President Frank’s Weekly Perspective – 10.29.12

President’s Weekly Per­spec­tive – 10.29.12

Good morn­ing.

Hal­loween is in the air and it is hard to believe that Octo­ber is nearly over.

Amer­i­can Indian Her­itage Month
With Novem­ber comes Amer­i­can Indian Her­itage Month, and here on cam­pus we will be hon­or­ing our Native cul­ture with a series of edu­ca­tional, social and cul­tural events, begin­ning with a kick off event on Fri­day, Nov. 2 in the SUB Atrium from 12 to 1 p.m. that will include dance per­for­mances by the Wala­towa Head­start stu­dents. I invite you to join us, and encour­age you to par­tic­i­pate in the activ­i­ties, which you will find listed at Amer­i­can Indian Stu­dent Ser­vices.

UNM is com­mit­ted to hon­or­ing and sup­port­ing the many diverse cul­tures that are part of our com­mu­nity, through cel­e­bra­tions but also through our lead­er­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties. For that rea­son, I am delighted to let you know that Pam Agoyo, direc­tor of Amer­i­can Indian Stu­dent Ser­vices, has been named President-elect of the National Indian Edu­ca­tion Asso­ci­a­tion, which focuses on advanc­ing excel­lence for our Native stu­dents. In that role she will not only be con­tribut­ing to an impor­tant dia­logue, but rep­re­sent­ing UNM’s com­mit­ment to our Native stu­dents and community.

The Power of Giv­ing
The impor­tance of com­mu­nity has been very much in my thoughts this past week. Novem­ber is also Phil­an­thropy Month and we are prepar­ing to launch our annual United Way cam­paign, in which we have an oppor­tu­nity to finan­cially sup­port the non­profit orga­ni­za­tions that are part of the fab­ric of our lives. The cam­paign will for­mally begin next Mon­day, Nov. 5. UNM has a tra­di­tion of gen­eros­ity that is extra­or­di­nary, and I hope you will join me in par­tic­i­pat­ing in cam­paign activ­i­ties and sup­port­ing United Way of Cen­tral New Mexico.

Phil­an­thropy is woven through our com­mu­nity, not only as an expres­sion of who we are but also as an expres­sion of our great­ness. For the many phil­an­thropic part­ners who sup­port UNM, we are the place where gen­eros­ity and excel­lence in edu­ca­tion meet. Last week I had sev­eral oppor­tu­ni­ties to spend time with some of our major donors. Along with the Henry Nem­cik, the pres­i­dent and CEO of the UNM Foun­da­tion, I vis­ited donors in New York and Philadel­phia to talk with them about our uni­ver­sity. What I found is that, though across the con­ti­nent from us, their com­mit­ment to UNM is sin­cere and pas­sion­ate. Later in the week, Janet and I trav­eled to Farm­ing­ton, where we were the guests of Regent Fort­ner at a recep­tion for our many sup­port­ers in the north­west cor­ner of the state. Then on Fri­day night, I attended the Lobo Cham­pi­ons event, which cel­e­brates major donors to our ath­letic pro­gram. The sup­port of so many peo­ple both here at home and across the coun­try, is to my mind, a pow­er­ful vote of sup­port for our university.

Hon­or­ing our Com­mu­nity
You have an oppor­tu­nity to rec­og­nize a mem­ber of our com­mu­nity with the Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion Awards. UNM presents a num­ber of awards to alumni and friends of the Uni­ver­sity in recog­ni­tion of their out­stand­ing ser­vice to UNM and their accom­plish­ments in their pro­fes­sions and the com­mu­nity. Do you know a spe­cial Lobo you’d like to nom­i­nate? The dead­line for the fol­low­ing awards is Fri­day, Nov. 9: Fac­ulty Teach­ing Award, Erna S. Fer­gus­son Award, Bernard S. Rodey Award, and James F. Zim­mer­man Award. For more infor­ma­tion on these awards and the nom­i­na­tion process, visit the Alumni Awards page.

UNM2020: Let Your Voice Be Heard
If you have not yet par­tic­i­pated in the vir­tual UNM2020 future vision plan­ning, please visit UNM 2020 through Wednes­day, Oct. 31. We have received numer­ous ideas, com­ments and votes on how the UNM com­mu­nity envi­sions the Uni­ver­sity in 2020. Even if you have already con­tributed, please feel free to go back and review any new per­spec­tives or add your own. Many thanks to all who have helped to shape UNM2020.

Have a safe and happy Hal­loween. Go Lobos!

Bob