Albuquerque.

Stan N. Harris

Michelle A. Hernandez (’93 BA), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, served as general convention chair of the 2019 International Association of Defense Counsel Meeting. She also served on the Host Committee for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce National Convention.

Michelle was selected as an honoree for the Albuquerque Business First Diverse Business Leader Awards.

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Shelf Life

Books by UNM Alumni

Anyone who has a fondness for the unique University of New Mexico

Chaco Culture National Historic Park, known familiarly as Chaco

campus surely enjoyed Only in New Mexico: An Architectural History

Canyon, isn’t an easy place to get to or to navigate. Outside of the

of the University of New Mexico. Now Ann Hooker Clarke has turned

Ancestral Puebloan ruins connected by a Park Service loop road,

the manuscript left by her late father, Van Dorn Hooker (’92 JD),

the park spans more than 50 square miles of rugged land slashed by

into a companion — Memories, Memorials, and Monuments (Park

arroyos and dotted with remnants of ancient habitation. In Hiking New

Place Publications, 2019). With black-and-white photos paired with

Mexico’s Chaco Canyon: The Trails, the Ruins, the History (Sunstone

complete and well-documented descriptions, the former University

Press, 2019), James C. Wilson (’82 PhD) helps campers and day-trippers

Architect traced the history behind every building on campus. (Who is

get the most out of a visit to this one-of-a-kind destination. Relying on

Castetter Hall named for? Former Biology Department Chair Edward

his decades of exploration of Chaco on foot, Wilson, a former professor

F. Castetter.) And he extended the history to smaller rooms, plaques,

of journalism at the University of Cincinnati, guides Chaco visitors

monuments and even trees. (The large Scotch pine outside the College

through the popular tour of “Downtown Chaco” — the well-visited

of Nursing’s main entrance was planted in memory of Diane Lynn

Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl, as well as the less-visited pictographs

Adamo (’84 BSN), who died in a car accident shortly after graduation.)

and ruins of the West Mesa and rigorous hike to the Wijiji Great House.

You may remember Ollie Tecolote, the owl who wears tennis shoes and

So you’ve always dreamed of living in an off-the-grid straw bale home in

a straw hat whose parents sent him to Chimayo to live with his nana

New Mexico and a listing comes up in Santa Fe County that’s affordable.

and attend her Wisdom School. In No More Bullies! (Museum of New

You sign the lease and get ready for a life of “solitude and beautiful

Mexico Press, 2019) author Rudolfo Anaya (’63 BA, ’69 MA, ’72 MA)

vistas.” What could go wrong? In Utilities Nearby (Species Spectrum,

brings Ollie back in a sequel to his “The Owl in the Straw Hat.” Also

2019) Jes Marquez (’04 BA) describes the pitfalls of living on the mesa.

titled “No Mas Bullies!,” this hardcover children’s book is translated page

The book began as a series of Craigslist rants and developed into an

by page into Spanish. One day, Jackie Jackalope is missing during roll

entertaining description of sunny days spent looking at solar panels and

call and Ollie admits he went along with the other animal students in

checking the inverter (calculating whether she and her husband can do

making fun of Jackie. With a surprise reference to Jackie’s Facebook page

a load of laundry or brew a cup of cappuccino) as well as a broader jab

(who knew?) and her bi-species parents (an antelope and a jackrabbit,

at the Santa Fe real estate market, where the perfect little affordable

naturally), Anaya expands a sensitive discussion of childhood meanness

adobe casita remains a Holy Grail.

into the very modern age of cyberbullying and mixed marriages.

Maurice Crandall (’07 MA, ’15 PhD), an assistant professor of Native

Anne Noggle (’70 BFA) did not turn away from aging women and their

American Studies at Dartmouth College, began the research for his

bodies; instead she turned her lens to them, often composing frank self-

review of centuries of Native American political rights while he was

portraits as she aged. Noggle was also an aviator and a WASP (a member

studying at UNM. These People Have Always Been a Republic:

of the Women Airforce Service Pilots) in World War II. She discovered

Indigenous Electorates in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, 1598-1912

photography at UNM and during her 40-year career also focused on

(The University of North Carolina Press, 2019) spans 300 years of

women in the military. Noggle died in 2005. Flight of Spirit: The

political change among four Native groups — the Pueblos in New

Photographs of Anne Noggle (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2019)

Mexico and the Hopi, Tohono O’odham and Yaqui in Arizona.

is a collection of her portraits that span decades and explore what

Crandall, a member of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, documents the

Noggle called “the saga of fallen flesh.”

ways in which these tribal groups fought, absorbed and adapted to

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Chris van Dyck (’93 BA, ’96 MARCH) was named chief operating officer of Greer Stafford Architecture.

colonial incursion while maintaining their own democratic forms of government and concepts of tribal citizenship.

Artist and art educator Ann Skinner-Jones (’97 MA) teams up with UNM Regents’ Prof.

Emeritus Karen A. Foss to create a guide to using artistic methods to break the shackles of black-and-white thinking and open up to more vibrant world. Despite its name, Color Up to Create the Life You Want To Live (FriesenPress, 2018) is not a coloring book or a workbook of art exercises. It weaves personal memoir of the authors through a workbook that requires introspection and personal growth exercises, all in support of transforming one’s worldview.

Charlene Bell Dietz (’70 BAED, ’74 MA) is back with another adventure of Beth Armstrong, a biomedical researcher and “the scientist” in the title of The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut (Quill Mark Press, 2019). Armstrong has learned that her entertaining aunt is actually her biological mother, and now that aunt has died. Grieving, full of questions and in a rut in her marriage, she takes her husband on a beach vacation to St. Thomas on a quest to locate the father she never knew. And so the search begins: a mysterious saxophone player, illegal drug trade, a boat fire, an older-than-her-years child named Gnat, and a murder keep the pages turning.

Young Junie López, a recurring character in Nasario Garcia’s series of bilingual children’s books, is back, and this time he is explaining traditional hornos to readers in Grandma Lale’s Magical Adobe Oven (Rio Grande Books, 2019). Garcia (’62 BA, ’63 MA) has explored the New Mexico traditions of tamale making in “Grandma Lale’s Tamales” and “Matanzas in Grandpa Lolo’s Matanza.” Junie, now in fourth grade in Albuquerque, uses a class assignment to bring his grandmother to school and describe for the city kids how her husband formed her oven out of adobe bricks and how she gets the oven hot by setting a wood fire under its dome.

Why was the horno magical? Grandma Lale explains that the piñon wood she burned gave her tamales, bread and other baked treats a special toasted piñon taste. “Grandma Lale’s Adobe Oven has been rewarded with the Pablita Velarde Award and other honors. Like the companion books in the series, this one is illustrated by Dolores Aragon.

ATTENTION PUBLISHED ALUMNI AUTHORS: We would like to add your book to the alumni library in Hodgin Hall and consider it for a review in Shelf Life. Please send an autographed copy to: Shelf Life, UNM Alumni Relations 1 UNM, MSC01-1160, Albuquerque, NM 87131

Kathleen Ash-Milby (’94 MA) is the curator of Native American Art at The Portland Art Museum. She previously worked in New York, where she was an associate curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian for nearly 20 years. She is a member of the Navajo Nation.

Jennifer A. Noya (’94 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was named a New Mexico Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation.

She was also recognized

by Best Lawyers in America for 2020.

Seth Sparks (’94 JD) of the Rodey Law Firm is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list for transportation law Lawyer of the Year.

Jennifer Noya

E. Maya Salganek (’98 BAFA) is a producer on the liveSeth Sparks action sequences for the series “Molly of Denali” on PBS KIDS. Adela C. Lente, (’97 BS, ’02 MD), El Paso, Texas, a founding faculty member at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in Las Cruces, N.M., is now associate dean of clinical education.

Joseph Barrera (’99 JD) has joined the law firm Cantor Colburn as counsel in the firm’s Hartford, Conn., office.

Michael Brescia (’99 JD) of the Rodey Law Firm is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Joseph Barrera

Michael Kaemper (’99 JD) of the Rodey Law Firm is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

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UNM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARD WINNERS

T

From left, UNM Alumni Association President Alexis Tappan, UNM President Garnett S. Stokes, Kanikia Chawla, Stephen Griego, Verallen Kleinhenz, José García and Pat Henry. he University of New Mexico

Lobo Award

Zia Award

Alumni Association honored

Pat Henry (’73 BSED)

José García (’03 BBA)

A native of Albuquerque, Pat Henry graduated from Del Norte High School in 1969 and received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from UNM in 1973 and a master’s degree in education administration from Western New Mexico University in 1979. Henry served as head track coach at Hobbs High School in New Mexico, where he led his teams to five state championships. In 1987, he was hired

by Louisiana State University, where he won 27 national titles and 19 SEC titles and was named SEC Coach of the Year 15 times and National Coach of the Year five times. In 2004, he was hired by Texas A&M University as head track and field coach. His teams there have finished in the top 10 at NCAA meets 14 times and won eight Big 12 titles, earning Henry the title of Big 12 Coach of the Year eight times. He is the only coach in NCAA history to win both men’s and women’s track and field national titles in the same year, a feat he has accomplished five times.

José García is an accomplished veteran with more than 15 years in the meetings and convention industry.

He has been with ASM Global, where he serves as general manager of the Albuquerque Convention Center, since 2004. García, who grew up in Cuba, N.M. and graduated as valedictorian from Cuba High School, earned a bachelor’s of business administration degree from UNM’s Anderson School of Management in 2003. He is a veteran of the United States Navy, where he served four years as a quartermaster 2nd class petty officer. García is a member of several professional organizations, including the International Association of Venue Managers, the New Mexico Hospitality Association and the Greater Albuquerque Hotel & Lodgers Association.

the recipients of its 2019 Lobo, Zia and Inspirational Young Alumnus awards at the All University Breakfast during Homecoming 2019.

The Lobo Award honors a UNM graduate distinguished by professional achievement or dedication to the betterment of the University. The Zia Award honors outstanding alumni who make their home in New Mexico.

The Inspirational Young Alumnus Award honors emerging leaders, 40 years old or younger, in community service or professional achievements.

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Stephen Griego (’80 BBA)

Inspirational Young Alumnus

Stephen Griego, the president and CEO of Albuquerquebased Distribution Management Corporation, a leading provider of customized logistics and delivery solutions operating in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Texas, graduated from UNM with a bachelor’s of business administration from the Anderson School of Management in 1980. He has served at the president, treasurer, director and secretary of Aero Charter & Transport, Inc. Griego has served on the board of directors for Leadership New Mexico and is a board member for the Anderson School of Management Foundation. Griego and his wife, Lydia, are the naming rights donors of the Innovation Center within the McKinnon Center for Management.

Kanika Chawla (’01 BSE) Kanika Chawla graduated magna cum laude from UNM in 2001 with a bachelor’s of science in chemical engineering. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, in bioengineering in 2006. Chawla is head of analytical development for antibody products targeting infectious diseases at Vir Biotechnology. She previously was a senior scientist at Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc. She has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals to her credit. She was the editor for the recently published “Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering” volume in the “Methods in Molecular Biology” series. In addition, she has been an invited speaker at multiple conferences.

Verallen Kleinhenz (’09 BM, ’12 MMU) Verallen Kleinhenz graduated from UNM with a bachelor’s of music in 2009 and master’s of music in 2012.

A writer and arranger of choral music, she is the co-founder and musical director of Expressions of Joy, a nonprofit choir for adults with developmental disabilities. Kleinhenz has composed three choral pieces and a handbell piece. She is a member of the American Choral Director’s Association, the American Guild of Organists, the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers and the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. Kleinhez writes music for the Albuquerque Civic Chorus and her choral arrangement of the state song, “O Fair New Mexico” was premiered by the Civic Chorus in 2009.

Would you like to nominate an outstanding alum for an Alumni Association award?

Please use our online form at UNMAlumni.com/awards to submit your nomination. Nominations will be considered for two years from the date submitted.

Greg S. Molecke (’99 BA, ’04 MBA), Exeter, England, is now a lecturer at the University of Exeter in Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy.

LeAnne Salazar Montoya (’99 AA, ’01 BSEd, ’05 MA) graduated in December 2019 with a PhD in Educational Leadership and Administration from New Mexico State University. She is the executive director of the Northern Area Local Workforce Development Board.

2000s Caroline C. Beer (’00 PhD) has been promoted to full professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Vermont. She is also the director of the university’s Latin American Studies program.

Caroline Beer

Lesley Molecke (’00 BA, ’11 MBA), Exeter, England, co-founded Cornershop Creative, a web development firm that serves nonprofits, progressive candidates and small businesses.

Anna M. Nogar (’00 BS) received an honorable mention for the Thomas J. Lyon Award from the Western Literature Association for her book “Quill and Cross in the Borderlands: Sor María de Ágreda and the Lady in Blue, 1628 to the Present.”

Joan E. Drake (’01 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the area of Energy Regulatory Law for 2020.

Ryley Webb-Hendry Joan E. Drake (’01 BBA, ’03 MS) was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor in 2019.

Carmela Little (’02 BBA) has joined Brycon as its chief financial officer.

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“It takes each of us to make a difference for all of us.”

– Jackie Mutcheson

The University of New Mexico has proudly made a difference in the lives of its students and the community since 1889. Making this positive impact is not possible without the generosity of others.

Your generosity helps students achieve their academic goals, faculty inspire and mentor those students along their journey, researchers discover and share knowledge that will benefit others, and care givers provide top-tier care to our community. At UNM, each of us defines all of us and every gift makes a difference.

Whose World Will You Change?

Visit unmfund.org to make a gift today. @UNMFund

UNMFoundation

@UNMFund

505-313-7600

MORE AWARD WINNERS

T

he University of New Mexico Alumni Association proudly honored the recipients of the prestigious 2020 Winter Awards during the annual Winter Awards Dinner held at Hotel Andaluz in February.

James F. Zimmerman Award C. Frank Bennett (’80 BSPh) As a founding member and chief scientific officer of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, C. Frank Bennett is responsible for the advancement of antisense technology and expanding Ionis’s drug discovery platform.

He is a co-recipient of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his contributions to the discovery and development of SPINRAZA (nusinersen), a drug for children suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, and the 2018 Hereditary Disease Foundation’s Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science for his leadership and continued commitment to developing therapies for Huntington’s disease.

Bennett received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Baylor College of Medicine, and his bachelor’s of science degree in pharmacy from UNM. He performed his postdoctoral research in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at SmithKline and French Laboratories.

Bennett serves on the Advisory Board for the Hereditary Disease Foundation.

Bernard S. Rodey Award Katharine W. Winograd (’07 EdD) Katharine W. Winograd was named the first female president of Central New

Mexico Community College in February 2007. She retired in 2020 as the longestserving president of the college. Her almost 45 years in higher education also included previous positions at UNM, the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Council on Higher Education.

Under Winograd’s leadership, CNM received national and state recognition for student success, innovation and ethics.

Winograd earned her doctor of education degree in Educational Leadership from UNM, her master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Louisville and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgetown College in Kentucky.

Winograd served on several community boards, including chair of the board of Presbyterian Healthcare Services and co-chair of Mission: Graduate. She was an Ascend Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Denver Branch.

Erna S. Fergusson Award Enrique R. Lamadrid (’70 BA) Enrique R. Lamadrid, author and distinguished professor emeritus of Spanish at UNM, taught folklore, literature and cultural history while pursuing research in ethnopoetics, folklore, music, Chicano Literature, bioregionalism and cultural cartography. Lamadrid edits the awardwinning Querencias Series at UNM Press.

In 2019, he was awarded the Premio Nacional Enrique Anderson Imbert de la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua

Española in recognition of his advocacy for the Spanish language and traditions of Nuevo México and the John D. Robb Award for Excellence in Music of the Southwest in recognition of his dedication to music education and scholarship. Other honors include the prestigious Chicago Folklore Prize for his 2003 ethnography Hermanitos Comanchitos: Indo-Hispano Rituals of Captivity and Redemption and the American Folklore Society's Américo Paredes Prize for his cultural activism and curatorial projects.

Faculty Teaching Award George Bach (’02 JD) George Bach joined the UNM law faculty in 2012 as an assistant professor.

He teaches constitutional law, employment law, evidence, federal jurisdiction, clinic and practicum.

During and after law school, Bach worked for K. Lee Peifer (’77), litigating in civil rights, union-side labor law and employee-side employment law. He is a former staff attorney at the Am erican Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, where he litigated a wide variety of civil rights cases in state and federal courts, and formerly of the law firms Bach & Garcia and Garcia Ives Nowara.

A former president of the New Mexico Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association, Bach was honored with a Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance “Treasure” Award in 2007 for his work in the LGBT community. In 2009, he was nominated to the New Mexico State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

SPRING 2020

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THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

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WEDDINGS • VOW RENEWALS • MEMORIALS • CELEBRATIONS BEAUTIFUL NEW MEXICO LANDMARK // NONDENOMINATIONAL // LOCATED ON MAIN CAMPUS

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38

MIRAGE MAGAZINE

Time-Honored Connections

A

s we ease into 2020 and look toward spring, it’s an exciting time for the University of

New Mexico Alumni Association. We’re pleased to welcome Connie Beimer as the association’s leader.

As a past president of the association and a longtime UNM employee, Connie brings both a passion for all things UNM alumni and a deep knowledge of the University. We said goodbye to Dana Allen and wish her the best of luck in her new role as a UC Davis Aggie.

This fall, the Alumni Association asked the Alexis Kerschner Tappan

university community to vote on a new UNM license plate design. More than 31,000 votes were

cast, and Team Cherry came out the winner over Team Silver. The new red license makes its debut in early 2020 and will be a great way to show off your cherry (and silver) pride — and to help support the Alumni Association. Turn to page 4 of this issue of Mirage for details on how you can get the new plate.

Looking forward, I’m excited that the UNM Alumni Association Board of Directors is going to continue partner with the University to identify ways that alumni can help UNM recruit new students.

I’m excited for what’s on tap for the Alumni Association and, as always, Go Lobos!

Alexis Kerschner Tappan

SHOW YOUR UNM PRIDE WITH THE NEW LOGO ON YOUR PLATE!

MORE INFO AND APPLICATION FORMS AT:

www.UNMAlumni.com/license-plate

Diane Joy Schmidt (’02 MA) was published in the Kaleidoscope: Exploring the Experience of Disability through Literature and the Fine Arts. Her essay, “Fresh Start,” appears in issue 79, “Exploring New Vistas.”

Tracy Alexis (’03 BA) has authored the book “Interstitial Cystitis: A Personal Journey of Complete Healing!”

Michael Hawkes (’03 MPA) is Socorro County manager.

Brenda Saiz (’03 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm is on the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.

Tracy Alexis

Daniel T. Casey (’05 BSNE) received the Presidential Early Career Award Brenda Saiz for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to those beginning their independent research careers and show promise in science and technology.

Jeremy K. Harrison (’05 BA, ’08 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the area of Personal Injury Litigation — Defendants for 2020. He Jeremy K. Harrison was also named a New Mexico Rising Star by Benchmark Litigation.

Daniel M. Alsup (’06 BA, ’09 JD), a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, was recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the area of Public Finance Law for 2020.

Daniel M. Alsup

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Connect! Communicate!

Meet up with old friends and make new Ones!

STAY CONNECTED

MAY

Has it been a while since you’ve connected with the UNM Alumni Association? Don’t worry, now is the perfect time to reconnect by logging into UNM Alumni Connect, our online community. Simply visit UNMAlumni.com and click “Community Login” in the upper right corner of the screen.

New Grad Celebration

You can update your contact preferences, control your privacy settings and add your personal or professional news to Class Notes. Keeping your contact information up to date allows you to find and connect with fellow alumni near you and to receive information about Homecoming events, regional green chile roasts, UNM department or program news, game watch parties and more #ProudUNMAlumni opportunities.

FIND YOUR CHAPTER The UNM Alumni Association’s regional chapter program provides opportunities for alumni to stay connected with the University, meet with other UNM alumni living in their area and give back to the University and to their communities. Find your chapter, upcoming chapter events and the chapter’s social media pages by visiting UNMAlumni.com/chapters.

Commencement at Dreamstyle Arena Alumni Emeriti: Reunion Events Black Alumni Chapter* Annual Membership Meeting & Elections

JUNE Chapter Leaders Council Meeting Board of Directors Meeting Volunteer Appreciation Reception

JULY Austin Chapter Ice Cream Social

AUGUST Dallas Chapter Green Chile Roast Austin Chapter Green Chile Roast & Brunch Las Vegas Chapter* Green Chile Roast LA Chapter* Green Chile Roast Salt Lake City Green Chile Brunch Welcome Back Days at UNM

SEPTEMBER Homecoming 2020: September 28 - Oct. 3 Washington DC Chapter* 50th Anniversary Green Chile Roast September 16

*UNM Alumni Chapters with scholarships that support students attending UNM from that city. You can donate to these scholarships at UNMFund.org.

We hope you take this time to reconnect with the programs, events, adventures and benefits the UNM Alumni Association has available for Lobos like you.

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MIRAGE MAGAZINE

From the Veep

Denise Chanez (’06 JD), Albuquerque, of the Rodey Law Firm, is on the 2020 s a two-time alumna of UNM, I can’t recall Best Lawyers in how many times I’ve visited Hodgin Hall.

America list. She was As a student in the 1970s, an active member of also recognized as the Alumni Association’s dynamic board of directors Albuquerque’s Lawyer (president for a year and chair of the Homecoming of the Year in health Denise Chanez care litigation.

Committee another year) and a UNM employee just across campus at Scholes Hall, I have found Larry Bob Phillips (’07 MFA) was selected as Hodgin Hall Alumni Center to be a touchstone the artist for a new mural at the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell. in my connection to UNM.

A

Connie Beimer

This place feels like home to me.

Being here now, as the interim vice president for Alumni Relations, I am filled with deep gratitude

for the opportunity to help strengthen the Office of Alumni Relations and the Alumni Association so it can better serve you — our alumni — and the University we’re all so proud to have attended.

In my new role, I’m looking forward to championing the many great initiatives of the University, and the Alumni Association and its hard-working volunteer board. We are focused on supporting alums in ways that make sense — connections, recognition, events and activities and career advisement. We are also committed to being a great partner with the University in its efforts to showcase the many benefits of being a Lobo at the University for New Mexico.

The Alumni Association will continue to strengthen its connections with the Lobo community here at home and across the globe. As a UNM alumnus, you are a member of a powerful and dynamic family. Nearly 197,000 of us have received UNM diplomas since 1889 and each alum is a valuable resource in building this terrific institution.

Together, we can grow our University and provide even greater opportunities for our students and graduates and celebrate your accomplishments.

Hodgin Hall is a home away from home for all UNM alums. I invite you to drop in any time to say hello to me and the staff and allow us to help you connect with the University and your alumni community in any way that we can and to reignite your Lobo spirit!

Let’s connect -

Zachary Hively (’07 BA) is half of a duo, Oxygen on Embers, which released its debut EP “Takes Me Back” in November 2019.

Ambrosia Ortiz y Prentice (’07 BA) is a legal language specialist at Eisenberger & Herzog Rechtsanwalts GmbH. She also completed her 200th skydive to receive a C License from the United States Parachute Association.

Brandon Moss (’08 BUS) was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor in 2019.

Christina M. Looney (’09 BBA, ’13 JD), Albuquerque, has become a shareholder at Sutin, Thayer & Browne.

2010s Amy Beggin (’10 BA) Christina Looney was inducted into the UNM Lettermen’s Association’s Athletic Hall of Honor in 2019.

John D. Giddens (’10 BAA) has joined Greer Stafford/SJCF Architecture as an architect and project manager.

Connie Beimer Anya S. Kurennaya (’10 BA) is an associate

Interim Vice President for Alumni Relations professor at Parsons School of Design in New York.

Roman Martinez (’10 BBA) is the lead graduate assistant with the Nevada Wolf Pack’s men’s basketball team.

Heidi N. Overton (’11 BA, ’15 MD), a former UNM student Regent, has been named a White House Fellow.

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Alumni Network Snapshots from Alumni events

Sam Johnson (’76 JD), Barbara Brown Simmons (’74 JD) and Helen Hamilton (’70 BSN) at the Black Alumni Chapter awards reception.

2019 Homecoming King and Queen Xavier Vallejo and Lacey Garner at Dreamstyle Stadium.

Michael Curry (’09 BBA) helps out at the LA Chapter alumni chile roast.

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MIRAGE MAGAZINE

AJ Hedrich (’14 BS), Elysia Sarmiento Pope (’18 BA), Carolyn Boykins (’14 BS) at the annual UNM Alumni Washington DC Chapter Chile Roast & Taco Picnic.

Xochitl Campos Biggs (’08 BA), Daven Quelle (’95 BA) and Courtney Gallihugh (’12 BS, ’14 MA) at the 2019 Volunteer Recognition Reception.

The UNM Joint Color Guard opens the annual Veterans Day Celebration and Remembrance at the UNM Alumni Memorial Chapel.

In Memoriam We remember alumni who recently passed away.

1940 - 1949

Charles William Gay, ’53, ’63

Felicia G. Hunter, ’41

Chester H. Johnson, ’53

Helen Wilson, ‘42

Bernice Ann Kuhn, ’53

Emma D. Writtenberry, ’43

Robert W. Meyer, ’53, ’62

Rolf L. Nelson, ’46

Weldon Connie Alexander, Jr., ’54

Charles S. “Chuck” Lanier, ’47

Gregory Francis Bussiere, ’54

Charles E. Ruth, III, ’47

Barbara J. Johnson, ’54

Jack A. Smith, ’47

Robert L. Brooks, ’55

Mary Jo J. Vaughn, ’48

Criss P. Candelaria, ’55

Betty J. Eakins, ’49

I. Newton Mitchell, ’55

Katharine Ferris Nutt, ’49, ’51

Manuel C. Morales, ’55

Patricia R. Spencer, ’49

Robert E. Young, ’55

Brice G. Venable, ’49

Bruce Bullock, ’56, ’61

Marjorie B. Wightman, ’49

Charles G. Monroe, ’56 Noel C. White, ’56

Patrick Ortiz (’12 BS), the Pecos High School cross country coach, was named New Mexico Coach of the Year. In 2018, Ortiz was named girls’ cross country coach by both the New Mexico High School Coaching Association and the New Mexico Track and Cross Country Coaches Association. He was also the coach of the year in 2017 for boys’ cross country.

Moses Winston (’12 JD) has been named to the ALS Association New Mexico Chapter’s board of directors.

Sally Abeyta (’13 BBA), certified senior advisor, has been promoted to director of financial services by Decades, LLC. Jacob Fox (’13 BBA) is the co-founder of Little Bear Coffee Co., which opened its second location in Nob Hill in 2019.

1950 - 1959

Margaret Eleanor Ackerman, ’57, ’71

Emma Bustamante, ’50

Don Hutchinson, ’57

Marge H. Closson, ’50

Mary B. Matteucci, ’57

Perry Denton, ’50

Jose U. Otero, ’57

Gene D. Hornbeck, ’50

Michael Sutin, ’57

Margaret E. Marchiondo, ’50

William A. Bruner, ’58

Margery M. Marshall, ’50

Nick Evangelos, ’58

Joseph W. McKinley, ’50

William Ray Gore, ’58, ’68

Letty B. Plikerd, ’50

Clyde R. McDonald, ’58

Rudolph Sanchez, ’50, ’63

John W. M'Gonigle, ’58, ’60

James L. Whiteman, ’50

Olivia K. Anders, ’59

Cecil Bingham, ’51

Norbert C. Lopez, ’59

John K. Davis, ’51

George M. Miller, ’59

Frederick J. Disque, ’51

Joe Thomas Patterson, ’59

Frederick William Furcht, ’51

David William Sydow, ’59

Omega Delgado (’15 BAEPD) has joined Consensus Planning as a planner.

1960 - 1969

Isaac Fox (’15 BBA) is the co-founder of Little Bear Coffee Co., which opened its second location in Nob Hill in 2019.

Mike M. Kotar, ’51 Harry J. Rouckus, Jr., ’51 Alice H. Cushing, ’52

James W. Bohm, Jr., ’60

James M. Morrow, ’52

Charles B. Ivy, ’60

Sandra Lea Niebur, ’52

Jo Ellen Lang, ’60

Oliver B. Cohen, ’53

John Thompson McCleary, ’60

F. W. Emanuel, ’53, ’58

Roger D. Miercort, ’60

Damon J. Hudson (’13 BBA, ’16 MPA) recently joined the Hinkle Shanor law firm in Santa Fe, N.M. Leah Lucero (’14 BA, ’18 MD) married Darian Dhawan (’14 BA, ’18 MD) in May 2019. Lucero is completing her general surgery residency and Dhawan is completing his pediatrics residency, both in Fresno, Calif.

Matthew Skeets (’14 BA) an English professor at Diné College in Arizona, received the 2018 National Poetry Series for his debut poetry collection, “Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful a Flowers.” Skeets is the first Native American poet to win the prize.

Joseph Turner (’15 JD) has joined Business Law Southwest as an associate business attorney.

Kyle Biederwolf (’17 BBA) has joined Comcast as a new external affairs manager.

SPRING 2020

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In Memoriam Bob C. Wareham, ’60

Ben E. Moffett, ’66, ’76

Robert J. Herrera, ’72

Louisa M. Gallegos, ’61

Ronald D. Brown, ’67

Joseph Francis Janni, ’72, ’79

Charles F. Halverson, Jr., ’61

Robert H. Dungan, ’67

Ralph M. Peralta, ’72

Max G. Ratliff, ’61

Bill L. Harris, ’67

Kenneth Pramann, ’72

Jack Ray, ’61

William H. Parsons, Jr., ’67, ’70

Albert Joe Robison, ’72

Harlan J. Crossman, ’62, ’65

Billy Joe Thompson, ’67

Victor Frank Silva, ’72

Richard Morrow Elliott, ’62

Charles H. Arning, ’69

James Mcgovern Soule, ’72

Lonnie Ray Nunley, Sr., ’62

Betty G. Bunch, ’68

Kenneth Thomas Clark, ’73

Rini Price, ’62

Charles Wesley Daniels, ’69

Robert Crook, ’73

Thomas D. Taylor, ’62

Deborah V. Doherty, ’68

Charlotte L. Cutter, ’73, ’80

Darryl B. Smith, ’62, ’68

Daniel K. Hutchison, ’68

Judith Ewell, ’73

Mary E. Altherr, ’63, ’68

Gerald Lee Long, ’68

Edward Kent Fuge, ’73, ’74

Dorothy K. Burggraaff, ’63, ’68

Barbara Kay Cole, ’69

Anthony “Tony” Frank Lutonsky, ’73

Charles C. Ferrari, ’63

Suzanne Marie Foy, ’69

Kathleen Marie Ritter, ’74

Stuart F. Hayes, ’63, ’71

John P. Haaland, ’69

John R. Russell, ’74

Linda L. Johnson, ’63

Susan G. Hill, ’69

Cheryl Jane Wise, ’74

Richard B. Lane, ’63

David E. Stinson, ’69

Phillip Robert Baca, ’75

J. Patrick Mulhall, ’63 Gladys Irene Prekker, ’63

1970 - 1979

Joanne T. Chiquito, ’75, ’80, ’82 Robert David Enz, ’75

Patricia L. Stell, ’63

Mari-Luci Jaramillo, ’70

Robert William Foster, ’75

Merlin D. Randall, ’64

Donald W. Patterson, ’70

Edward Garstka, ’75

Kenneth Burton Kimball, ’64

Maurice E. Riggleman, ’70

Donna Lynn Gordon, ’75

Arthur L. Innis, ’64

Kent W. Roberts, ’70

Julianne L. Lockwood, ’75

William H. Leezer, ’64

Ronald E. Shafer, ’70

Peter Thompson, ’75

Gerald V. Steed, ’64

Connie Lee Slewitzke, ’70

Perry B. Matthews, ’76

Joe C. Young, ’64

Vivienne Lorraine Swanton, ’70

Mary A. Roney, ’76

Robert H. Ingalls, ’65

Charlotte Mary Toulouse, ’70

Chris Columbus Sanguinetti, ’76

Ann D. Lehman, ’65, ’71

Deedee M. Turner, ’70, ’73

Yvonne Paula Cordova, ’77

Stan A. Quintana, ’65

John S. Williamson, ’70

Altha Marie Crouch, ’77

Kenneth I. Thom, ’65

Harry Lee Apodaca, ’71

Beth Maxwell Moise, ’77

Charles Eugene Shipley, ’65, ’68

Francis J. Duffy, Jr., ’71

David Ramon Montano, ’77

Jay D. Anderson, ’66

Victoria Salas Rael, ’71

Dora L. Olbert, ’77

George T. Collazo, ’66

William Henry Bartley, ’72

Ellen Kay Syvertson, ’77

Ted Crosby, ’66

Baldwin G. Burr, Jr., ’72, ’73

Mark Timothy Van Til, ’77

Dale Lee Duncan, ’66

Ida S. Carrillo, ’72, ’79

Jeffrey Harper Cottam, ’78

Robert A. Fellabaum, ’66

Carl W. Dellinger, ’72

William George Langnau, ’79

Robert M. Goodman, ’66, ’72, ’75

Diane M. Dennedy-Frank, ’72

Rosalind Zengerle, ’79

Raymond Hamilton, ’72 44

MIRAGE MAGAZINE

In Memoriam 1980 - 1989

Ms. Juanita R. Sisneros, ’87

James Michael Gaynor, ’80

Forrest D. Smith, III, ’87

Steven Paul Needler, ’80

Ms. Anne-Lise Cohen, ’88

Taylor Renay Carter, ’81, ’84

Aanya Alder Friess, ’88

Christina Wescott Cordova, ’81

Barbara Otero Silva Sanchez, ’88

Richard Joel Crespy, ’81

Sheila June Seaman, ’88

Bernardo Phillip Gallegos, ’81, ’88

Kevin Charles Lavelle, ’88

Darwin W. Marable, ’81

Peter Byron Rames, ’88

Sandra Simons-Ailes, ’81, ’95

David James McCullough, ’89

Tim Trainor, ’81, ’88

Ana M. DeVilliers, ’89

Eugene Gilbert Agnes, ’82, ’88

1990 - 1999

Alma C. Roeder, ’82 Rick O. White, ’82 Ralph Girard Stevenson, ’83 Carmelina A. Blais, ’84 Steven Christopher Carson, ’84 Richard Moroni Nelson, ’84 Marilee G. Petranovich, ’84, ’16 William Lloyd Spurgeon, ’84, ’86, ’88 Michael A. Badillo, ’85 Ora Diane Sommerville, ’85 Robert Allen Freeman, ’86 Larry Joseph Garza, ’86 Juanita Hegler McGowen, ’87 Lorraine A. Hood, ’87 John Victor Kelsey, ’87

Margaret Kook-Sun Chan, ’90 David Roy Chapman, ’90 Kevin Barry Gibbons, ’91 Pamela R. Cerny, ’91 Mark Timothy Sedillo, ’91, ’94 Bruce A. Hoselton, ’92 Krista Renee Page, ’92 Carole M. Brieant, ’93 William A. McMahan, ’93 Leila Stephani, ’93, ’99 Stephanie E. Gutierrez, ’94 Philip M. Kragnes, ’95 Kathleen Lou Brady, ’96 Robert L. Rimbert, ‘97

Corinne E. Foskey (’17 BA) received her master’s degree in Arts Management and Heritage Studies from the University of Leeds, and is working for Brake, the United Kingdom’s leading road safety charity, as a corporate fundraising officer.

Noah Michelsohn (’18 BA) is a communications specialist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs.

Amanda N. Krasulick (’19 JD) has joined Modrall Sperling’s Albuquerque office, focusing on litigation, including insurance and commercial disputes.

Angelica M. Lopez (’19 JD), Albuquerque, has joined the Rodey Law Firm in the Litigation Department, where her practice focuses on products and general liability defense and health law and medical malpractice defense.

Amanda Krasulik

Angelica Lopez

Pablo Fernando Lituma (’19 MCRP, MARCH) has joined Greer Stafford/ SJCF Architecture as a planner.

He graduated with dual master’s degrees in architecture and community regional planning with distinction.

Have a Good Howl Our monthly email newsletter, The Howler, keeps Lobos up-to-date with Alumni Association news and events, as well as additional alumni profiles not published in Mirage. You can read it online at UNMAlumni.com/howler or subscribe to the email version by sending a request to alumni@unm.edu.

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In Memoriam Paula Margo Jones, ‘98

2010 - 2019

FACULTY AND STAFF

Amy Elizabeth Conway, ‘99

Nicholas J. Miller, ‘10

Roy Caton Jr.

John Uher, ‘99

Nathaniel T. Anaya, ‘12

Ruth Trinidad Galvan

2000 - 2009

Emily James, ‘12

Stanley J. Mosier

Steven L. Candelaria, ‘13

Marc Prelo

Garon Coriz, ‘13

Maclovia Ray Ruane

Meaghan Elisabeth Carpenter, ‘15

Mark Warren Reininga

Brandi Lee Gregor, ‘16

Kim Marie Larranaga

Clay Payne, ‘17

Adelamar (Dely) N. Alcantara

Roberto Velasquez, ‘19

Henry C. Ellis

Norma Jean Weiler, ‘00 Charlotte Ann Bartlett, ‘01 William R. Suttles, ‘01, ‘04 Rhonda A. Arcana, ‘02 Sarah Setareh Javaheripour, ‘03 Patricia Sue O'Brien, ‘05 Lawrence F. Anderson, ‘07

OTHER ALUMNI

Joyce A. Cash, ‘07

David W. Brubaker

Yvonne V. Wash, ‘07

Hoyle Fleming Montgomery, Jr.

John P. Toadlena, ‘09, ’11, ‘14

Tila Shaya

Jerome (Jerry) Hall Rudy Garcia

Pack Your Bags The UNM Alumni Association gives Lobos with wanderlust the opportunity to continue their education by traveling the world through the Alumni Travel Program.

With a number of unique trip opportunities in 2020 — from Cuba to Cairo — the Alumni Travel Program sets you up for success by handling all the travel plans and arrangements for you while offering amazing discounts too.

To view Alumni Travel Program options and book, visit UNMAlumni.com/travel.

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MIRAGE MAGAZINE

Spain – Andalucia in a Parador April 16 – 24, 2020 Antequera

Cruise the Rhine River July 19 – 27, 2020 Amsterdam to Basel

Cruise Provence and Burgundy April 26 – May 4, 2020 Avignon to Lyon

Forests & Fjords of Alaska – Oceania Cruises July 30 – Aug. 10, 2020 Seward to Vancouver

Riches of the Emerald Isle June 29 – Aug. 9, 2020 Ennis to Dublin

Imperial Splendors of Russia Sept. 9 – 18, 2020 Moscow – St. Petersburg

Tanzania Safari – The Plains Of The Serengeti June 29 – July 10, 2020 Tanzania

Fall Splendors of Canada & New England – Oceania Cruises Sept. 26 – Oct. 6, 2020 New York to Montréal

Celtic Charms – Oceania Cruises July 2 – 13, 2020 London to Dublin

Medieval Sojourn – Oceania Cruises Oct. 5 – 16, 2020 Barcelona to Athens

My

ALUMNI STORY

In 2013, I was running a small organic flower and vegetable farm in Northern New Mexico with my husband, Ric, developing Season’s Muse, my dried flower arrangement business, and pregnant with my first child. And I wanted to go back to school.

Being close to my farm and home in Dixon, N.M., UNM Taos allowed a perfect means for me to return to school and complete the lower division courses for my anthropology degree. It was an uphill battle returning to school, keeping up with the farm and starting a new craft business with a baby on the way.

However, the close proximity and the level of one-on-one education UNM Taos provided was key to helping succeed as a non-traditional student.

In 2017 I began commuting to the UNM main campus in Albuquerque to complete my upper division courses. And again UNM allowed me to plan a blended schedule of on-campus and online classes.

I graduated summa cum laude from UNM in May of 2019 with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Sustainability Studies.

Shortly after graduating I became a FoodCorps-AmeriCorps service member, putting what I learned at UNM to use serving New Mexico.

Under the supervision of Cooking with Kids in Santa Fe and following its curriculum, I help children in Dixon and Velarde elementary schools learn about gardening, healthy eating and getting in touch with the land, or as it is better understood in New Mexico, querencia.

I strongly believe in food sovereignty and honoring the time-tested heritage practices of rural northern New Mexico communities and agricultural lands, as well as learning from our elders and ancestors, blending the best of the old and new.

It’s what we practice on our land at One Straw Farm, and if you’d like to see and taste the results you can catch us on Saturdays at the Santa Fe Farmers Market at The Railyard!

As I look back on the level of education I was able to achieve I’m grateful for the constant support and encouragement I received at the Taos and Albuquerque campuses, particularly from my professors in the Sustainability Studies Program, who invested time and care to help me succeed and grow.

®

I’m a grateful Lobo for life.

Tania Marines (’19 BA) Stay in touch with your Alumni Association at UNMAlumni.com. Click on “Connect.”

SPRING 2020

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M A G A Z I N E

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HOME COMING Sept.. 28 - Oct. 3, 202 20

Celebrating 100 Years of Lobos www.unmalumni.com/homecoming