Two new members sworn in to the NMSU Board of Regents
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) - Two new board members and one returning member were sworn in by the New Mexico State University Board of Regents.
Deborah K. Romero, Garrett Moseley and current Chair Ammu Devasthali were at the ceremony March 10.
Romero is a former state finance secretary who retired in Dec. 2022. She was appointed by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham last week. The New Mexico Senate confirmed her post on March 8.
“I am not very good at retirement,” she joked Wednesday following her confirmation. “I believe my 47 years of state government experience will be an asset to the Board of Regents. I come from a long line of Aggies, my daughter is the most recent graduate, in December 2021. I look forward to this wonderful opportunity.”
Romero fills the position left by Arsenio Romero who left to serve as cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Department.
“I am humbled and honored to be given the privilege of serving as the next student regent of New Mexico State University,” Garrett Moseley said. “I look forward to serving the university for the next two years. As regent, I will work diligently toward providing a more equitable and accessible education for all students. I would like to thank Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico State Senate for entrusting me with this important role.”
Moseley is the president of the Associated Students of NMSU, a student government organization, since the fall of 2022. He also served a ASNMSU senator for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Current Chair Ammu Devasthali was confirmed for a second term in her position on the board. She has served as an NMSU regent since 2019 and was reappointed to a six-year term that ends Dec. 31, 2028.
“I’m honored to continue to advocate for the important mission of NMSU as a land-grant, Hispanic-serving and minority-serving institution,” said Devasthali.
She served as a board member for the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico for 15 years, including two years as president and secretary for four years.
Devasthali has raised funds for many projects and scholarships in the southern New Mexico region, and raised private funds to help build the ASNMSU Center for Performing Arts and NMSU’s visual arts facility, Devasthali Hall, which opened in 2020.
The board voted to retain Devasthali as chair. Regent Christopher Saucedo was elected vice chair and new Student Regent Garrett Moseley was elected secretary treasurer.
