The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship
academic institution
Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university.
Types
* Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where children r ...
and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 students in 2021.
UNM comprises twelve colleges and schools, including the
only law school in New Mexico. It offers 94 baccalaureate, 71 masters, and 37 doctoral degrees. The main campus spans in central Albuquerque, with branch campuses in
Gallup
Gallup may refer to:
*Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll
*Gallup (surname), a surname
*Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States
**Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New Me ...
,
Los Alamos,
Rio Rancho
Rio Rancho ( es, Río Rancho) is the most populous and only city in Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County.
It is ...
,
Taos
Taos or TAOS may refer to:
Places
* Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States
* Taos County, New Mexico, United States
** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico
*** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
, and
Los Lunas
Los Lunas is a village in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population is 14,835 inside the village limits due to the new housing developments at El Cerro de Los Lunas (Huning Ranch). It is the county ...
.
UNM is
classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity",
and spent over $243 million on
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
in 2021, ranking 103rd in the nation.
UNM's
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I program (
FBS for
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
) offers 16
varsity sports; known as the
Lobos
Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado.
Background
Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...
, the teams compete in the
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...
and have won national championships in skiing and cross country running. The official school colors are cherry and silver.
History
Founding
The University of New Mexico was founded on February 28, 1889, with the passage of House Bill No. 186 by the Legislative Assembly of the
Territory of New Mexico
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becoming ...
; stipulating that "Said institution is hereby located at or near the town of Albuquerque, in the county of Bernalillo within two miles north of railroad avenue in said town, upon a tract of good high and dry land, of not less than twenty acres suitable for the purposes of such institution," and that it would be the state university when New Mexico became a state.
Bernard Shandon Rodey
Bernard Shandon Rodey (March 1, 1856 – March 10, 1927) was an Irish-born American politician who was a Delegate from the New Mexico Territory and later a federal judge in Puerto Rico.
Early life
Rodey was born in County Mayo, Ireland. He ...
, a judge of the territory of New Mexico, pushed for Albuquerque as the location of the university and was one of the authors of the statute that created UNM, earning him the title of "Father of the University." Two years later,
Elias S. Stover became the first
president of the University and the following year the university's first building,
Hodgin Hall
Hodgin Hall, previously known at various times as the University Building, Main Building, or Administration Building, is a historic building on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Completed in 1892, it was the first bui ...
, opened.
Early growth
The third president of UNM,
William G. Tight
William G. Tight (1865–1910) was an American geomorphologist who became the third president of the University of New Mexico.
Tight was one of the first to decipher the glacial drainage histories of the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia ...
, who served from 1901 to 1909, introduced many programs for students and faculty, including the first
fraternity and sorority
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
. Tight introduced the
Pueblo Revival architecture
The Pueblo Revival style or Santa Fe style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States, which draws its inspiration from Santa Fe de Nuevo México's traditional Pueblo architecture, the Spanish missions, and Territorial ...
for which the campus has become known. During Tight's term, the first Pueblo Revival style building on campus, the
Estufa
The Estufa is a historic structure on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was built in 1907–08 by a local social fraternity and has served since 1915 as the primary meeting location of the university's Pi Kappa A ...
, was constructed, and the Victorian-style Hodgin Hall was plastered over to create a monument to Pueblo Indian culture. However, Tight was vilified for his
primitivism
Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...
and was removed from office for political reasons, though history would vindicate him as the Pueblo Revival style became the dominant architectural style on campus.
Under
David Ross Boyd
David Ross Boyd (July 31, 1853 – November 17, 1936) was an American educator and the first president of the University of Oklahoma.
Boyd was born in Coshocton, Ohio, and obtained a doctorate degree from the small College of Wooster, where he w ...
, the university's fifth president, the campus was enlarged from 20 to and a federal land grant was made to the university. In 1922, the university was
accredited
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...
. During this time, more facilities were constructed for the university, but it was under the tenure of James F. Zimmerman, the university's seventh president, that the university underwent its first major expansion. Under Zimmerman, many new buildings were constructed, student enrollment increased, new departments were added, and greater support was generated for scientific research. Among the new buildings constructed were Zimmerman Library, Scholes Hall, the first student union building (now the anthropology complex), the university's first gymnasium and its first stadium.
John Gaw Meem
John Gaw Meem IV (November 17, 1894 – August 4, 1983) was an American architect based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is best known for his instrumental role in the development and popularization of the Pueblo Revival Style and as a proponent of ar ...
, an architect based in
Santa Fe, was contracted to design many of the buildings constructed during this period, and is credited with imbuing the campus with its distinctive Pueblo Revival style.
World War II and beyond
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, University of New Mexico was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
In 1945, the university hired
John Philip Wernette to be its eighth president. Upon arrival, Wernette focused on improving the university's faculty, programs, and services. He instituted an eighteen-point program of procedures for the selection of new faculty and appointed a committee to ensure better teaching candidates for faculty members. He also developed a program for faculty advancement.
Offices of the General Placement Bureau, Veterans Assistance, and Testing and Counseling Services were formed to assist students and Wernette required all seniors in 1946 to take the
Graduate Record Examinations
The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada and a few other countries. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Servi ...
test to provide the school with a measurement of how well it was educating its students.
[ The university started the ]Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
and the School of Business Administration during his tenure.
In 1947 Wernette came into conflict with the Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual col ...
over the hiring of two faculty members who he thought were unqualified. His contract was not renewed by the Board of Regents in 1948.
Thomas L. Popejoy, the ninth and the first native New Mexican university president, was appointed in 1948 and oversaw the university through the next twenty years, a period of major growth for the university. During this time, enrollment jumped from nearly 5,000 to more than 14,000, new programs such as medicine, nursing, dental, and law were founded, and new facilities such as Mesa Vista Hall, Mitchell Hall, Johnson Gymnasium, new dormitories, the current student union building, the College of Education complex, the business center, the engineering complex, the Fine Arts Center, the Student Health Center, University Stadium, University Arena (now officially known by its nickname of The Pit), and the first facilities on North Campus were constructed. This period also saw the foundation of UNM's branch facilities in Los Alamos and Gallup and the acquisition of the D.H. Lawrence Ranch
The D. H. Lawrence Ranch, as it is now known, was the New Mexico residence of the English novelist D. H. Lawrence for about two years during the 1920s and the only property Lawrence and his wife Frieda owned. The property, originally named the ' ...
north of Taos.
During the early 1970s, two sit-in protests at the university led to a response from law enforcement officers. On May 5, 1970, a protest over the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
and the Kent State massacre
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...
occupied the Student Union Building. The National Guard was ordered to sweep the building and arrest those inside; eleven students and journalists were bayonetted when those outside did not hear the order to disperse given inside. On May 10, 1972, a peaceful sit-in protest near Kirtland Air Force Base led to the arrest of thirty-five people and was pushed back to UNM, leading to eight more arrests. The following day, tear gas was used against hundreds of demonstrators on campus and the situation continued to deteriorate, leading to the university to declare a state of emergency.
New programs and schools were created in the 1970s and the university gained control over the hospital on North Campus. New facilities for the medical and law schools were constructed on North Campus and new Main Campus buildings were constructed on the site of the now demolished Zimmerman Field and Stadium, including Ortega Hall, Woodward Hall, the Humanities building, and the Art building. The campus also underwent a new landscaping plan, which included the construction of the duck pond west of Zimmerman Library and the conversion of many streets to pedestrian malls in order to make a more pedestrian-friendly campus.
At the end of the decade, the university was implicated in a recruiting scandal dubbed "Lobogate" by the press. An FBI wiretap on the phone of a prominent Lobo booster recorded a conversation in which basketball head coach Norm Ellenberger
Norman Dale Ellenberger (August 2, 1932 – November 15, 2015) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He was head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobo basketball team from 1972 to 1979, winning Western Athleti ...
arranged with assistant coach Manny Goldstein to transfer bogus credits from a California junior college to the office of the UNM registrar. Subsequent investigation turned up a manufactured college seal from Mercer County Community College in New Jersey, along with blank transcripts and records of previous forgery. Further investigation uncovered alleged incentives like cars and apartments doled out to prime players and exposed a vast network of sports gambling. The scandal forced Ellenberger to resign and defined the term of William E. Davis
William Eugene "Bud" Davis (February 15, 1929 – September 24, 2021) was an American university president, Democratic politician, and football coach. He was an interim head football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes for the 1962 season. He was ...
, UNM's eleventh president.
Recent history
The university has continued to grow, with expanding enrollment and new facilities. In the 1980s, dramatic expansion occurred at the medical center, business school, and engineering school. The Centennial Library was also constructed. During the 1990s, an Honors College was founded, and the university completed construction of a new bookstore and Dane Smith Hall. The Research Park at South Campus was also expanded.
By this point, the university had one of the largest student and faculty populations of Hispanics and Native Americans in the country. A study released in 1995 showed that the number of full-time Hispanic faculty at UNM was four times greater than the national average and the number of Native American teachers five times greater. The schools of law and business had some of the largest Hispanic student populations of any university in the country.
In the first decade of the 2000s, major expansion began on medical facilities on North Campus. The current visitor center, a new engineering center, and George Pearl Hall were constructed. Renovations and expansions were undertaken on several buildings on Main Campus, along with the creation of a branch campus in Rio Rancho
Rio Rancho ( es, Río Rancho) is the most populous and only city in Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County.
It is ...
. This wave of construction is continuing at present with more projects ongoing.
In 2016, UNM was the first university in the country to launch a Signature School Program with the Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, which enables students to interact with analysts and learn how to join the CIA once they graduate.
In 2017, the campus became smoke and tobacco free, with the exception of a few designated smoking areas located near the residence halls. The New Mexico Department of Health assisted in the effort, paying for signs and stickers around campus as well as a PSA shown during orientation.
Campus
The main campus is located on in Albuquerque on the heights a mile east of Downtown Albuquerque, and is split in three parts – central, north, and south. The central campus is situated between Central Avenue on the south, Girard Boulevard on the east, Lomas Boulevard on the north, and University Boulevard on the west, and is home to the main academic university. The North Campus, which includes the medical, nursing, pharmacological, and law schools as well as the University of New Mexico Hospital
The University of New Mexico Hospital (locally known as either University Hospital, UNM Hospital, or shortened to UNMH) is a public teaching hospital located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, immediately north of the main campus of the University of New ...
, is located on the north side of Lomas across from the central campus. The South campus is located a mile south of the central campus, centered around the intersection of University Boulevard and Avenida César Chavez, and includes most of UNM's athletic facilities. The central campus is noted for its unique Pueblo Revival
The Pueblo Revival style or Santa Fe style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States, which draws its inspiration from Santa Fe de Nuevo México's traditional Pueblo architecture, the Spanish missions, and Territorial ...
architectural style, with many of the buildings designed by former university architect John Gaw Meem
John Gaw Meem IV (November 17, 1894 – August 4, 1983) was an American architect based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is best known for his instrumental role in the development and popularization of the Pueblo Revival Style and as a proponent of ar ...
, who is credited with imbuing the campus with its distinctive Southwestern feel. The central campus is also home to the University of New Mexico Arboretum, which contains some 320 species of woody plants.
Eight university buildings are listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
, including Hodgin Hall, the university's first building, and two adjacent structures, the Art Annex and Sara Reynolds Hall. The Estufa
The Estufa is a historic structure on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was built in 1907–08 by a local social fraternity and has served since 1915 as the primary meeting location of the university's Pi Kappa A ...
, one of the first Pueblo Revival style structures in the country and the first on campus, is also on the list. Other structures on the registry are Carlisle Gymnasium
Carlisle Gymnasium is an indoor arena on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the home of the New Mexico Lobos basketball team from its opening in 1928 until the completion of the larger Johnson Gymnasium ...
, Jonson Gallery, Scholes Hall, and the University House.
The central campus is home to four museums: the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology is an anthropology museum located on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The museum was founded in 1932 as the Museum of Anthropology of the University of New Mexico, becoming the firs ...
in the anthropology building, the Geology and Meteorite Museums in Northrop Hall, the Southwest Biology Museum in the CERIA building, and the University Art Museum in the Center for the Arts.
In an effort to promote sustainability and lessen the environmental impact of the campus, UNM has been reducing the campus energy usage through monitoring and retrofitting cooling, heating, water, and lighting technologies. Due to these efforts, the University of New Mexico's grade on the College Sustainability Report Card 2009 improved from a "C" to a "B" according to the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Since 2008, following an executive order that all new state buildings over need to meet LEED silver at minimum, all new construction on campus has been registered for LEED status. So far, an expansion of Castetter Hall and the Technology and Education Center are the only LEED-certified buildings on campus, with a Gold and Platinum rating respectively. Several other buildings are currently registered for LEED status.
Libraries
The primary UNM library units are the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, the Law Library, and the University Libraries, which consists of:
* Centennial Science and Engineering Library
* Center for Southwest Research (special collections and archives—housed in Zimmerman Library)
* Fine Arts and Design Library
* Parish Memorial Business and Economics Library
* Zimmerman Library (for humanities and social sciences)
Departmental libraries include:
* The Bunting Visual Resources Library (College of Fine Arts and the School of Architecture and Planning)
* Bureau of Business & Economic Research
* Center for Development and Disability Information Network Library
* Clark Field Archives & Library (Maxwell Museum and Department of Anthropology)
* LGBTQ Resource Center
* Museum of Southwestern Biology
The Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) is a research and teaching facility in the Department of Biology of the University of New Mexico (UNM). The museum's collections include vascular plants, invertebrates and vertebrates from the American Wes ...
(Department of Biology)
* Native American Studies Library
* Women's Resource Center Library
Academics
The University of New Mexico offers more than 215 degree and certificate programs, including 94 baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to:
* ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification
* Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree
* English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...
, 71 masters and 37 doctoral degrees, through 12 colleges and schools:
Rankings
In its list of "Best Colleges" in the U.S. for 2022, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked UNM as tied for 212th among national universities, tied for 107th among public universities, and tied at 90th for "Top Performers on Social Mobility". Several graduate programs are highly ranked nationally, namely family medicine (7th), graduate clinical training (8th), nuclear engineering (14th), and primary care (16th); among the graduate programs in the top 100 nationwide are electrical engineering (63), computer engineering (69), chemical engineering (77), and physics (77).
UNM ranks 8th in the "Military Friendly" rating, which denotes institutions that excel in accommodating, aiding, and retaining students who are military veterans.
The University of New Mexico Model United Nations, known as World Affairs Delegation or WAD, team is one of the top ranked teams in the country, with multiple awards at several different competitions, most notably, the Harvard World Model United Competition in Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
and Puebla, Mexico. Most recently, the team won the Diplomacy Award and The Resolution Fellowship, both in Panama City, Panama
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
. They have also competed and won awards at the St. Mary's University Model Organization of American States Conference.
Admissions
Admission to UNM is rated "selective" by '' U.S. News & World Report,'' with an acceptance rate of 65% according to ''The Princeton Review''. For Fall 2019, the school received 12,181 freshmen applications, of which 5,973 were admitted (49.0%) and 2,594 enrolled. The average GPA
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
of enrolled freshmen was 3.44, while the middle 50% range of SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...
composite scores were 1000–1290, 520–640 for evidence-based reading and writing, and 520–630 for math. The middle 50% range of the ACT Composite score was 19–25.
Athletics
UNM's NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I program ( FBS for football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
) offers 18 varsity sports. The teams are known as the Lobos
Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado.
Background
Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...
, who compete in the Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...
. Two human mascots, referred to as Louie Lobo and Lucy Lobo, rouse crowds at New Mexico athletic events. The official school colors are cherry and silver.
The Lobos have won national championships in skiing and cross country running.
Rivalries
UNM maintains strong athletic rivalries with New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...
. The UNM-NMSU rivalry is called the Rio Grande Rivalry
The Rio Grande Rivalry is the name given to the New Mexico–New Mexico State football rivalry and known as the Battle of I-25. It is an intercollegiate rivalry between The University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University. The rivalry be ...
, a competitive series based on points awarded to the winners of head-to-head competitions between the two universities in every sport. A rotating trophy is granted to the winning university for a period of one year, until the award presentation the following year. The rivalry is celebrated at UNM by the Red Rally, a large bonfire that takes place the Thursday before the UNM-NMSU football game.
Basketball
The Lobo men's basketball team is famous for its venue, The Pit
The Pit may refer to:
Places
* The Pit, a commonly used name for a mosh pit
* The Pit (arena), the main indoor arena at the University of New Mexico
* The Pit (memorial), "Яма" the Holocaust memorial in Minsk, Belarus
* Elder 'The Pit' Stadiu ...
. It may be best known as the site of the 1983 NCAA basketball championship, in which North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
, coached by Jim Valvano
James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster.
Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, most notably at North Carolin ...
, upset the University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
.
The UNM women's basketball team has won the Mountain West championship for four of the past five years, and have gone to the NCAA Tournament for the past six consecutive years.
Cross country
The UNM women's cross-country
Cross country or cross-country may refer to:
Places
* Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland
* Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY
* Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...
team won the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
championship in 2015 and 2017. Lobo Ednah Kurgat also won the individual title in 2017, and UNM's Weini Kelati won in 2019.
Football
The Lobo football team plays at University Stadium which is located across the street from The Pit.
The team has been to six bowl games since 1997 after a 35-year bowl drought. Placekicker Katie Hnida
Katharine Anne Hnida (; born May 17, 1981) is a former American football player who became the first woman to score in an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I-A game, college football's highest level. She accomplished this as ...
made history in the 2003 Las Vegas Bowl
The 2003 Las Vegas Bowl was the 12th edition of the annual college football bowl game. It featured the Oregon State Beavers and the New Mexico Lobos. Oregon State's 55 points scored remains a Las Vegas Bowl record. Their 41-point victory margin is ...
when she became the first woman to play in an NCAA Division I-A game, attempting but missing an extra point in the Lobos's 27–13 loss to UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. She later attempted and made two extra points in UNM's 72–8 victory over Texas State
Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
.
New Mexico also lost its 2003 and 2004 bowl games, making its record in bowl games 2–8–1. The football team went to the first year of the New Mexico Bowl
The New Mexico Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2006 at University Stadium, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Owned and operated by ESPN ...
in 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and lost to San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...
20–12. In 2007 the Lobos finished the regular season 8–4 and were invited to the New Mexico Bowl
The New Mexico Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2006 at University Stadium, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Owned and operated by ESPN ...
for the second straight season. The Lobos shut out the favored Nevada Wolf Pack
The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada.
H ...
23–0 to win their first bowl game since the 1961 Aviation Bowl
The Aviation Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game played at Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Ohio, on December 9, 1961, between the New Mexico Lobos and the Western Michigan Broncos. New Mexico won by a score of 28 to 12. Attendance for the ...
.
Skiing
New Mexico won the National title for Division I Skiing in 2004, defeating then No. 1 ranked University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
. In 2017, the team was eliminated and then reinstated. The men's and women's ski teams were eliminated effective fall 2019.
Soccer
The men's soccer team was National Runner-up in Division I Soccer losing in extra time to the University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
in 2005 as the No. 2 seed, the highest ranking for a UNM soccer team in school history. The men's soccer team was eliminated from the UNM sports programs in 2019.
Student life
The main university campus is located in the lower Heights of Albuquerque just east of Downtown Albuquerque and is the focal point for the neighborhoods surrounding it; the neighborhoods to the immediate south and west are home to a large population of students. However, the vast majority of UNM's student population live off-campus around the Albuquerque metropolitan area, with only just over 2,000 living in on-campus housing.
The Student Union Building (SUB) is a major activity center for students on-campus, with a food court, a movie theater, event facilities, student government and organization offices, student services, and recreation areas. Another major hotspot for students is the popular Frontier Restaurant, a late-night eatery located across Central Avenue from main campus and a popular meeting spot for students. The Duck Pond is a popular relaxation spot for students and local residents, particularly in the warmer months.
Student organizations
There are over 400 student-run organizations on campus, which include academic, athletic, ethnic, honorary, political, religious, and service groups, as well as fraternities and sororities.
Student government
=ASUNM
=
The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico (ASUNM) is the undergraduate student government of UNM, with an elected student body president, vice-president, student court, and 20 senators. Senators are elected to two-semester terms. There are two elections each school year; in each, 10 senators are elected. Many candidates run in slates. There are different agencies within ASUNM, such as Lobo Spirit and Community Experience.
=GPSA
=
The Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) is the graduate student government of UNM, led by an elected president and a representative council from the different schools of study on campus since 1969.
Greek life
The University of New Mexico is home to several fraternities and sororities, around 5% of the UNM student body is involved in Greek life. Of the fraternity's on campus, Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...
is the oldest fraternity on campus being founded in 1911. Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
was founded in 1916 being the second oldest fraternity on campus. The Sigma Chi house is the largest fraternity house in the state of New Mexico, as well being located on 1855 Sigma Chi road, the only Sigma Chi chapter in the country, with that address. Both Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...
and Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
are two of the older fraternity's on campus, as they were founded in 1925 and 1946 respectively. Both Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.
It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States a ...
and Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded on October 15, 1885.
As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across ...
were founded in 1918, being the two oldest Panhellenic Sororities at The University of New Mexico. Followed behind Chi Omega
Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities.
Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...
founded in 1925 and Pi Beta Phi
Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...
in 1946.
* ''Interfraternity Council''
Fraternities:
** Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...
** Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
** Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...
** Pi Kappa Phi
Pi Kappa Phi (), commonly known as Pi Kapp(s), is an American Greek Letter secret and social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston ...
** Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
** Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...
** Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...
* ''College Panhellenic Council''
Sororities:
** Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded on October 15, 1885.
As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across ...
** Chi Omega
Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities.
Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...
** Pi Beta Phi
Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...
** Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.
It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States a ...
* ''Multicultural Greek Council
''Fraternities:
** Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...
** Beta Sigma Epsilon
** Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
** Lambda Theta Phi
Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. () is a Latino non-profit social fraternity in the United States. It was founded on December 1, 1975, at Kean College in Union, New Jersey. It emphasizes Latin unity and the celebration of the Latin cultu ...
** Omega Delta Phi
Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc. (), also known as O-D-Phi is a multicultural fraternity that was founded on November 25, 1987, at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Its seven founders known as the "Men of Vision" to fraternity members want ...
** Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...
** Phi Beta Sigma
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...
** Phi Iota Alpha
Phi Iota Alpha (), established on December 26, 1931, is the oldest Latino Fraternity in existence, and works to motivate people, develop leaders, and create innovative ways to unite the Latino community. The organization has roots that stem back ...
* ''Multicultural Greek Council
''Sororities:
** Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...
** Alpha Pi Omega
Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc. () is the oldest historically Indigenous national sorority in the United States. It is the largest Indigenous Greek letter organization, with 24 chartered chapters across nine states and the District of Columbia.
Hi ...
** Gamma Alpha Omega
Gamma Alpha Omega () is a Latina-founded Greek letter intercollegiate sorority, established in 1993 on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The sorority has 28 collegiate chapters and 13 alumnae chapters.
History
Gamma Alph ...
** Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...
** Kappa Delta Chi
Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (), also known as K-D Chi (pronounced Kay-Dee-Kie) is a Greek letter, intercollegiate Latina founded sorority in the United States. KDChi is a 501(c)(7) organization that prides itself on graduating all of its memb ...
** Lambda Theta Alpha
Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. () is a Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latina-based sorority, established in 1975 at Kean University by seventeen women of Latin, Caribbean, and European descent as a support system for women in higher educat ...
** Theta Nu Xi
Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. () is a historically multicultural sorority founded on April 11, 1997, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), by seven women who sought to bridge cultural gaps. Theta Nu Xi was incorpora ...
** Zeta Phi Beta
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...
Traditions
* The ''Hanging of the Greens
The hanging of the greens is a Western Christian ceremony in which many congregations and people adorn their churches, as well as other buildings (such as a YWCA or university), with Advent and Christmas decorations. This is done on or directly ...
'' is a celebration held in early December for the holiday season, when the campus is decorated with thousands of farolito
A ''luminaria'', a small bonfire are lit during Las Posadas, a nine-day holiday running December 16–24.
Farolito is a small paper lantern (commonly a candle set in some sand inside a paper bag), particularly in the broader Southwestern Un ...
s and a procession of carolers winds through the campus to the University House, which is opened for visitors and where cocoa and bizcochitos
Biscochitos or bizcochitos ( diminutive of the Spanish ''bizcocho'') are a New Mexican cuisine crisp butter cookie, flavored with sugar, cinnamon, and anise. The dough is rolled thin and cut into the shape of fleur-de-lis, or sometimes crosse ...
are served.
* ''Homecoming Week'' is held each fall to welcome back alumni. Over the course of the week, the student body elects a Homecoming King and Queen and six attendants (three male and three female) to serve as the homecoming court.
* ''Lobo Day'' is a celebration for the founding date of the university on February 28, 1889. The tradition in recent years has included a large group photo of students taken in the Student Union Building, which is posted on a wall in the building.
* ''Red Rally'' is a large bonfire and rally held on the Thursday before the football match with UNM's rival New Mexico State University. During Red Rally, a large effigy of an Aggie
Aggie may refer to:
People
* J. C. Agajanian (1913–1984), American motor sports personality
* Aggie Beynon, Canadian metalsmith
* Aggie Grey (1897–1988), Samoan hotelier born Agnes Genevieve Swann
* Agnes Aggie Herring (1876–1939), Ameri ...
, the mascot of NMSU, is burned to the ground.
* ''UNM Fiestas'' are an end-of-the year celebration held in the spring which includes a community service event called Spring Storm and a large concert.
* ''Welcome Back Days'' are held during the first week of the school year and welcomes new and returning students to the university, and includes free food, entertainment, and information on the university's programs and organizations.
Media
UNM owns and operates KUNM-FM
KUNM is a public radio station broadcasting on FM 89.9 MHz from high atop Sandia Crest, with broadcasts originating from the third floor of Oñate Hall, on the campus of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
As of ...
, one of two National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
stations in Albuquerque. In 2008, KUNM-FM
KUNM is a public radio station broadcasting on FM 89.9 MHz from high atop Sandia Crest, with broadcasts originating from the third floor of Oñate Hall, on the campus of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
As of ...
won 16 Associated Press awards, including Station of the Year. UNM also owns and operates the University of New Mexico Press, its publishing arm established in 1929. With Albuquerque Public Schools
Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, APS is the largest of 89 public school districts in the state of New Mexico. In 2010 it had a total of 143 schools with some 95,000 students, ...
, UNM also operates New Mexico PBS
KNME-TV, virtual channel 5 (UHF digital channel 35), branded on-air as NM PBS, is a Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member television station licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Jointly owned by the University of New Mexico a ...
, Albuquerque's public television station which currently broadcasts in High Definition Digital on two channels, English and Spanish.[ ''The Daily Lobo'' is UNM's student-run daily newspaper and is a publication serving the metro area.]
People
Alumni
Faculty
Presidents
Notes
References
Further reading
* Bellmore, Audra, "The University of New Mexico's Zimmerman Library: A New Deal Landmark Articulates the Ideals of the PWA," ''New Mexico Historical Review'' 88 (Spring 2013), 123–63.
External links
*
UNM Athletics website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of New Mexico
1889 establishments in New Mexico Territory
Buildings and structures in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Education in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Education in Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Education in McKinley County, New Mexico
Education in Taos County, New Mexico
Education in Valencia County, New Mexico
Educational institutions established in 1889
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
Tourist attractions in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Public universities and colleges in New Mexico
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...