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UNM to launch campus-wide guidelines on ethical AI use

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | May 18

This fall, the University of New Mexico AI Steering Committee will be launching campus-wide guidelines and best practices to address aspects of artificial intelligence use that are considered “urgent,” including ethics and academic integrity, according to College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences Dean and AI Steering Committee Chair Mark Emmons. The AI Steering Committee is made up of students, staff and faculty from across campus with a variety of expertise in artificial intelligence, and formed because of the large amount of AI use on campus without a coordinated set of policies or strategies to follow, Emmons said. The committee was charged in late February by Interim Provost Barbara Rodriguez and will integrate AI efforts around campus with both a long-term and a short-term path, according to Emmons, who said the long-term path will involve a town hall that gathers students, faculty, staff and any interested stakeholders to supply guidance that may ultimately end up in policies.

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Steve Goldstein chosen as 24th UNM president

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | May 18

On Friday, May 15, the University of New Mexico announced that Steve Goldstein would be the next president of the University, succeeding outgoing president Garnett S. Stokes, who retires in July. The announcement came after the UNM Board of Regents unanimously agreed to select Goldstein as the next president, and all five candidates had spoken at public forums between April 20 and May 13. “I am delighted to welcome Steve Goldstein to the Lobo family,” Stokes told UNM Newsroom. “He inherits a university that is stronger, more innovative and more consequential to the people of New Mexico than ever before, and I have every confidence that he will build on that momentum in ways that will continue to benefit our students and our state for years to come.”

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UNM needs more healthy food options, students say

Paloma Chapa | May 18

Some students eating lunch at the Student Union Building during finals week this spring said that the University of New Mexico needs more healthy food and fresh fruit options available on campus. The Student Union Building has multiple food vendors, including Chick-fil-A, Blake’s Lotaburger, Mandalay Express, Subway, Dion’s Pizza and Freshens, as well as a rotating local food vendor that switches each semester and a “grab-and-go” market downstairs. Junior Kieren Sanchez said that while UNM has a lot of food offerings, she doesn’t think that there are a lot of healthy options.

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Newsroom leader, Managing Editor Nate Bernard turns the page

Addison Fulton | May 11

If you know the Daily Lobo, then you know the work of our departing Managing Editor Nate Bernard. As managing editor, Bernard is responsible for ensuring that everything published in the Daily Lobo is correct and clear. If you trust us, you trust him. Bernard began his career three years ago at the Lobo like many, he said, as a freelance reporter for the news desk. As a political science and psychology double major, Bernard said his work as a journalist allowed him a new perspective on what it means to make change and do good work. “Oftentimes, we’re told that the only change we can make is the big sweeping changes to the federal government, but in actuality, the biggest changes that we can make are right here at home,” Bernard said. “The Daily Lobo is how I sought to make those changes and hold powerful people accountable.”

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President Stokes looks back on eight years at UNM

Elliott Wood | May 11

For many at the University of New Mexico — and throughout the state — President Garnett Stokes’ name looms large. Stokes joined UNM as its 23rd president in 2018, the first woman to hold the position after previous stints at the University of Missouri, Florida State University and the University of Georgia. In September 2025, Stokes informed the Board of Regents that she would be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. Stokes was inspired to take her first real trip to the state after reading a novel by another big name in New Mexico, author Tony Hillerman, a UNM professor who taught journalism and served as an assistant to two University presidents.

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Simon Reseigh, a reporter with many takes, retires

Rodney Prunty | May 11

Simon Reseigh’s first article was an opinion article, an article type he would continue to write during his time at the Daily Lobo. From “Bobbleheads of the Week” to predictions, Reseigh always had something to say. “I’m a big yapper when it comes down to sports, and I have some very strong opinions on certain teams and how I feel about certain teams, so I thought, might as well just throw it out into the universe and let everyone read my ramblings and see if the agree or if they think I am a crazy person,” Reseigh said.

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Graduating Daily Lobo cartoonist Avery Silfer illustrates a powerful legacy

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | May 11

For the past year, Daily Lobo readers could always count on seeing a — very often cat-inspired — positive or thought-provoking comic strip on the last page of the weekly paper. Daily Lobo Cartoonist Avery Silfer’s weekly comics have the ability to make readers smile and boost self-worth, or reflect on tragedy and political tension. This semester, Silfer is graduating with her bachelor’s degree in art studio with a minor in journalism, after having produced over 100 illustrations for the paper.

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Melissa Maldonado loves talking to people, and you should too

Shin Thant Hlaing | May 11

Melissa Maldonado is a week away from obtaining a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and a minor in Spanish. This will be her third and final year at the University of New Mexico as a transfer student from CNM. Maldonado was initially drawn to criminology because of an interest in crime documentaries. Through this degree she was exposed to sociology, which allowed her to study how society was organized and what pushes people to make certain choices. This drew her to social work. However, as she got further into her degree, something didn’t quite click. She began to feel concerned about the possibility of social work taking a heavy emotional toll. It was when she took a marketing class at the beckoning of a friend that everything clicked.

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Shin Thant Hlaing centers the people at the heart of law, journalism

Elliott Wood | May 11

Next year, Daily Lobo beat reporter Shin Thant Hlaing will be headed to one of the best law programs in the country after graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in political science. If you’d asked her a year ago about what her plans were after UNM, law school wouldn’t even have been in the conversation. “I wanted to either become a researcher or a policy advisor,” Hlaing said. “My mind was going in a lot of different places, but what drew me to law was when the earthquake happened in Myanmar.”

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In a world of stress and somberness, be an Addison Fulton

Nate Bernard | May 11

If you’ve visited creative spaces around the University of New Mexico campus, then you’ve likely encountered Addison Fulton. Whether through student films, local arts events, satire magazines or newsroom conversations, Fulton has spent much of her college career immersing herself in the communities creating culture around Albuquerque. On top of being a serial contributor to Conceptions Southwest, the founder of satire magazine Weekly Coyote and a writer, actress and director, Fulton is also the outgoing culture editor at the Daily Lobo.

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Wyatt Padilla leaves the Lobo after a rewarding year

Marley Herndon | May 11

“Wyatt Padilla is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo,” is not a phrase readers are going to see at the end of new articles anymore as the UNM senior out of Los Lunas retires and his contributions to the paper become reflected upon fondly. Wyatt Padilla got his start at the Daily Lobo in the spring of 2025, after being a student manager for the UNM women’s basketball team for two years. When he left that job, he knew he wanted to stay in sports in some way, but he didn’t know how. That was until he met the Daily Lobo Sports Editor Rodney Prunty, who encouraged him to apply for a job as a freelance sports writer.

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Haaland talks data centers, free graduate tuition during Law School visit

Paloma Chapa | May 4

During a Q&A style conversation at the University of New Mexico Law School on Monday, April 27, Law Students spoke to New Mexico gubernatorial candidate from the Pueblo of Laguna Deb Haaland about a variety of topics including data centers, economic stimulus, healthcare and the Israel and Palestine conflict. Haaland opened her remarks by recalling her “depression and frustration” over not passing the bar exam after graduating from the UNM Law School. “You do all the work, and the Creator makes you take a sharp right turn or a left turn, and you have no clue why,” Haaland said. “I feel very strongly that if I had passed my bar exam, I wouldn't be standing here as the Secretary of the Interior.”

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City Nature Challenge puts local biodiversity on the map

Paloma Chapa | April 27

The Albuquerque City Nature Challenge, taking place from April 24-27, is inviting everyone to become citizen scientists through documenting the city’s biodiversity in Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia Counties, as part of a global collaborative effort to document wildlife observations of all kinds. R.H. Mallory Center for Community Geography Associate Director Laurel Ladwig said the City Nature Challenge is a way to get people to know the nature around them while helping create an urban biodiversity map using the iNaturalist app or website, and that Albuquerque has participated in the challenge since 2019. Ladwig said that habitat is everywhere in the city, citing her experience with some trees in a restaurant parking lot along I-25.

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Meet Gwich'in elder, caribou protector Sarah James

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | April 27

Albuquerque’s final annual Gathering of Nations Pow Wow drew over 100,000 participants and attendees from tribes across the country to Expo New Mexico on April 24-25. One of the attendees was Neets’aii Gwich’in elder Sarah James from Arctic Village, who came from Alaska for the Pow Wow. James is internationally-known for her efforts to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development. She won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, and is among multiple Native women authors in the book “Worlds within Us: Wisdom and Resilience of Indigenous Women Elders.”

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One year in, 250+ hrs served by ABQ RIDE volunteers

Shin Thant Hlaing | April 27

When riding the bus in Albuquerque, passengers may have seen people in neon shirts. These people are volunteers with the newly-launched ABQ RIDE Transit Ambassador program. Launched last year on April 1, 2025, the program is one of two programs for which ABQ RIDE recruits volunteers. The volunteers seek to promote a safer environment for bus passengers by providing education of ABQ RIDE’s Rules to Ride, and being another set of trained eyes to monitor service, according to the City of Albuquerque.

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Earth Month: NM environmental leaders talk sustainability

Penelope Loyd Sment | April 20

This Earth Month, two sustainability activists spoke about the efforts the University of New Mexico has been taking to address the climate crisis and its role in environmental issues. While the University’s efforts have been a good start, there is still more work to do, they said. The clearest example of action taken by UNM on environmental matters is the University’s strategic sustainability plan, released in October 2025, with goals set to be accomplished by 2030. The plan outlines multiple objectives for both transforming campus operations and building sustainability engagement and culture on campus. The goals tackle energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, land and water use, waste management, transportation and limiting waste in food and dining.

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University presidential finalists, campus visits announced

Jaden McKelvey-Francis | April 20

The University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents has announced the five finalists to fill the role of University president when Garnett Stokes’ retirement takes effect in July. Each of the candidates will visit Main Campus over the next four weeks, where community members are encouraged to engage with the finalists directly and submit feedback after the forum. All forums will be held in the Student Union Ballroom C.

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‘Sport as a Public Good’ talk spotlights gaps in youth sports education, access

Shin Thant Hlaing | April 20

There’s little that people enjoy more than play. Unfortunately, when it comes to our youth, we often fail in nurturing that love, former President of the U.S. Tennis Association and Chief Medical Officer of the NCAA Brian Hainline said. On Wednesday, April 15, Hainline spoke at the University of New Mexico Physics and Astronomy Interdisciplinary Science Building and said sports should be a public good to an audience including local sport leaders and athletes. He highlighted what he called an inadequate systemic support for sports in the U.S. Hainline’s lecture was hosted jointly by the UNM School of Medicine and Alumni Association.

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Target-anchored retail development coming to South Campus

Jaden McKelvey-Francis | April 20

Just west of The Pit, a major retail center will begin construction next month. The development will stretch across 365,000 square-feet and include a Target, Marshalls, Home Goods, Burlington and Old Navy, in addition to several smaller retailers and restaurants. It is scheduled to finish construction in fall 2027. Lobo Crossing is a project the University of New Mexico has been trying to develop for nearly a decade, the Chief Operating Officer of Lobo Development Corporation Tom Neale said.

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Attorneys claim client mischaracterized by former Law School Dean

Paloma Chapa | April 13

On Wednesday, April 8, attorneys Julio Romero and Kelly Sanchez sent a letter to University of New Mexico leadership addressing inaccuracies and alleged “mischaracterizations” of their client by former UNM Law School Dean Sergio Pareja in a letter he sent to UNM leadership on March 31. Romero, Sanchez and the ACLU represented a former law student who raised due process violations against the law school after meeting with Vice Dean Steven Homer on Nov. 19, 2024, regarding what the client alleged was retaliatory allegations of misconduct made against her by another law student. Romero and Sanchez wrote that the law school received audio of the Nov. 19 meeting with the student and Homer over the disciplinary violation that captured Homer “prematurely interrogating the student and telling the student he had already decided the student’s truthfulness,” before giving her an opportunity to select between a formal or informal investigation.