January 11, 2016
UNM’s Dean of Students Tomás Aguirre has resigned to take a position at Texas A&M-Commerce, according to Vice President for Student Affairs Eliseo “Cheo” Torres. Aguirre will be an assistant vice president and dean of campus life and student development at Texas A&M-Commerce after his last day at UNM.
Aguirre said the thing he will miss the most are the students of UNM.
“Everyday they reminded me what a privilege and an honor it was to work with them,” he said. “(I’ll) miss my staff...and it’s important to point out that they played an integral role with everything they did. I will also miss that many like-minded staff and faculty (gave) 100 percent everyday to make UNM a better place.”
Two of Aguirre’s biggest impacts during his tenure at UNM — which started in June of 2013 — have been LoboRESPECT and the LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center.
“LoboRESPECT is a model that addresses abuse against students through compliance, advocacy, response and education while the LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center is a physical manifestation of that model that provides advocacy for students and coordinates the educational efforts of the LoboRESPECT model,” he said.
Aguirre said that, after his departure, he hopes to see LoboRESPECT continue to reduce all forms of abuse against students.
He also said his greatest accomplishment during his time at UNM was “demonstrating that great things can happen in a short amount of time if you build a model that supports the mission and put the right people into place to get things done.”
According to the website for UNM Student Affairs, Aguirre came to UNM in the summer of 2013 from CSU Humboldt State University in California, where he served as associate dean of students. Aguirre earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Southern California.
UNM President Bob Frank said he was grateful to have Aguirre as Dean of Students at UNM and wishes him well at his new position at Texas A&M-Commerce.
“Tomás did a wonderful job helping develop and spearhead our LoboRESPECT initiative, which is a strong response to the complex issues such as sexual assault and hate bias that are facing all colleges campus right now. He also worked energetically and enthusiastically with our students, serving as their representative,” Frank said. “He is leaving for a promising leadership opportunity, but we will miss him and wish him the best in this new chapter of his career.”
Torres announced that Jenna Crabb of UNM Career Services will serve as interim dean until the University hires a replacement.
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Denicia Aragon is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
