Spark Talk: Higher Education at a Crossroads

In partnership with Searchlight New Mexico, SAR is pleased to host Spark Talks, a summer series of discussions on issues of interest to all New Mexicans: the future of public lands; the importance of archives to history and free expression; and the unprecedented challenges facing higher education here and nationally.

Higher Education at a Crossroads

Long before today’s political environment provided public examples of funding cuts to higher education institutions, colleges and universities were already facing a range of challenges as they looked to the future, including the need to diversify funding streams, the rise of remote learning due to the global pandemic, shifting student demographics, and growing cultural resistance to overwhelming student debt.

Recently, higher education in New Mexico has found itself under the microscope. Searchlight’s reporting has revealed the extent to which officials at Western New Mexico University in Silver City used public dollars to fly first-class around the world, stay at five-star resorts, and go on safari—all in the name of courting international students, who largely did not come.

Tickets: $10 general admission, $5 for SAR and Searchlight members.
Limited seating. Advance purchase encouraged.
Doors open at 9 AM for coffee. Talk begins at 9:30 AM.