The UNM Alumni Association is lighting the “U” statue in front of the Hodgin Hall Alumni Center in honor of UNM’s Spring 2017 graduates, all with the help of a professional photographer who will be available to take graduates’ photos free of charge.
The photo sessions began yesterday and will be available today and again May 3 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in front of The “U,” with more spots available.
Wolfe credited the the idea of providing a free photographer to the Alumni Association’s Senior Alumni Relations Officer Maria Wolfe, Associate Director Susan Maceachen and Alumni Relations Office Vice President Dana G. Allen.
“We were just sitting there brainstorming, and I have no idea which one of us came up with the idea,” Wolfe said. “We were just trying to figure out how to give students who are graduating something they really want, and we came up with that.”
Part of their goal was to have students come to Hodgin Hall, Wolfe said.
“This is the Alumni Center, this is the history of the University right here, and we work really hard to provide programming to get alums to come back to campus,” she said.
The free photos at the “U” began last year with UNM’s May graduation and continued with December’s graduation, making this the third event.
“We just wanted to make sure we were doing something before students left,” Wolfe said. “It was really seen as a valuable thing to do.”
The event has gone through some adjustments, as the first iteration of the event was held to close to graduation, Wolfe said.
“The students will come and have their photos taken, they (can) bring a cap and gown, and if they don’t have one, we provide one,” she said. “Then within a week of the photos being taken, we email them their photos.”
The photos are high-resolution and taken by a professional photographer, Wolfe said.
Wolfe hopes to make the photos at the “U” a continuing event for graduates.
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The Alumni Association has notified all pending graduates within a certain number of credit hours of graduation, and has set up five slots of fifteen minute segments. Each graduate gets three minutes with the photographer, she said.
Allen said that the “U” is a very iconic image on campus, and that she started noticing that graduating students were coming by with friends and family members with phones and cameras to get photographs in front of the statue.
“We wanted to provide them with an opportunity to have a nice formal picture at night when it’s really lit up and you get that nice kind of ‘wow’ moment,” she said. “It’s really more about giving them a nice memento and takeaway they can have.”
Allen said she is personally just excited to see the response and the fact that people have really enjoyed it.
“I’ve loved watching some of the creative poses that some of the students come up with, when they come with their friends and their group,” Allen said. “We’ve seen a lot of people bring their families, so it’s nice when they incorporate their kids and spouses.”
The photographer chosen for the event is an alum himself. Ryan Montano graduated in 2010 with a double major in communications and journalism and psychology.
“I feel honored that the Alumni Association thinks highly enough of my work to bring me into this awesome event,” he said. “It means a lot to me, and any time I get a chance to showcase and photograph an event that means a lot to a lot of people, I’m really happy to be a part of that.”
Montano spoke highly of the event, as many students may not have the financial resources to afford professional photography. It feels good to be giving back to people who otherwise couldn’t afford a high quality photo, he said.
“Anytime you get a chance to help people and give them opportunities that they wouldn’t normally have, it’s always a good thing,” he said.
Nichole Harwood is a reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
