Category: News

Please join us for an Alumni Speaker Series event with a focus on Wilderness, one of UWC-USA’s signature programs. The session will explore the role the UWC-USA Wilderness program plays in the life of the school as a central pillar of the UWC experience in Montezuma. The conversation will also cover the importance of access and diversity in the outdoor education world. The panel will feature Mikaela Osler ’13, Boubacar Ballo ’22, and UWC-USA’s co-director of expeditionary learning, Rachel Fristedt. There will be opportunities for questions from the audience.

This free virtual event is open to all alumni and friends of UWC-USA.

Since graduating from UWC-USA, Mikaela Osler has hiked over 9000 miles including thru-hikes of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails. She has shattered speed records on the 270-mile Long Trail in Vermont and the 485-mile Colorado Trail. Mikaela has also led Wilderness trips for UWC-USA in the past year.

Rachel Fristedt co-directs the expeditionary learning programs at UWC-USA. Responsible for Southwest Studies, Project Week, and all Wilderness trips, Rachel is an experienced trip leader and skilled teacher. She joined the UWC-USA staff in 2015.

Register for the  session below.

The UWC-USA Admissions Office will be hosting a session for parents/guardians and prospective students who are considering admission to UWC. We know there are a lot of questions about scholarships, the 18 UWCs around the world, and the application process. We have an hour set aside to answer questions and will also have three or four current UWC-USA students who can provide their perspectives on UWC and the admissions process.

Details:

What: Parent and Prospective Student Information Session featuring UWC-USA admissions director John Carpenter and current students
When: November 9 at 7:00 pm Mountain Time

Interested parents/guardians and students are invited to register for this event here –  you’ll receive confirmation and details on the Zoom call when you submit the RSVP form.

UWC-USA hosted a small event at the Dwan Light Sanctuary recently  to honor Virginia Dwan for her vision and generosity on the 25th anniversary of the building.

The private event was held in the Light Sanctuary and was attended by Virginia Dwan, artist Charles Ross, architecht Laban Wingert, and former UWC-USA president Phil Geier. All four of the guests of honor played pivotal roles in making the Dwan Light Sanctuary a reality for the UWC-USA students and the entire community.

The building has been undergoing extensive renovations during the pandemic with work continuing on the roof, refinishing the doors, and some electrical improvements.

UWC-USA anticipates that the Dwan Light Sanctuary will again be open to the public in mid-November. The latest information about the status of the building is on the UWC-USA website.

UWC-USA’s African Chorus performed  “Ndikhokhele Bawo” during the celebration, surrounding the guests with a comforting blanket of sound. Sung in Xhosa, an official language of South Africa, the lyrics are based on the 23rd Psalm and speak of finding a haven of calm and safety in a dangerous world.

In the first Global Issues of the year on campus, lawyer and activist Arjun Sethi will speak on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 from the perspective of Sikh Americans.

“I knew within hours of the attack that the history of the United States would forever be changed, and my life in this country would forever be changed,” Sethi wrote recently. “Being a Sikh American, who can be readily identified by their articles of faith –my long hair and beard– I thought, would I be a target? Would members of my community be a target? Would my Muslim friends be a target, precisely because of what unfolded that day?”

In addition to speaking to students and faculty Friday evening, Sethi will meet with students and faculty involved in various Constructive Engagement of Conflict (CEC) programs on campus including the Amnesty International chapter and CEC student leaders.

Rhiannon Griffiths’ freshman year took her far beyond books and lectures.

As a remote learner, Rhiannon ‘20 spent four months traveling 10,000 miles around her native New Zealand while attending Lewis & Clark College as a full-time student. Her travels took her to Hobbiton, where The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were filmed; Stewart Island, which offers one of the darkest locations in the world to view the night sky; and to the oldest tree in New Zealand – a 1,250- to 2,500-year-old giant kauri in the Waipoua Forest.

“It was nice to get to see my own home and connect to New Zealand,” she said.

Rhiannon received a full scholarship to study at the private liberal arts university in Portland, Ore. COVID forced all classes to go online.

The 20-year-old environmental studies major spent the first semester studying from the family home in Nelson and working two jobs. Due to the time differences, she took classes from 3 to 10 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and worked from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a go kart track. Rhiannon also worked a fish and chips shop.

She saved enough money to buy a 24-year-old Toyota Hiace minivan equipped with a bed, kitchen, toilet, and desk. Rhiannon and her cousin installed a solar panel to charge her laptop and phone and she used a mobile hotspot for WiFi.

She spent two months on the South Island and two on the North Island.

Rhiannon would drive two hours a day and go sightseeing. New Zealand offers small parks with free camping for self-contained vehicles like her van, which she nicknamed Daisy. Rhiannon tried to remain in rural areas, around beaches and find lesser-known spots for hikes. She also visited with family and friends.

Rhiannon will attend in-person classes at Lewis & Clark this fall, and depending on the COVID situation, will spend the spring semester studying in Cameroon in central Africa.

One of Javlonbek Khamzaev’s happiest moments turned into one of his greatest challenges.

Javlonbek ‘23, Uzbekistan, in the spring of 2020 graciously accepted a full scholarship to attend UWC-USA. He finally arrived in Montezuma in August 2021 after going through a grueling 13 months to get his student visa.

New Mexico U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan helped make it happen.

Javlonbek, who had rarely traveled from his home in central Asia and looked forward to his first-ever flight, applied for his visa just as COVID spread worldwide. The U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, cancelled Javlonbek’s appointment. He tried embassies in neighboring countries without luck.

John Carpenter, director of admissions for UWC-USA, said things in Uzbekistan were so bad with COVID that the U.S. Embassy’s small staff was primarily serving only U.S. citizens.

“They gave almost zero non-immigrant visa interviews,” John said. “We waited and waited, and Javlonbek started online classes, but it was just too much given the time difference, and he wisely opted to take my offer to defer his admissions for a year, giving us more time for the U.S. Embassy to begin operating on a more full-time basis.”

“I couldn’t feel the community of UWC and the online courses were difficult,” Javlonbek added. “I was afraid of losing such a chance because I couldn’t get my visa.”

The 17-year-old applied repeatedly without success during the first six months of 2021.

“It was the most difficult months in my life,” he said. “Time waiting for the embassy to reopen went very slowly. I lost a lot of weight. It was like a big rock on my shoulders.”

As COVID eased up, the embassy in Uzbekistan didn’t fully restart and it looked as though Javlonbek would never get his visa, John said.

“And he wasn’t the only one. About 15 students (maybe more at the beginning) were facing the same problems,” he said. “Then Biden was elected and a subtle shift began across the world, except in Uzbekistan.”

That’s when John reached out to Lujan.

“Our students began to get their appointments, including Javlonbek,” John said. “We are deeply grateful for the support of Lujan’s office and we believe this added endorsement made a real difference in our students succeeding in obtaining their visa interviews.”

After 32 hours of travel, Javlonbek arrived in New Mexico on Aug. 9.

“I met my second-years,” he said. “They are so kind. It feels like this is my home.”

Ernest Gutierrez’s fond memories from working security at UWC-USA in the late 1980s brought him back to the Montezuma campus 30 years later.

“The best part is the faculty and students,” Gutierrez said.

He also shared an unforgettable memory involving a student, who Gutierrez nicknamed Spider-Man after he caught him climbing an exterior wall of the then-closed Montezuma Castle.

Working the afternoon shift, Gutierrez spotted Odd-Even Bustnes ‘89, Norway, climbing the castle’s east side wall.

“I thought about yelling at him to get him down, but I didn’t want to break his concentration,” Gutierrez said. “I waited until he got down and let him have it. I couldn’t believe this person was climbing like Spider-Man.”

The climb was easy with no need for ropes, and Bustnes said he wasn’t the only student to do so.

“You just had to take off your shoes, and it took about 30 seconds to get up there,” said Bustnes, who lives in Oslo and works for Redwood Materials in Carson City, Nev. The company recycles batteries from electric vehicles, cell phones and laptops.

At the time, the castle was closed and off limits to students. Every once in a while at night, security would see students with flashlights inside the boarded-up building.

“They removed the boards and propped open the doors,” Gutierrez said. “There was a million ways to get into the castle.”

Raised in nearby Tecolote, Gutierrez graduated in 1978 from West Las Vegas High School. Before coming to UWC-USA in 1988, he worked as a police officer for the City of Las Vegas. He left UWC-USA two years later for a security position at New Mexico Highlands University, but returned in 2019 to work security; 11 months later, he moved to maintenance.

“I had fond memories of when I worked here back in the ‘80s,” he said. “I wanted that again, and it’s such a beautiful place.”

Gutierrez talked about bringing his granddaughter to the Montezuma campus.

“She was amazed with the castle,” he said. “She would ask ‘what king lives in the castle?’ I used to tell her ‘Burger King.’”

He truly appreciates seeing the castle remodeled for classrooms, offices, dormitory space and a dining hall.

The 61-year-old is the father to Lucille Gutierrez, 38; Mario Gutierrez, 35; Amanda Gutierrez, 28; and Kiana Gutierrez, 24, all of Rio Rancho. His granddaughters are Amari, 18, and Khinna, 7.

Aubrey Bodden ‘04 and her husband, Dan Stuber ‘05, spurred on a friendly competition between their classes to help UWC-USA raise more than $2 million for this year’s annual fund. In turn, the family of Shelby Davis contributed a $2 million match.

In the end, the two classes raised a total of $43,000 for this year’s drive, more than doubling the $20,000 they combined for in 2020. The class of 2005 edged out its second-years for the specific challenge period, though the class of 2004 had higher annual fundraising overall by $536, raising $21,735, up from $14,725 a year earlier. The class of 2005 raised $21,200, up from $5,212 in 2020.

“The challenge and interactions amongst classmates sparked a lot of good conversations, reminiscing, and the sharing of a treasure trove of family photos in addition to the positive donation results,” said Stuber. “I think the continued demonstration of commitment to the UWC movement and the relationships we built during our time as students is a great part of this story”

“Justin Karfo ’05 and Sergey Grechukhin ’04 were probably the biggest hype people from the class fundraising teams, but everyone from the class fundraising groups was  also involved in implementing the challenge,” Bodden said.

Good friends while in Montezuma and during college, Stuber, 34, and Bodden, 35, began dating after she graduated from Cornell University and he was a senior at Earlham College. After college, Stuber, who is from Michigan, moved to Bodden’s home country — the Cayman Islands. They married in May 2012 and remain in the Cayman Islands.

The couple had been considering increasing their giving to UWC-USA, particularly with the challenges created by the COVID pandemic.

“Suffice to say, we thought that the good relationship between our classes would spur on some friendly rivalry that could drive giving and create a fun cause for first-time or increased donors,” said Stuber, a senior supervisor in the customer service department for an electric company. 

“While it was fun to couch the challenge from one perspective as a marital battle, to be frank, Aubrey and I didn’t want to make this about us beyond that bit of amusement, so we took a backseat and got to enjoy how this grew organically well beyond our original expectations and goals,” he added.

Both have been involved with UWC national committee work over the years. Bodden recently stepped down as chairperson of UWC Cayman Islands after 10 years of service. Bodden, who works in the Cabinet Office as information rights coordinator for the Cayman Islands Government, remains as an advisor to the same board.

“This gives us a more direct and regular view into the incredible efforts of everyone across the movement as well as the importance of every donor and every dollar,” she said.

During the COVID pandemic, the couple saw the colleges and national committees really step up and prioritize student health and safety. They also quickly realized how this could substantially increase costs for the colleges.

“As we were reassured by the COVID safety measures and then worked to get our Caymanian students home from Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan and the USA as each college closed, Dan and I committed to increasing our giving this year and seeing if we could encourage some of our co-years who also had their jobs and incomes protected during the pandemic to do the same,” Bodden said.

“In essence, we challenged our classes to, in the final month of the Annual Fund drive, seek to outraise the other class and hopefully raise a matching amount to our initial donations,” Stuber said. “We had two metrics for the challenge month — who raised more and total participation levels. The ‘winner’ of each part of the challenge would receive in honor of their class an additional donation from the ‘losing’ partner as a concession to their accomplishment.”

Throughout the challenge month, in conjunction with the fundraising committee members, the couple provided periodic updates on fundraising progress to their respective classes.

“Largely this consisted of cheering on new and recent donors as they happened, and driving the continuation of our good-natured class rivalry,” Stuber said. “At the end of the day, we knew the actual winner of the challenge would be UWC-USA and the students.”

Bodden noted that the couple is committed to being each other’s biggest fans and that they always encourage each other, modeling the challenge to be built upon the same foundation as their partnership in life.

“However, in announcing the ‘battle,’ one of my co-years emailed our class with the subject line ‘First-Year Dan Must Be Defeated!” she said. “I laughed so hard when I saw it that I had to send Dan a screenshot.”

For over 16 years, Patricia Mengech ’88 (far left) worked to fight the spread of HIV in Uganda.

Through the U.S. funded programs Patricia helped administer, about 1 million of the 1.3 million Ugandans infected with HIV are on AIDS treatment that will substantially extend their lives, she said.

“When AIDS first appeared in Uganda in the 1980s, it was a death sentence,” said Patricia, who has an undergraduate degree in biology from Dartmouth College and a master’s in international health from Johns Hopkins University. “People were dying in enormous numbers.”

A native of Kenya, Patricia for the past 17 years has worked for the U.S. Agency of International Development. She has lived in Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, and now works as the Deputy Director of the USAID Health Office in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Director and writer Rick Rowley ‘94 won an Emmy Award for best Investigative Documentary for 16 Shots, a film that tells the story of a cover-up following the police shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago in 2014.

He also directed Dirty Wars, a feature documentary that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012. Dirty Wars shed light on the covert wars the U.S. has engaged in around the world.

Rowley spoke with UWC-USA students and alumni last fall about the challenges of telling stories about charged issues such as police shootings and covert wars. He credits his storytelling skill in part with his experience at UWC-USA, where he had to learn to understand the concerns and perspectives of people from very different backgrounds.

As a documentarian, Rick works hard to tell the stories of people whose stories are not otherwise being told – or that are being told incompletely.