** 2024 Commencement Updates **

** 2024 Commencement Updates **

Yearly Archives: 2021

  1. Photo of NMHU Las Vegas Campus

    Giving Tuesday a Success at New Mexico Highlands University 

    December 9, 2021 Giving Tuesday, which typically brings in 10 percent of Highlands University’s annual fundraising, brought in $198,403 this year.   According to Theresa Law, the university began participating in Giving Tuesday in 2016, and although they did not surpass their 2019 record of $300,000, she is pleased by the amount Highlands brought in during a pandemic year.   Law said each Giving Tuesday,…

  2. Shop Small Mall event in the Student Union Building

    Shop Small Mall a Recipe for Success

    December 8, 2021 The Shop Small Mall event, hosted by Highlands University on Dec. 1, helped to bring in much-needed support for local businesses who have been impacted by the pandemic and Bridge Street construction. The event was so successful that organizers plan to expand Shop Small Mall next year. The Shop Small Mall event…

  3. Highlands University Advances Bilingual Education through Partnership with International Conference 

    December 7, 2021 This year, Highlands University partnered with La Cosecha Conference to promote bilingual education and increase the number of bilingual teachers across New Mexico, the U.S., and internationally. According to its website, La Cosecha is a conference “by teachers for teachers,” which is held annually in Albuquerque. This year’s agenda included keynote speaker…

  4. Ceramic installation by Highlands student Taylor Kuiper

    Highlands University Graduating Senior Offers Closing Reception Art Exhibition on Friday, Dec. 3  

    December 1, 2021 Taylor Kuiper, a graduating senior at New Mexico Highlands University, will be hosting a closing reception for her fine arts exhibit, Interpretations of Nature, at the Ray Drew Gallery on Dec. 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. Kuiper will be giving an artist talk at 6 p.m.   Kuiper grew up in her family’s…

  5. Highlands University to Host Event to Promote Local Shopping on Dec. 1 

    November 19, 2021 Highlands University is hosting Shop Small Mall—a convenient one-stop shop where people can do their holiday shopping and support Las Vegas’ businesses. The Shop Small Mall event will take place in the Highlands University Student Center on Dec. 1, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Director of Alumni Affairs Juli Salman came up with the idea as a way to help…

  6. photo of Native american drummer

    Highlands University Offers Events Celebrating Hispanic and Indigenous Cultures 

    November 18, 2021 To honor both the National Hispanic American Heritage Month and the National Native American Heritage Month, Highlands University has offered a range of events to students and the public. The events began Oct. 22, and several remaining events are scheduled through Dec. 3, 2021.   Collectively, the events offered in honor of Hispanic and…

  7. Woman plays the drums in the jazz ensemble

    Highlands University Jazz Ensemble to Perform December 2

      November 15, 2021 The Highlands University Jazz Ensemble will be performing in concert on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m. at Ilfeld Auditorium. The concert is free, and attendees will be required to wear masks.   Edward Harrington, professor of music technology and education, said the jazz ensemble is composed of students, faculty, and…

  8. Poster for documentary "Marcos Doesn't Live Here Anymore" depicting a white woman, a Mexican man, and their child

    Highlands University to Offer Viewings of Deportation Documentary and Q&A with Filmmaker

    November 12, 2021 When documentary filmmaker David Sutherland visited Cleveland, Ohio, he did not yet know that the woman who picked him up, Elizabeth Perez, would be the focus of his documentary about deportation.   Sutherland said he had the idea to make a film about immigration and visited Cleveland frequently to spend time with…

  9. Photo: The Highlands University Madrigal Choir rehearses with Andre García-Nuthmann.

    Madrigal Choir at Highlands University to Perform “All About Music and Song” November 14 

    November 11, 2021 The Highlands University madrigal choir will be performing “All About Music and Song” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14 at Ilfeld Auditorium. The concert is free, and masks will be required of singers and attendees.   According to André García-Nuthmann, director of the choral program at Highlands, the concert will feature the madrigal choir as well as eight…

  10. Award given to Ruben Aragon that is a ceramic plate made in Acoma Pueblo

    Highlands University Librarian, Ruben Aragón, Receives New Mexico Library Leadership Award 

    November 11, 2021 Ruben Aragón, director of the Donnelly Library at Highlands University, received the 2021 New Mexico Leadership Award from the New Mexico Library Association, or NMLA.   Aragón has served as the director of Donnelly Library for 30 years and has worked at the library for 37 years. This is the first time he has received the NMLA Leadership Award—a fact that Valerie Nye, president of the…

  11. New Mexico Highlands University Receives Instrument Donation 

    November 8, 2021 When Miamon Miller, a musician and resident of Montezuma, moved away, he donated a number of orchestral instruments and music books to the Highlands University music department.   Miller is an ethnomusicologist and composer who has arranged music for film, composed for theatre, and has played with classical and folk groups, including mariachi. As a musician, Miller owned…

  12. Highlands University English Professor Benjamin Villarreal Receives Faculty Fellowship  

    November 4, 2021 Benjamin Villarreal, an English professor at New Mexico Highlands University, has been awarded a faculty fellowship by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, or AAHHE.   The national fellowship is intended for Hispanic tenure-track faculty in order to provide support in career goals, build community, and foster faculty fellow leadership.   The group of faculty…

  13. Highlands University to Participate in Statewide Esports Showcase 

    November 2, 2021 A four-student team from Highlands University will be participating in the first New Mexico Educational Esports Classic showcase beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 3.   Eleven teams from high schools and colleges in New Mexico will be competing in the video game competition this week. Playoffs on Friday, Nov. 5, will determine which teams will advance to the finals…

  14. photo

    New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute Hires New Director

    November 1, 2021 Alan Barton, previously the manager of the collaboration program at the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute, stepped into the role of director in October.   The new leadership comes at a time when the Institute’s budget has grown substantially due to increased Forest Service funding, which previous Institute director, Kent Reid, attributed to good past performance by the Institute staff and to the advocacy of…

  15. Oil painting of Hermit's Peak by Robert Henssler

    Robert Henssler’s Exhibition at Ray Drew Gallery Gives Insight to Daily Life 

    October 20, 2021 Las Vegas resident Robert Henssler’s art is now on view at the Ray Drew Gallery at Highlands University. The exhibition, titled Flora, Fauna and Somewhere In Between, can also be viewed online, and features photography, painting, ceramic work, and wood prints.   Henssler said he picked up his first camera at age five and started painting in junior…

  16. Highlands University Matanza Will Be Ticketed to Ensure COVID-19 Safety Precautions 

    October 19, 2021 Highlands University is hosting a traditional Matanza event at the Cultural Park and Melody Park on Saturday, October 23 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free activities, including music and food, will begin at 1 p.m.  Attendees to the Matanza this weekend will need to have tickets. A limited number of tickets are available to ensure adherence to COVID-19 social distancing and safety protocols. Tickets are…

  17. Highlands Students Engage in Hands-On Learning in Las Vegas Community Garden 

    October 18, 2021 Students in the Highlands forestry class Ecosystems and Humans are volunteering in the Las Vegas Community Garden this fall to acquire a first-hand understanding of the reciprocal relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world.   The class, which is taught by professor Tomasz Falkowski, will help students build skills they can use in future employment, network with community partners,…

  18. Large group of happy college students celebrating their graduation day outdoors while throwing their caps up in the air.

    Highlands University Offers Debt-Free Four-Year Education to Students from Partner High Schools 

    October 14, 2021 A new partnership between Highlands University and nine regional high schools will provide current high school juniors and seniors with four-year funding to attend Highlands.   Highlands is partnering with Santa Fe Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, and most of the schools in the Northeast Regional Education Cooperative, including Mora, Santa Rosa, Wagon Mound, West Las Vegas, and Las Vegas City school…

  19. Image of library building

    New Honor Society at Highlands University Expands Opportunities for Students Studying Spanish 

    October 13, 2021 Highlands University has been chartered through the national Spanish honor society, the Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica Alpha Beta Lambda chapter of Sigma Delta Pi. The honor society provides a wide range of opportunities to members, including scholarships, internships, and study abroad programs.   Spanish professor Norma A Valenzuela and bilingual education professor Elisabeth Valenzuela serve as co-advisors for Sigma Delta Pi and they said they hope the honor society will…

  20. Free Business Course at Highlands Promotes Entrepreneurship 

    October 12, 2021 After taking the free course, Launching Your Own Business, at Highlands University last summer, 74-year-old student Jewll Powdrell is on course to finish the degree he started in 1966 and to launch his own accounting business.   Launching Your Own Business was a four-week class offered to students and community members at no cost. The Regional Development…