Last September Eliseo Torres, vice president for Student Affairs, visited communities in Mexico trying to find educators who would be willing to introduce their students to UNM.
Many of those Torres spoke with arrived at UNM on Sunday to discuss a summer program for high school juniors, seniors and recent graduates from Mexico. Torres said he was happy to say many of those educators left impressed.
Arturo Ornelas, an educator from the University of Morelos in Mexico, said the point of the trip was to see the potential advantages UNM has, like the language and the multicultural approach to living in this region of the world.
"There are 17- to 21-year-old students who are searching for the meaning of life," he said. "Coming here is very important because they can open their brains and hearts and confirm to their own will of what they want in life."
The program's cost for students is about $1,500 and will run from July 11-31. They will live in UNM's residence halls, take classes and go on field trips in the region while having their language skills assessed.
Torres said the program is like an orientation session, an opportunity for students from Mexico to see what the University is like.
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The educators' trip included a tour of the city, stopping by the Hispano Chamber of Commerce and going to a Lobo basketball game Monday. They toured campus Tuesday, and went to Santa Fe that night for the annual Hispanic Round Table Legislative dinner.
Ornelas said they were very pleased with UNM's hospitality, and he didn't feel like UNM was something that was being sold to them. He said they are working with UNM to build an academic and human program to develop the element of the student.
"We just need to show them; the campus sells itself," Torres said.
Mexican universities generally combine high school and college-age students in one institution. Ornelas said the universities in America give many opportunities, covering most fields of knowledge, which is not the case in Mexico.
He said the trip was a great opportunity to meet Hispanics living and working in the area.
"We can see how our students grow in academic discipline, in human understanding, being exposed to another culture and landscape that is different from the green sites in Mexico," Ornelas said. It is an amazing experience."
Students from Mexico are the third largest international group at UNM. Torres said this program is aimed at increasing the number of those students.
He said the program has been a team effort at UNM. While there are similar programs in Canada and Europe, Torres said he just wants UNM to be an option.
"I think we will be very successful with this project and hopefully open it to new minorities of the world," Torres said. "I think we are going to see a lot of wonderful students this summer as a consequence."
