Dear colleagues, 

At NMSU, our students continue to lead with excellence, demonstrating academic success, global engagement, and a strong commitment to service. This spring and summer, student-led teams achieved milestones that showcase the strength of our programs, faculty mentorship, and the real-world skills our students bring to communities from the United Nations to Nicaragua to the national rodeo arena.

I am proud to share that NMSU’s Model United Nations (UN) team was named a Distinguished Delegation at the 2025 National Model United Nations conference in New York City, continuing a legacy of excellence in diplomacy, leadership, and international education.

Representing Mongolia, our eight-member team showcased exceptional preparation and professionalism, engaging with global peers on complex issues such as refugee protection, sustainable food systems, and women’s needs in conflict zones. Guided by Professors Neil Harvey and Sabine Hirschauer and led by returning student officers, the team excelled in negotiation, public speaking, and policy writing, skills essential for today’s global leaders.

In addition to earning one of the top team honors, two students received individual recognition for outstanding policy papers. With 18 top honors in the past 19 years, the Model UN team continues to be one of NMSU’s most distinguished examples of student success.

Similarly, Aggies Without Limits (AWL), a student-led service organization, completed its fifth international project in the rural village in the country of Nicaragua. Over three weeks, 41 NMSU students, faculty, and alumni lived and worked alongside local residents to build a new health center, repair two pedestrian bridges, and upgrade the village’s potable water system.

The work was intense, students mixed concrete by hand, hauled materials, rebuilt bridge structures, and navigated steep terrain to install water storage tanks. Despite the challenges, their teamwork, technical knowledge, and commitment to service delivered transformative infrastructure improvements for the community.

AWL exemplifies the best of NMSU, where academic learning meets purpose-driven action. Drawing students from engineering, health, education, and beyond, the organization blends discipline-specific knowledge with leadership, collaboration, and empathy, fostering experiences that leave a lasting impact.

We also proudly celebrate the NMSU Rodeo Team, which capped off an exceptional 2024–2025 season at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Casper, Wyoming. Fifteen Aggie student-athletes competed on the national stage, with four advancing to the short round: Annie Alexander (barrel racing), Nate Clark (steer wrestling), Cassidy Bradshaw (breakaway roping), and Brad Moreno (bull riding).

Brad Moreno earned the prestigious title of 2025 CNFR All-Around Cowboy, placing third in bull riding and fourth in team roping with teammate Lucas Cruz. Additional top finishes included sixth place in breakaway roping (Bradshaw), seventh in steer wrestling (Clark), and 11th in barrel racing (Alexander). The team also secured nine Grand Canyon Region titles and celebrated NMSU Rodeo’s first national championship since 2011.

Please join me in celebrating these outstanding accomplishments. Our students, whether advancing policy, building infrastructure, or excelling in athletics, embody the NMSU spirit: resilient, purposeful, and ready to lead. Their success shows that an NMSU education is about more than knowledge, it is about making a difference. We are NMSU.

Lakshmi N. Reddi
Interim Provost
New Mexico State University