Southeast New Mexico College celebrated its independence with a special ceremony on Monday, and the turnout was great. The independence of Carlsbad’s college was a great victory for Carlsbad, but it was an even bigger victory for the democratic process in terms of showing that the process can work.
Members of the faculty and staff here, and members of the community, all came together and accomplished something incredible. Thank you to the members of the faculty and staff who had the courage to let us know that there was a need for improvement. They recognized that we have a great college, but they also saw the interest in making it even better. Craig Stephens and John Heaton co-chaired a higher education task force that devoted a considerable amount of time towards the grassroots effort that led to independence. Special thanks to the hard work and dedication of Wendy Austin, Jay Jenkins and Kyle Marksteiner.
Rep. Cathrynn Brown and Sen. Gay Kernan did an outstanding job with getting the bill passed that led to independence, and we also appreciate all the support from Rep. Jim Townsend, Sen. Ron Griggs and Sen. David Gallegos, as well as from Sen. George Munoz in Gallup. Early in the legislative process, it felt like many people wrote off the entire thing, but things changed when Carlsbad residents of all ages came into the virtual meetings to speak in support of college independence. Sendero Midstream made a generous donation to help with marketing efforts. Numerous companies are already helping support Southeast New Mexico College. New Mexico State University was also very cooperative during the transition process.
Watching Southeast New Mexico College, come together has been an inspiration. We know this is only the beginning, but we also know that our college has unlimited potential.
Thank you to members of the SENMC board, Dr. Ned Elkins, Tiffany Frintz, Mark Cage, Bill Murrill and Sarah Bowman, and administration, including Dr. Andrew Nwanne, Dr. Karla Volpi, Dr. Monty Harris, Juanita Garcia, Sky Soto and Merdia Theragood, and many others, for Monday’s event.
Some of our former interns at City Hall are accomplishing great things academically. Asia Corona, who graduated from Carlsbad High School in 2018, has been accepted into the Mass Communications graduate program at Texas Tech University.
Victoria Peňa Parr, Class of 2017, has completed her graduate program at the University of New Mexico and has now received a full ride to Villanova Law School. Victoria was selected as a Public Interest Scholar, which includes a past record of leadership and academic success and a future commitment to public service.
Both Asia and Victoria interned at City Hall, and they also worked at the front desk in the Carlsbad Water Park over the summer. We’re very proud of all of their accomplishments and expect many more.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway