** 2024 Commencement Updates **

** 2024 Commencement Updates **

Highlands Receives Set of Groundbreaking New Mexico History Textbooks

New Mexico Highlands University received a set of a new, groundbreaking high school textbooks called Nuevo Mexico — An Anthology of History, at a presentation July 8.   Semos Unlimited, Inc. published the textbook with the support of the university. Semos is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the language and culture of Hispanics in New Mexico.  “This is the first textbook on New Mexico history written by New Mexico scholars and historians,” said Roberto Mondragon, president of Semos, and former New Mexico lieutenant governor. He also taught at the University of New Mexico. “The textbook comes from the heart of not one person but from the heart of many.”Georgia Roybal, executive director for Semos and longtime bilingual educator, said the most important element of the book is the culturally diverse authors represented in the anthology. For example, the Navajo section is written by a Navajo. In addition, Highlands University professors wrote several chapters in the textbook.Also on hand at the presentation were Highlands University President Jim Fries, Vice President for Finance and Administration Bill Taylor, Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration Lawrence Trujillo, and School of Education Professor Emerita Loretta Salazar, a longtime member of the Semos Board of Directors.”Semos has been a longtime, phenomenal source of culturally sensitive and language learning education materials throughout the state,” said Fries, who accepted the textbook donation. “We are privileged you’re doing this in connection with Highlands, and are happy to play a role in that.”  Mondragon and Roybal both thanked Fries and Trujillo for supporting the textbook project.”Without President Fries’ leadership and support this book wouldn’t have happened,” Roybal said.  In addition, Roybal said Trujillo was instrumental in helping to secure funding from the State Legislature for the book as part of the state’s research and public funding service project. The New Mexico history textbook will be used in high schools throughout the state and is also appropriate for some college-level history courses.In November 2008, Mondragon and Roybal also presented Highlands University with the complete 17-volume hardbound set of the publication Amigos, the only bilingual monthly education publication that focuses on preserving New Mexico Hispanic culture. The two co-created Amigos in 1990 and have published it ever since.