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Culture

Scares at the SUB: UNM hosts ghost hunter

Lexis Lovato | November 3

The University of New Mexico raised Halloween spirits by welcoming paranormal investigator Amy Bruni on Tuesday, Oct. 28, to speak with other believers of ghosts about some of her most memorable experiences and stories she has encountered while conducting paranormal investigations. Bruni prefaced the event by clarifying that she will never speak in absolutes about ghosts, nor dictate their existence, because she knows it is virtually impossible to prove the existence of ghosts, she said. Bruni said her thoughts and theories about hauntings change almost all of the time.

Culture

‘Haunted Hodgin Hall’ horrifies humanity

Addison Fulton | November 3

Screams echoed through the University of New Mexico’s campus as alums, faculty and students enjoyed a free haunted house set up in its oldest building. On Tuesday, Oct. 28, the UNM Alumni Association and UNM Trailblazers hosted “Haunted Hodgin Hall.” All year, Hodgin Hall serves as the alumni center, but on Tuesday, it served as a realm of frights and thrills. Katie Varoz Williams, associate director of Alumni Relations, said that the event exists not just to scare students, but to deepen their connection to the Alumni Association while they’re still on campus.

Culture

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ comes to life through on-stage orchestra

Leila Chapa | October 31

The animated TV series, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” lands at Popejoy Hall as a two hour live orchestral performance, bringing the show’s musical score on stage for the show’s 20th anniversary tour. The orchestra, which plays in Albuquerque on Sunday, Nov. 2, will be paired with highlights and favorite moments from all three seasons of the show, projected on a full-sized cinema screen, according to a Popejoy press release. The live orchestra performs the music of Emmy Award-winning composer Jeremy Zuckerman, who is behind the show's original music, and will be in sync with the action on screen, according to the press release.

Culture

Women’s Resource Center holds ‘Plant and Rant’ event

Marina Olmstead | October 27

The colors of paint and plants blossomed at the University of New Mexico Women’s Resource Center as students planted slips of paper with wishes to grow alongside their plants, and built connections to grow with their college experiences. “Think of a goal you want to manifest, and you can put it in your pot so it can grow too,” WRC administrative assistant Kylie Hanson said at the event, encouraging students who were gathered to paint clay pots. On Thursday, Oct. 23, the UNM’s WRC held its “Plant and Rant” event in the courtyard of the WRC, hosted by the UNM-WRC Women in STEM and Asian American Pacific Islander Resource Center.

Culture

UNM Open Educational Resources initiative spreads the word with free books

Addison Fulton and Addie Gerber | October 27

Students crowded around tables at Smith Plaza to pick out available free books and learn about free educational resources on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and Wednesday, Oct. 22. The University of New Mexico Open Educational Resources initiative hosted book fairs where onlookers were encouraged to take free books and learn about an initiative that seeks to connect faculty members to low-cost and no-cost textbooks and class material solutions. Samantha “Sammi” Williams, the program coordinator of UNM OER, said that the event was a major success with many people stopping by to take advantage of the available free books.

Culture

Students take a ‘pawse’ during midterms

Nicholas Skaldetvind | October 27

A team of adorable faces and wagging tails provided students with memorable moments and smiles during midterm exam week. Each semester, the Southwest Canine Corps of Volunteers’ therapy dogs and their handlers visit the University of New Mexico for the “Cuddle a Canine” event. At this semester’s event, hosted on Oct. 23, a pack of eight dogs of a wide variety of breeds, all with fuzzy faces, came to campus. As the event unfolded near Zimmerman Library, students took time out of their routine and enjoyed the little things in life — in the form of fur and teeth.

Culture

S’mores and Stokes: UNM President hosts smores roast

Addison Fulton | October 20

Sheltering from damp autumn weather, students and faculty huddled inside to enjoy roasted marshmallows and kick off a week of school spirit. The “President Stokes’ S’mores Roast,” hosted by University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes, at the Student Union Building on Monday, Oct. 13, served as the kickoff of UNM’s Homecoming Week. Stokes said that of the Homecoming events, the s’mores roast is among her favorites. Its placement at the beginning of the festivities allows it to bring awareness to other events, she said.

Culture

Tony Award-Winning Musical, ‘Moulin Rouge!’ comes to Popejoy Hall

Leila Chapa | October 18

Named after the iconic Parisian cabaret, Broadway musical “Moulin Rouge!” is expected to bring glitter, dazzle, theatrical performance and live dance to Popejoy Hall. The musical — showing from Tuesday, Oct. 21 through Sunday, Oct. 26 — directed and choreographed by Tony Award winners Alex Timbers and Sonya Tayeh, brings Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film of the same name to life onstage.

Culture

Balloon Fiesta reaches the sky for the 53rd year

Maria Fernandez | October 13

The Balloon Fiesta brought visitors from all over the world to the Land of Enchantment to experience the early morning rush to the park to see the balloons take flight. The event, held between Oct. 4 and Sunday, Oct. 12, featured both new and old crowd favorites that ascended in Albuquerque’s blue skies. April and Autumn Nieto, Albuquerque locals, try to attend the fiesta every year, they said. “I like the special shapes day, it’s the best. It’s always great, especially waking up early in the morning,” Autumn Nieto said.

Culture

Street medicine steward speaks at UNM

Addison Fulton | October 6

The University of New Mexico hosted a documentary and a doctor who said he ventured under bridges to not just help the unhoused, but to save the medical profession. Now, across cities and nations, medical teams go on the street to carry out their mission of bringing care to the vulnerable and reconnecting with the outcast. On Thursday, Oct. 2, UNM hosted a screening of “Go To The People,” a documentary following “street medicine” teams that deliver healthcare to people who are unhoused.

Culture

Silent Lights’ debut at University Stadium

Lexis Lovato | October 6

Partygoers danced at the University of New Mexico’s University Stadium for the 2025 Silent Lights disco, where students wore headphones programmed with an assortment of DJ sets and music channels to tune into throughout the night. For the first time on Thursday, Oct. 2, Silent Lights took place at the University Stadium rather than Smith Plaza, due to the construction site surrounding the ongoing demolition of the Humanities Building. This year, students had a larger, unfenced, area to dance in, with the DJ stage set up near the stadium’s general admission section.

Culture

A pictorial display of UNM’s historic moments

Lexis Lovato | October 6

Historians Amber Lane and Portia Vescio walked visitors through a photographic memory lane of some of the most impactful moments in the University of New Mexico’s history, on Sept. 30, as an excerpt from their book, “University of New Mexico.” The book is a collection of photographs capturing some of the University’s greatest accomplishments and historic events. Lane and Vescio’s book was released in August, and was created using UNM’s Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections. It highlights the influence of Pueblo architecture, the diverse communities within UNM and the historical pathways the University paved.

Culture

UNM Students continue annual celebratory burning of ‘Pistol Pete’

Lexis Lovato | September 29

The undying tradition of torching the Aggie brings students and alumni together to share their collective pride, as a paper mache Pistol Pete is set ablaze, honoring the historic rivalry between the University of New Mexico Lobos and the New Mexico State University Aggies. The two institutions have feuded 115 times, earning titles such as The Rio Grande Rivalry and The Battle of I-25. This year’s game marks the 131st anniversary of the competition since the first football game between the teams, which happened in 1894, 18 years before New Mexico was recognized as a state.

Culture

Fat Bear Week returns: these bears are as hungry as a, well…

Maria Fernandez and Jaden McKelvey-Francis | September 29

In anticipation of the upcoming hibernation season, burly bears are competing to be crowned the fattest brown bear as part of Fat Bear Week, an online voting competition for the public to choose their favorite and plumpest at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Fat Bear Week is a single-elimination style tournament where the bear with the most votes is anointed Fat Bear Week champion, according to the Katmai Conservancy. Voters have the chance to see how the bears looked in the spring and compare them to their current shape, often many pounds heavier in preparation for the winter, and watch them through livestreams. It is recommended that people cast their ballot for the bear they feel most exemplifies fatness and success as a brown bear, according to the competition guidelines. Voting will end on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Culture

Herbalist guides enthusiasts through tour of UNM’s plant life

Lexis Lovato | September 29

On a sunny early autumn day on Sept. 23, plant lovers followed herbalist, Dara Saville, around the University of New Mexico to learn all about various plants located throughout the central campus, and how those plants are used beneficially for our health and environment. Saville is the founder and primary instructor of Albuquerque Herbalism, a herbal studies program that provides one-day specialty classes and an upcoming, in-depth semester-long course. She also serves as the founder and director of the Yerba Mansa Project, which strives to restore habitats as a community, while learning about native medicinal plants and land stewardship.

Culture

Santos: New Mexico’s generational art form

Maria Fernandez | September 22

Throughout New Mexico’s history, art has been an integral part of telling the rich and vibrant stories and beliefs of its local people. One such style of art unique to the southwest is the craft of creating “santos,” the name given to multiple types of artistic demonstrations of figures in Catholicism, including paintings on wooden tablets known as retablos, carved statues called bultos and reredos, panel paintings often displayed behind the altar in churches. Santos were originally displayed in the mission churches the Franciscans built when they came to the southwest, and typically depicted a saint, the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, or the Holy Family, Jana Gottshalk, curator and museum director of the Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo.

Culture

Art historian shares anti-racist pictorial works

Lexis Lovato | September 22

In strong ink, artists illustrate figures and scenes in black and white, illuminating a nuanced history of marginalized communities. Through prints, artists tell their stories and call out for justice, and with the help of modern technology, art historian Bruno Pinheiro presented their pieces so an audience can listen and learn. Pinheiro, an art historian stationed as a postdoctoral fellow at the Leonard A. Lauder Center for Modern Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, led the show as he walked a digital audience through a remote museum of print works depicting the struggles and triumphs of connecting members of marginalized communities on Friday, Sept. 19, hosted by the University of New Mexico Latin American and Iberian Institute.

Culture

Lobos y Lowriders shifts into gear

Marina Olmstead | September 22

Polished rims, shiny hoods and big smiles kicked off the Lobos y Lowriders event on Wednesday, Sept. 17. In the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, New Mexico’s lowriders proudly showed off their sweet rides and unique culture, bringing color and shine to the University of New Mexico Student Union Building courtyard. “If this car could talk; imagine what it would tell you,” Frank “Poncho” Chavez, the president of the Duke’s Car Club Albuquerque and owner of a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, said.

Culture

Cowboys and cultists band together for acid westerns

Addison Fulton and Jaden McKelvey-Francis | September 22

Beneath a searing desert sun, an endless landscape of sand and solitude brought together both cinepiles and history buffs alike to support a unique take on the classic western. Tucked in a wooden cabin on Saturday, Sept. 20, the team behind the “Birth of the Acid Western” hosted a fundraiser supporting the post-production of their documentary on the filmmaker Orville Wanzer. Wanzer was a professor of film and journalism at New Mexico State University, as well as a surrealist western filmmaker. The acid western genre, which first emerged from the counter-culture movements of the 1960s, is a film set against a western backdrop, but unapologetically engages with darker and more subversive themes, and deviates from the typical hero’s journey present in most westerns, Julia Smith said — a former NMSU film professor and the filmmaker behind “Birth of the Acid Western.”

Culture

MISSION IMPROVable kills it at ‘Hollywood Murder Mystery’ show

Addison Fulton | September 15

On Thursday, Sept. 11, the University of New Mexico Student Activities Center hosted a Hollywood Murder Mystery with MISSION IMPROVable, a touring comedy improv team, in the Student Union Building. The interactable performance took place at the fictional retirement party of actor Tom Cruise, where the star is tragically murdered. Audience members were given name tags designating them as various celebrities and pop culture figures, such as Zendaya, John Cena, Oprah Winfrey and Bigfoot. Guests were tasked with solving the murder of Cruise through various clues and improv games.