** 2024 Commencement Updates **

** 2024 Commencement Updates **

Dr. Harold Bailey to Talk at HU Feb. 18 for Black History Month

Dr. Harold Bailey

Dr. Harold Bailey to Talk at HU Feb. 18 for Black History Month

Harold Bailey, executive director for the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs, will talk at New Mexico Highlands University Feb. 18 as part of Black History Month.
Bailey’s public talk, Winds of Change, will be at 1 p.m. in the Margaret Kennedy Alumni Hall, 905 University Ave.
“It’s energizing and always a joy to visit university campuses,” Bailey said. “Universities are think tanks for developing solutions to societal problems.
“Hopefully I can influence these young students at Highlands to be positive role models for youth, and encourage our older generation to work in concert with youth for positive change,” Bailey said.
He said his talk will include an historical overview of the black experience in New Mexico and the U.S.  Bailey will also talk about how institutions of higher education can address diversity.
Bailey is well known for his leadership in the African-American community. He is a past member of the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is the past state chairman of the New Mexico Black Studies Consortium. He served on the board for the National Council of Black Studies and is the former president of the Albuquerque NAACP.
Prior to his 2003 appointment to head  the state’s Office of African American Affairs, Bailey had a distinguished career in education. He is a former University of New Mexico faculty member and director of UNM’s Afro-American Studies Program.
Bailey earned his Ph.D. in American Studies with an emphasis in Educational Administration from UNM in 1975. While in graduate school, Bailey was inducted into the Phi Kappa Honor society at UNM for his 4.0 GPA.
Jill Baskerville is a sociology instructor at Highlands and the co-adviser for the Black Student Association. She was one of Bailey’s students at UNM in the ‘70s.
“Dr. Bailey taught us the importance of knowing and embracing our history and culture,” Baskerville said. “He was so inspirational and galvanized us to take action against injustice, and to help others who struggled. He was an extraordinary role model who gave us our voice and taught us how to use it.”
Bailey also has extensive experience working with high school students. He holds a master’s degree in special education, and taught in the Albuquerque Public Schools for 20 years, where he was also a championship-winning basketball and track coach.
Bailey was a student athlete himself as an undergraduate at UNM, lettering three times in track as a hurdler. He was a 2010 inductee into the UNM Alumni Lettermen’s Athletic Hall of Honor.
Bailey’s Feb. 18 talk is sponsored by the Highlands University undergraduate student senate, with support from other student groups, including the Black Student Association, the Ladies of Dynasty Club, and the Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi fraternities.