Class Notes Fall 2021

Class Notes Fall 2021

Photo of the exterior of Hodgin Hall looking West

Class Notes Fall 2021

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Look for a friend on every page!

Send your alumni news to Mirage Editor, The University of New Mexico Alumni Association, MSC 01-1160, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001. Or better yet, email your news to Alumni@unm.edu. Please include your middle name or initial and tell us where you’re living now.

Deadlines:

  • Spring deadline: January 1
  • Fall deadline: June 1

1950

Dave Barney headshot photo

Dave E. Barney (’59 BS, ’61 MS), Placitas, N.M., retired from the Albuquerque Academy after 47 years as swimming coach.

1950

1960

Katherine Kuligowski (’60 BS), Albuquerque, has published “Rehoming Love.”

Nancy Gearhart (’66 BSHE), Mesa, Ariz, celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with husband Steve Gearhart.

Luther C. Garcia (’67 BSED, ’71 MA) and Karen A. Garcia (‘68 BSED), Albuquerque, celebrated 50 years of marriage on February 6.

Thomas Horn headshot photo

Thomas Horn (’68 BA), San Francisco, was awarded the French Legion of Honor, the highest award France bestows, in acknowledgment of his lifelong dedication to philanthropy and advocacy for the arts and culture of France. Horn, an attorney, also serves as honorary consul of Monaco in San Francisco.

Vicki A. Turpen (’69 BAED, ’93 MA), Albuquerque, has published “The Delicate Balance.”

1960

1970

Enrique R. Lamadrid (’70 BA), Albuquerque, was granted the 2021 Heritage Publication Award from the Cultural Properties Review Committee.

Linda Kurth (’71 BAED, ’73 MA), Mount Vernon, Wash., has published “God, the Devil and Divorce.”

Dan H. Lopez (’71 BA, ’72 MA, ’83 PhD), Albuquerque, former New Mexico Tech president, was named to the Western New Mexico University board of regents.

Janis A. Devoti (’72 BSED, ’83 MA), Santa Fe, N.M., the principal at Piñon Elementary School, retired after nearly 30 years.

Patricia K. Tharp (’73 BUS), Farmington, N.M., has published “The Lost Communities of Navajo Dam Vol. 1/Vol. 2.”

Gregory J. Lalire (’74 BA), Leesburg, Va., has published “Man from Montana.”

Joseph F. McGrath (’75 PhD), New Upper Falls, Md., has published “T.C. O'Connor.”

Martin A. Serna (’76 BBA, ’86 MAPA), Albuquerque, was elected to the board of directors for Nusenda Credit Union.

Theodore J. Bornhorst (’77 MS, ’80 PhD), Houghton, Mich., has announced his retirement from Michigan Technological University after 40 years with the institution.

Thomas Daulton headshot photo

Thomas Daulton (’77 BBA), Dallas, Texas, was elected to the Albuquerque Community Foundation’s 2021 board of trustees.

Mark D. Guadagnoli (’77 BS, ’81 MD), Fort Collins, Colo., has published “Final Chaos.”

Holly Harrison (’77 MA, ’90 PhD), Albuquerque, has published “Rites & Wrongs.”

Del Leonard Jones (’77 BA), Helper, Utah, has published “At the Bat: The Strikeout That Shamed America.”

Edward Mazria (’77 MARCH), Santa Fe, N.M., was awarded the 2021 Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects for his work sounding the alarm on climate change and motivating the architecture profession into action.

Nancy Hollander (’78 JD) New York, N.Y., was recently depited in the film “The Mauritanian.”

Genevieve J. Jackson (’78 BSED, ’83 MA) Window Rock, Ariz., was appointed to the McKinley County Commission.

Judy A. Cartmell (’79 BBA, ’96 MPA), Colorado Springs, Colo., was elected to the board of directors for Nusenda Credit Union.

Vincent R. Trollinger (’79 MPA), Albuquerque, and his wife Danice, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on January 30.

1970

1980

Jaima M. Chevalier (’80 BA), Santa Fe, N.M., has published “Fringe: Maria Benitez’s Flamenco Enchantment.”

Donald L. Willerton (’80 MS), Los Alamos, N.M., has published “Teddy’s War” and “The King of Trash.”

Benjamin G. Diven (’81 MD), Las Cruces, N.M., was awarded the Tim Fleming Medical Director of the Year award.

Bob Matteucci headshot photo

Bob Matteucci, Jr. (’82 BAS, ’08 JD) has opened his own law practice, Matteucci Family Law.

Jennifer J. Pruett (’83 JD), Santa Fe, N.M., Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the New Mexico Environment Department, retired after more than 20 years with the department.

Perry R. Wilkes (’83 BAENV), Nogales, Ariz., has published “I Always Wanted to Tell You…” and “Under Torn Paper Mountains.”

Thomas R. Leary (’84 BSPH, ’08 PharmD), Albuquerque, was elected to the Veterans Integration Center board of directors.

Richard J. Berry (’85 BBA), Albuquerque, was elected to serve as an officer the United Way of Central New Mexico’s board of directors.

Michael E. Brands (’85 MRCP), Woodstock, Vt., received the Northern New England Planning Association Chapter of the American Planning Association’s first Planner Emeritus award. Brands retired in May after 31 years as planning director for the Town of Woodstock, Vermont.

Larry T. Torres (’85 MA), Arroyo Seco, N.M., published the novel “The Children of the Blue Nun.”

Barbara Vigil (’85 JD), Santa Fe, N.M., retired from the New Mexico Supreme Court and was appointed secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department.

Fred B. Bugbee headshot photo

Fred B. Bugbee (’86 BM), Albuquerque, N.M. has become the new head of the NMSU Music Department after joining the university in 1994.

Gerald E. Baca (’87 JD), Las Vegas, N.M., is a New Mexico Court of Appeals judge.

Hilma M. Chynoweth (’87 BA,’14 MA), Albuquerque, was elected to the New Mexico Public Relations Society of America.

Sheila R. Hernandez (’87 BBA), Albuquerque, was named senior vice president/customer service officer at Summit Electric Supply.

Scott Elder headshot photo

Scott Elder (’88 BA, ’97 MA, ’17 MBA), Albuquerque, who had served as Albuquerque Public Schools interim superintendent for nine months, was promoted to the permanent position in March.

Sonya F. Priestly (’88 BBA), Albuquerque, was elected to the United Way of Central New Mexico’s board of directors.

Joseph M. Lane (’89 BUS, ’92 BS), Albuquerque, received the UNM Staff Council’s 2021 Jim Davis Award.

Cheryl A. Matherly (’89 BA), Allentown, Pa., was named Senior International Officer of the Year by The Institute of International Education.

1980

1990

Steven Lee Carr (’90 BA), Albuquerque, was elected to the board of directors of the New Mexico Public Relations Society of America.

Jill K. Trujillo (’90 BBA), Albuquerque, was named Mountain West Women’s Golf Coach of the Year.

Wayne E. Propst (’90 JD), Santa Fe, N.M., was named the New Mexico Public Regulation Comission’s chief of staff.

Eileen P. Riordan (’ 90 JD), Carlsbad, N.M., was appointed district judge by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to serve in the Fifth Judicial District, which includes Eddy, Chaves and Lea counties.

Kenneth E. Sickenger (’90 BA), Albuquerque, a reporter for the Albuquerque Journal, was named the 2020 New Mexico Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

Sanjay I. Engineer (’92 MARCH), Albuquerque, vice president at FBT Architects, was elected to the Albuquerque Community Foundation’s 2021 board of trustees.

Carol J. Matindale-Taylor (’92 BA), Albuquerque, published “Unfinished: In This Life and The Next.”

Jacquelyn M. Marushka (’92 BA), Nashville, Tenn., was named board member for the Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce.

Fernando G. Baca (’93 BA), Albuquerque, is the new vice president of commercial lending in Santa Fe at WaFd Bank New Mexico.

Julie J. Vargas (’93 JD), Albuquerque, is a justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Thomas E. Antram (’94 BA), Albuquerque, was elected to the Albuquerque Community Foundation’s 2021 Board of Trustees.

Laura C. Parajon (’95 MD, ’99 MPH) was appointed Deputy Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health.

Michael M. Silva (’95 BA), Albuquerque, joined the Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation board of directors.

Melissa M. Garcia (’96 DM), Albuquerque, is the new medical director for True Health New Mexico.

Robert L. Metzger (’96 BSN), Dallas, Texas, received the 2020 Texas Nurse Practitioners’ NP of the Year Award. Metzger is the advanced practice provider manager for surgical services at Parkland Health & Hospital Systems.

Jackie Lindsey (’97 BA), Santa Fe, N.M., has become Santa Fe County’s first female fire chief. A former Olympian and Albuquerque firefighter, she is also currently on the FEMA National Advisory Council.

Renee Salazar-Garcia (’97 BAED, ’91 MA), Albuquerque, is Santa Fe High School’s new principal.

Susan J. Wilson (’97 BA), Albuquerque, was elected to the United Way of Central New Mexico’s board of directors.

Karen Dressler Argeanas (‘98 MA), Moriarty, N.M., had her art work featured at La Galería @ The Shaffer in Mountainair, N.M.

Patricia A. Gonzales (‘98 AAS, ’00 BUS, ’06 MA, ’10 CERT1), El Prado, N.M., was named one of Taos Behavioral Health’s new board officers.

Lois E. Frank (’99 MA, ’11 PhD), Santa Fe, N.M., has partnered with Heritage Hotels in their 2021 virtual culinary tours.

Jeanette Hargreaves (’99 BFA), Austin, Texas, has published “The Day I Threw Banana Bread and Almost Went to Jail” and has launched her temper management website TemperCoaching.com.

1990

2000

Leslie D. Cordova-Trujillo (’00 BS), San Pedro, Calif., has published “Dear Her: Letters to Teenage Girls and Young Ladies About Lessons Learned Through Education.”

Theresa M. Duncan (’00 JD), Santa Fe, N.M. was recently depicted in the film The Mauritanian.

Karli R. Massey (’00 BA), Albuquerque, was elected to the New Mexico Public Relations Society of America’s board of directors.

Briana H. Zamora (’00 JD), Albuquerque, was appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court. She was previously a New Mexico Court of Appeals judge.

Martha I. Chew-Sanchez (’01 PhD), Canton, N.J., has coedited “Scattered Musics.”

Kimimila L. Locke (’01 BA), Standing Rock, N.D., has been named a 2021 Bush Fellow.

Brenda Maloney Shafer (’01 JD), a partner in the national law firm Quarles & Brady’s Health & Life Sciences Practice Group, has been appointed to the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel.

Joshua J. Sanchez (’02 BA, ’06 JD), Belen, N.M., is a judge in the Second Judicial District Court of Bernalillo County.

Allison Elaine Burnett (’03 PHARM, ’03 PharmD), Albuquerque, has been named president of the Anticoagulation Forum.

Candace A. Sall (’03 MA), Columbia, Mo., is the new director of the Museum of Anthropology and American Archaeology Division at the University of Missouri.

Sophie Martin headshot photo

Sophie Martin (’03 MBA, ’13 JD), Albuquerque, is director of Communications, Education, and Outreach for the National Conference of Bar Examiners in Madison, Wisc. Martin previously was the executive director of the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners.

Holmon D. Wiggins (’03 BA), Tuscaloosa, Ala., a former Lobo running back, has been promoted to assistant head coach of offense for the University of Alabama.

Rebecca M. Roose (’04 JD), Santa Fe, N.M., is Deputy Cabinet Secretary at the New Mexico Environment Department.

Nicole J. Aiken-Shaban (’05 BA), Baltimore, Md., has been promoted to partner at Reed Smith LLP in the firm’s Philadelphia office.

Purvi P. Mody (’05 MACCT), Albuquerque, is the new special director of the New Mexico Department of Health.

William D. Duncan (’06 MA), Albuquerque, retired after serving for 16 years as Rio Rancho High School’s activities director.

Matthew J. Pacheco (’07 BBA), Albuquerque, became partner at Burt & Company CPAs, LLC.

Sureyya C. Stone (’08 BA, ’16 BSN, ’20 MSN), Albuquerque, joined Lovelace Medical Group’s team of health care providers.

Lancing C. Adams (’09 BA, ’14 MPA), Santa Fe, N.M., is development director at the New Mexico Tourism Department.

Leigh A. Caswell (’09 MPH), Albuquerque, was elected to the United Way of Central New Mexico’s board of directors.

Ricardo S. Gonzales (’09 BA, ’17 MA, ’20 JD), Los Lunas, N.M., has joined Montgomery & Andrews, P.A., as an associate.

Charles B. Kraft (’09 BA, ’13 JD), Albuquerque, has become a partner at the law firm of Butt Thornton & Baehr PC.

Jennifer H. Watkins (’09 MA), Santa Fe, N.M., has published “So Pipe the Young.”

Isaac A. Leon headshot photo

Isaac Leon (’09 MBA, ’19 JD), Albuquerque, joined Sutin, Thayer & Browne as an associate attorney.

Frankie Solomon (’09 BBA), Dallas, Texas, Lobos defensive back in 2006 through 2009, recently played for the U.S. flag football team in Denmark.

2000

2010

Sheldon Spotted Elk (’10 JD), Denver, Colo., has joined the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges as program director for tribal justice partnerships.

Brandi N. Bowman (’11 BS, ’15 PharmD), Albuquerque, joined Presbyterian Medical Group’s team of health care providers.

Kristen Gamboa (’11 BBA), Peralta, N.M., is the new senior economic developer for the village of Los Lunas.

Miquela C. Martinez (’11 BS, ’16 MS), Santa Fe, N.M., was named to the spring All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference volleyball team.

Ranah B. Yaqub (’11 BA), Cedar Crest, N.M., was awarded the New Mexico Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award on Feb. 6, 2021.

Landon Brown (’12 MD), Albuquerque, has joined New Mexico Orthopaedics West Side Clinic.

Lauren M. Crabtree (’12 BSNE), Albuquerque, was recognized for her studies in engineering by the International Atomic Energy Agency and selected for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Program.

Daniel J. Galvan (’12 BA), Albuquerque, was promoted to commander of the Alamogordo National Guard Unit and also received the Army Achievement Award for his service overseas.

Florencio Olguin headshot photo

Florencio “Flo” Olguin Jr. (’12 BA, ’15 MPA), Albuquerque, was named academic operations officer for the UNM College of Fine Arts.

Kendra N. Pesko (’12 PhD), Albuquerque,was promoted to technical director of infectious disease at TriCore Reference Laboratories.

Stephanie K. Rodriguez (’12 BAPD, ’14 MCRP), Albuquerque, was confirmed as Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Higher Education Department.

Tiffany J. Rawls (’13 BBA, ’15 MBA), Albuquerque, joined the Albuquerque Community Foundation in the role of senior accountant.

Emily B. Allen (’14 MBA, ’14 MEMBA), Corrales, N.M., was elected to the Albuquerque Community Foundation’s 2021 Board of Trustees.

Alexander M. Greenberg (’14 BA, ’17 MBA), Albuquerque, is the new financial program specialist at the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Graciela A. Ruiz (’14 BFA) San Francisco, Calif., was named one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30.

Kari E. Olson (’14 JD), Santa Fe, N.M., was elected shareholder at the Montgomery & Andrews law firm.

Gavin K. Green (’15 BLA), Albuquerque, will be representing Malaysia in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in men’s golf.

Victor V. Perez (’15 BA), Séméac, France, represented France in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in men’s golf.

Lucas L. Baca (’16 BA), Albuquerque, was elected to the New Mexico Public Relations Society of America board of directors.

Robert J. Johnston (’16 JD), Albuquerque, a lawyer with Sutin, Thayer & Browne, served as attorney coach for the Albuquerque High Mock Trial Green Team. This year’s team earned second place overall in the statewide competition.

Andie E. Mirabal (’16 BBA), Albuquerque, was elected to the New Mexico Public Relations Society of America.

Jayson C. Peters (’16 AA), Belen, N.M., was awarded the 2020 Citizen of the Year award by the Greater Belen Chamber of Commerce for his role in the Believe in Belen initiative.

Nicholas Estes (’17 PhD), Albuquerque, co-curated the online exhibition “Seven Generations of Red Power in New Mexico,” detailing the Native rights movement.

Rachel L. Garcia (’17 BSN, ’20 MSN), Rio Rancho, N.M., joined Lovelace Medical Group’s team of health care providers.

Valinda Coretta Shirley (’17 BS), Rock Point, Ariz., was confirmed by the Navajo Nation Council as the executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.

Corey Bojorquez (’18 BLA), Bellflower, Calif., was signed to the Los Angeles Rams as a punter.

Lawrence A. Sanchez (’18 MBA), Los Lunas, N.M., was elected to the United Way of Central New Mexico’s board of directors.

Jason T. Sanders (’18 BA) Orange, Calif., re-signed through 2026 as a kicker for the Miami Dolphins.

River E. Marquez (’19 BA), Albuquerque, was elected to the board of directors of the New Mexico Public Relations Society of America.

Rebecca G. Prinster (’19 MA), Albuquerque, co-curated the online exhibition “Seven Generations of Red Power in New Mexico,” detailing the Native rights movement.

2010

2020

Makayla E. Grijalva (’20 BA), Las Cruces, N.M., was elected to the board of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalism.

Amelia F. Kloer (’20 BAA), Albuquerque, has joined Modulus Architects Inc. as an architect intern.

Remy L. Link (’20 BA), Albuquerque, is a volunteer with ProtectNM, an organization founded by UNM medical students to collect and deliver PPE to medical organizations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cody Moezzi (’20 BA), Albuquerque, a volunteer with ProtectNM, an organization founded by UNM medical students, delivered and distributed 45,000 KN95 masks to high-risk medical organizations in his home town of Alamogordo.

Teton Saltes headshot photo

Teton W. Saltes (’20 BA), Albuquerque, was awarded the 2020 Wuerffel Trophy for his community service, athletic achievements and excellence in the classroom.

2020

Goodbye MN, Hello NM: Richard Pitino Is Loving Loboland

Goodbye MN, Hello NM: Richard Pitino Is Loving Loboland

UNM men's basketball coach wearing a suit in the hallway of the Pit arena

Goodbye MN, Hello NM: Richard Pitino Is Loving Loboland

By Glen Rosales

New Mexico’s new men’s head basketball coach is just about everything that recent coaches were not.   

Richard Pitino is stylish and snazzy, with a certain hip confidence. He rubs shoulders with national champs, like his dad, Rick Pitino, or mentor Billy Donovan.

 He would never ride a Harley-Davidson down the Pit ramp.

Pitino, 40, was out of a job at Minnesota for less than 24 hours before being offered and accepting the New Mexico job in March.

And now he’s setting out to right the Lobo program, put the fannies back into the Pit seats and figure out a way to win a few NCAA Tournament games along the way.

When he was let go by Minnesota, Pitino had one goal for his next chapter: “I wanted to be at a place that I felt like their stature in the conference was one of the best basketball jobs in the conference,” he said. “And I don’t know why we can’t be that. I think we’ve traditionally been that. I know that we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I truly believe that the West needs New Mexico to be great. So it checked every box for me. I wanted to be in a town where basketball was a big deal, and it certainly is to Albuquerque. I wanted to be in a place where the community and the athletic director were invested in our success, so there’s more checks, all the boxes. We have a lot of work to do, but I feel like we can build it. We can build something special.”

Richard Pitino holding a basketball with the Pit arena court behind him

Richard Pitino wants to bring the noise back to The Pit. Photo: Joe Thuente

Pitino knows about special, having watched his father coach at Kentucky, where basketball comes right after breathing in terms of life lessons learned.

“Kentucky is very, very unique,” he said. “The fan base, in a lot of ways, the Lobos fan base is similar. I mean, they’re knowledgeable and they know who we are and they’re going to come up and talk to you. They’re going to tell you what they think. And certainly the Kentucky fan base is one of the best in all of sports. And so, you know, that that experience is unique, very, very unique, because you’re in a small town.”

“New Mexico is an equal rival to that intensity,” Pitino said.

“I think the level of support throughout the community is real. That’s why I took the New Mexico job. I didn’t have to go through this year. I had the opportunity to sit down and still get paid by Minnesota, but I just felt like this was a special place. And the more that I’ve been here, the more I’ve realized that. I mean, they care very, very deeply about local basketball — and not just basketball. They care about the University. They care about the state. And every day when I meet people, I feel that. And that’s why I made the right choice.”

As for the team he wants to put on the it floor, Pitino said the players will play hard defensively.

“I think when you say that you want to play fast, everybody just thinks you’re going to fly up the down the court. I mean, you want to be really, really hard to score on,” he said. “And if we’re hard to score on and we’re a great rebounding team, that’s going to give us opportunities to get off on the break. And that’s where you got to play fast. Or it’s creating skills to where you can get out on the break and play. And that’s the key, so it starts with defense and defensive rebounding.”

It also comes down to teaching, because that’s what coaching is really all about, Pitino said.

“I think everybody looks at the money that you make and that you’re on TV, but, quite frankly, all of us are teachers. We’re getting these guys in the formative years of their lives. And, yes, we want to win and we understand that our job is to win,” he said. “But we also want to forge these relationships with these guys so that they can become the best people, that they can become the best fathers, the best husbands. They’ve got to be role models in society. There’s so many things that are out of your control as it pertains to coaching basketball, but investing in their lives, teaching them about things that you may have done good or bad in the past and learning from those experiences. Because we all remember college — that’s the best time of your life. And they want to win, but we want them to win and we want them to grow and mature.”

My Alumni Story – Jacy Watley

My Alumni Story – Jacy Watley

alum Jacy Watley wearing a cherry button up UNM shirt

My Alumni Story: Jacy Watley

I was born and raised in Las Cruces and when I graduated from high school I realized I needed to leave to experience more things. The goal was to get out of town.

UNM was a great choice. It’s so diverse. You meet so many people on campus from so many walks of life. I’ve met so many people who have broadened my world view.

I majored in art studio and I especially enjoyed my time in the printmaking studio. All through my time getting a degree at UNM I was also a student employee. I worked as a mentor/tutor for ENLACE, going to high schools to tutor students and promote higher education. And in the summers I worked for UNM’s College Prep Programs hosting summer camps for high school students.

Art’s not a lucrative career and I knew that going in. After I graduated I was able to use my experience in student jobs to get a position with UNM as an admissions advisor and then as a recruiter. And then I was out on the road, selling the school to high school students and transfer students at junior colleges.

For five years I drove all over New Mexico – Las Vegas, Tucumcari, Raton, Farmington, Chama, Clovis. And I went to Denver and Dallas. My selling points: We’re D-1 in sports, Tier 1 in research, we’ve got a great price and a beautiful campus.

Now I work in the College Enrichment Program helping students succeed and making sure they’re doing everything to maintain their scholarships.

Since 2006 when I enrolled as a freshman, I have been immersed in UNM. Two years ago, I made my ties to UNM even stronger and became a board member of the UNM Young Alumni Chapter – just another way to show my Lobo pride.

Go Lobos!

Jacy Watley
(’13 BAFA)

Alumni Network

Alumni Network

UNM Alumni Board of Directors with Head Football Coach Danny Gonzales (’98 BBA, ’02 MS) and retired UNM Baseball Coach Ray Birmingham

Alumni Network

UNM Black Alumni chapter members posing for camera outside

Director of African American Student Services Brandi Stone (’14 BA, ‘17 MPA) with the UNM Black Alumni Chapter President Deidre Gordon (’98 BA), Treasurer Patrick Barrett (’14 BA), Vice President Dee Dee Hatch Sanders (’93 BUS), and their Joe Long Scholarship Recipient Monice Aguilar (middle).

four climbers on top of a mountain with a UNM Lobos flag

Ryan Brophy, Duncan Cruickshank (’87 BA, ’90 MBA), Donald “Don” Appleby (’90 BBA), and Victor “Vic” Perini (’91 BSPH) climbed and summited the Emmet glacier route to Mount Rainier, 14,410 feet, Washington State with the leadership of RMI guides. Brophy was a baseball player and the other 3 – Cruickshank, Appleby, and Perini were four-year swimming lettermen.

two men in red lobo gear outside of bbq event make the lobo hand sign

Chapter Leader Paul Tyhurst (’12 BBA) and UNM College of Fine Arts Dean Harris Smith get their spicy fix at the annual Salt Lake City Green Chile Social.

group photo of albuquerque alumni chapter members wearing masks and cherry lobo attire

UNM Albuquerque Chapter welcomes students back to campus.

outgoing and incoming alumni association presidents wearing cherry suit jackets and black button ups

Outgoing UNM Alumni Association President Chad Cooper (’01 MBA) celebrates transition of leadership with incoming President Michael Silva (’95 BA).

two women holding the NM state flag and throwing the lobo howl hand sign

UNM alumnae Lindsay Scott (’18 Ph.D) (left) and Mariah Mármol (‘16 BA) at the Austin Green Chile Roast and Picnic.

family in rockies and lobo gear and rockies stadium in Denver

Scott Sanchez (’16 BA) and Chapter President Alissa Vandel (’00 BA) cheer on the Rockies with fellow Denver Lobos.

All About Community

All About Community

Mike Silva owner of Rude Boy Cookies

All About Community: From ska beats to cookie batter, Alumni Association President Mike Silva keeps it real

By Leslie Linthicum

A snapshot of Michael Silva’s life before age 8: Violence on the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Chaos at home. A fearless little man fighting to survive a tumultuous and violent childhood.

Michael after age 8 when his mother snatched up her three kids (with a fourth on the way) and moved to Albuquerque to start fresh: With space and calm, the angry kid begins to relax. He finds the saxophone in band class and a passion is sparked. People come into his life who are helpful and kind. From his house in the Kirtland, he can see The Pit and University Stadium. He begins to dream of going to college, specifically UNM.

The Central Avenue location of Rude Boy Cookies, Silva’s business for the past seven years, is not yet open as Silva (’95 BA) sits in a comfortable booth and reflects on the course his life has taken, the “then” and “now” that seem entire worlds apart.

But as Silva reaches new heights – two successful businesses, a stable, loving family, a circle of friends and accolades and awards from his community – he is reminded that everything he is today has roots in that scrappy, damaged kid from L.A.

“My childhood was pretty hardcore. There was a lot of loss, there was quite a bit of trauma,” he says. “As an adult now I’m finding that I’m still processing some of that stuff and dealing with it. But it’s work that I’m fully engaged in, I’m active in and I’m committed to because now I’m a father.”

The incoming president of the UNM Alumni Association chokes up when he thinks about that kid who is still inside him.

“It’s heavy and it doesn’t go away. It doesn’t matter how successful you are. It doesn’t matter how much community equity you have,” Silva says. “If you don’t deal with that stuff, it never goes away, it always comes back. So, because of all of the loss and the abandonment that void in me is filled by tremendous amounts and love and grace and kindness.”

ska checkerboard pattern in black and white

Silva first picked up the accordion as a kid in L.A., but it was the saxophone that hooked him on music.

By the time he landed at Del Norte High School as a freshman, he was an accomplished musician. “That was my life,” Silva says. “I was laser focused. That’s all I cared about. It became my direction. It became my path.”

When he neared graduation, he targeted UNM and a degree in music. “I grew up in the shadow of the University. My love of the University began to grow at a very young age and I knew I wanted to go to UNM.”

His first semesters were tough. He wasn’t clicking with his classes. His study habits weren’t cutting it. He struggled to afford tuition and living expenses. And scheduling an 8 a.m. math class didn’t help.

He was teetering on the edge of dropping out when he decided to try a different major as a sophomore and see if his interest in history and politics might help him find a focus.

He switched majors to political science and began to excel.

“I had some unbelievable professors who helped me, pushed me, guided me. I had Fred Harris for several classes. He was very impactful.”

Still, performing on a stage with a band held a powerful sway. Silva put law school on hold (becoming the next junior senator from New Mexico could wait) and pursued music. He played sax and drums in Cool Runnings, a 10-piece reggae band, and in Giant Steps, a seven-piece ska band that had regional success, cut a few albums and toured with some national acts.

When it came time to get to down to more traditional work, Silva went into hospitality and sales. Getting fired from a sales job persuaded him to become his own boss and he and fellow Lobo Jesse Herron (‘03 BBA, ’05 MBA) hatched the plan for ABQ Trolley Co. in 2007 over chips, salsa and five hours of conversation at a Taco Cabana.

Once their custom-made trolley was delivered in 2009, they launched the tour company, switching off driving and microphone duties, and grew the company into what it is today – Albuquerque Tourism and Sightseeing Factory, an umbrella for the four divisions of the company: trolley tours (which include the wildly popular Breaking Bad tour), a walking ghost tour, a party bike business and ABQ in a Box, a gift company.

For his next entrepreneurial venture, Silva looked to two of his passions – ska and reggae music and cookies.

Ska music, which originated in Jamaica and shares an offbeat with reggae, has an inclusive ethos (its early “two-tone” bands were racially integrated) and an upbeat energy and message.

Two-tone fashion is a black-and-white checkerboard and when Silva played in ska bands he wore the sharp black-and-white ska uniform favored by Rude Boys, the fervent ska fanatics – a neat black suit, white shirts and black skinny tie and sharp shoes.

“My life is ruled by checkerboard. It’s everywhere and in every aspect of everything I do,” Silva says. In 2014, Silva wanted to start another business. There was no cookie bakery in Albuquerque at the time, so he decided to launch one with a former co-worker, Kristin Dowling, a dedicated baker who had a culinary degree from CNM.

They opened Rude Boy Cookies in 2015 with the intent of satisfying sweet tooths and also engaging with and supporting Albuquerque.

“To me, there’s much more to life than the bottom line,” Silva says. “I want to be successful. But there’s more important things than just making a buck.”

Silva, whose 23 and Me results show is 60 percent Black and 30 percent Spanish, was traumatized and then galvanized by George Floyd’s murder under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020. With members of his circle of brothers, a group of Black professionals in Albuquerque, he helped to organize a silent protest at Civic Plaza, and another along Central Avenue. They formed BURQUE Against Racism and Silva is committed to helping the less fortunate and, in his words, “lifting up all Black lives in Albuquerque.”

“I am going to stand up for what’s right and I’m outspoken about it,” he says. “I’ve maybe lost business because of it but I can look at myself in the mirror every single day and know that I’m doing the right thing.”

Silva is honored to serve as president of the UNM Alumni Association and he wants to use his year as the head of the board to help build pride and connection to an institution that lifted his family and changed his life.

After arriving in Albuquerque, his mother, Martha Washington (’84 BA, ’87 JD, ’94 MA) began attending UNM and was an academic advisor for athletics and then a student in the School of Law while Silva was an undergraduate.

“The University became a huge part of me,” Silva says. And it helped lift us up. I bleed Cherry and Silver with a little tinge of checkerboard.”

The goal for this year is engage active students to build excitement and a loyalty to UNM so that they become alumni with a strong connection to the Alumni Association.

Silva hopes to make a whistle-stop tour across campus to engage with undergrads in all majors and to build something like a Big Brother/Big Sister mentor network between alumni and at-risk students.

The Alumni Association, Silva says, is the school’s front porch. “Every alum is an ambassador to the University and it’s our job to engage people. To me it’s about asking people to be great ambassadors by speaking, by sharing the love of the place.”

Quick takes

His favorite cookie: Chocolate chip, forever.

Top three tracks on his all-time playlist: “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley; “Ghost Town” by the Specials; “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Family: Wife Penimah Silva (’11 BA) , office administrator at the Keleher & McLeod law firm; daughter Ariella, 8.

How he spends a day off: It’s all about his family and his back yard, which got some major love during the pandemic.

Life-changing moment: When he was 18, Silva was hired as a baseball and basketball coach at Camp Greylock, a storied sleepaway camp in Becket, Mass., and found a mentor there, camp director Bert Margolis, who would change his life. Silva returned for the next 13 summers and became head counselor.

“Bert Margolis became the first true father figure I ever had in my life. He stuck around, seemed to care, taught me the life lessons I still live by.”

About that Rude Boy name: “Fans of ska music are called Rude Boys. A Rude Boy is somebody who shows up at a ska show, dressed in a really nice suit, with a skinny black tie, really slick shoes and a pork pie hat.”

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