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Garnett Stokes is packing up.

After eight years as the 23rd president of the University of New Mexico, Stokes is retiring in July.

Stokes, 70, is UNM鈥檚 first female president and its longest-serving in nearly three decades.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to make decisions to step away,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 come into a job like this and not build really meaningful relationships. So there is a great deal that I will miss.鈥�

As she prepares to depart, Stokes鈥� colleagues remember her as a steady hand who will leave behind a university vastly different from the one she inherited.

Stokes headed New Mexico鈥檚 largest university through financial instability, a global pandemic, campus crime, labor organizing efforts and a new federal administration.

鈥淭he last five or six years have not been easy years,鈥� said UNM Faculty Senate President Roberta Lavin. Stokes has handled challenges with 鈥渁 very high level of skill and diplomacy,鈥� Lavin said.

Stokes came to New Mexico from the University of Missouri, where she was provost for three years. The UNM Board of Regents unanimously selected her from a pool of five finalists after a national search in late 2017.

鈥淪he really stood apart from the others who were seeking the position as being able to sort of separate the wheat from the chaff,鈥� said former Regent Marron Lee. 鈥淪he was able to keep her eye on the goal and not get distracted by politics, by personalities, by people pulling you in different directions. That became very clear with Garnett.鈥�

When Stokes came to UNM in 2018, the university was in the midst of an upheaval. Enrollment had dropped for five straight years, and the state had cut about $27 million in funding. Financial management of UNM鈥檚 athletics department had prompted investigations or monitoring from three state agencies. Stokes was UNM鈥檚 eighth president in 20 years.

Then-Faculty Senate President Pamela Pyle told regents in August 2017 that faculty morale had sunk to an 鈥渁ll-time-low.鈥�

鈥淲hen I did arrive, there were people who would jokingly 鈥� mostly jokingly 鈥� say, 鈥楧id you bring trouble with you?鈥欌�� Stokes said. 鈥淐ertainly not on purpose, I would say.鈥�

Instead, Stokes brought a knack for steering universities through tumult.

Stokes started at Mizzou in 2015, during the fallout from riots after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, which led to the resignation of the school鈥檚 president.

At Florida State University, Stokes was provost during the 2014 suspension of star football player and now-Giants quarterback Jameis Winston for making vulgar comments on campus before a game. Winston was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

鈥淓very one of her institutions she had been to before, something sort of cataclysmic happened,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淪he weathered it, and she weathered it well.鈥�

Navigating a new athletics landscape

One of Stokes鈥� first major controversies as president was the unpopular move to cut men鈥檚 soccer, women鈥檚 beach volleyball and men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 skiing in the face of a $4.7 million deficit in the athletics department.

The cuts were decried by students, fans and alumni in hours of public comment at a Board of Regents meeting 鈥� and by soon-to-be Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who vowed on the campaign trail that the eliminated sports would be reinstated under her administration.

Looking back, Stokes stands by her choice.

鈥淚t ranks among probably the most difficult decisions that I made,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 continue to believe that those are decisions we had to make.鈥�

Eddie Nu帽ez, who had been freshly hired as UNM鈥檚 new athletics director at the time, said the Board of Regents requested he and Stokes come up with a balanced budget for the department, which meant they needed to come up with a solution.

鈥淔or us to go through that process was not easy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have done it by myself as an athletics director. I needed the alignment with a president that understood that we are going to have to make some of these challenging decisions, but it was going to be in the best interest for the department in the long run.鈥�

Within a couple of years, UNM administration balanced the athletics department budget, which has been in the black every year since, Stokes said. The Lobos have had fundraising success and Stokes has remained a sideline presence at games.

鈥淚 think athletics is set up to be extremely successful going forward, in spite of the fact that the landscape for college athletics is really turbulent,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hings are going in a very good direction for us.鈥�

Leadership through a pandemic

The COVID pandemic 鈥� two years into Stokes鈥� tenure 鈥� created an unprecedented situation for universities nationwide. Across the country, schools made the rapid switch to virtual classes. At UNM, the flagship health system had to be responsible for both an overwhelming volume of very ill patients and for disseminating the new vaccines statewide.

Lavin, a professor in the College of Nursing, said Stokes鈥� leadership during the pandemic was clear-headed.

鈥淚 think she did an amazing job during that time,鈥� Lavin said. 鈥淲e managed to keep students enrolled and engaged. We shifted quickly from in-person to online, and that鈥檚 not a small feat.鈥�

At its mass vaccination clinic at the Pit, UNM administered more than 100,000 doses of the COVID vaccine.

鈥淭hings became so politicized,鈥� Stokes said. 鈥淲hat you hope is that science is credible to people and that it can guide decision-making for any kind of future that we face.鈥�

A focus on campus safety

When Stokes was selected as president of UNM, she embarked on a listening tour across all 33 New Mexico counties to learn about the state and hear from its people. Chief among concerns, she said, were access to healthcare at the University of New Mexico Hospital, economic needs and safety at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 campus.

Stokes presided over UNM during a few high-profile crimes. In November 2022, New Mexico State basketball player Mike Peake killed UNM student Brandon Travis in a shooting outside the dorms that authorities would later describe as self-defense. Travis and others conspired to lure Peake to campus to jump him in retaliation after a fight a month earlier in the stands at the UNM-NMSU football game in Las Cruces.

Last July, 14-year-old Rio Rancho High School student Michael LaMotte was shot and killed in a student鈥檚 dorm room on campus at UNM.

In July 2018, when Stokes took office, UNM ranked No. 1 in the country for car thefts after 140 cars were stolen or broken into two years prior.

鈥淭here鈥檚 just a tremendous amount of attention paid to this issue,鈥� Stokes said. 鈥淚 will say that we work so hard to try to prevent things that are sometimes not entirely under our control, but we learn from everything that happens.鈥�

In 2024, the year for which the most recent data is available, UNM reported 85 vehicle thefts or attempted thefts 鈥� a 40% drop since 2018.

Under Stokes, the university has planned safety gates along Central to eliminate trespassers, launched the Lobo Lift program offering free rides after dark, and is set to build a new police station on campus that officials say will speed up response times.

鈥淭he reality is, this is a problem that requires constant vigilance,鈥� Stokes said. 鈥淭here is always more to do.鈥�

鈥楶laying catch-up鈥�

Faculty, adjunct faculty and graduate students at UNM all unionized during Stokes鈥� tenure.

Stokes admitted she was surprised when the faculty voted to unionize in October 2019. She didn鈥檛 know it had been in the works for a decade, she said.

鈥淚n retrospect, understanding the state, understanding the challenges that higher education had dealt with on the budget side for a number of years, I probably shouldn鈥檛 have been as surprised as I was,鈥� she said.

Graduate workers at UNM unionized just over two years after the faculty. That was the first time graduate students 鈥� who work up to 20 hours a week on top of a full course load 鈥� received a pay raise in about a decade, said Alicia Esquivel, director of organizing for the UNM graduate workers union.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still playing catch-up after that decade of stagnant wages, and we鈥檙e still really well below the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 cost of living,鈥� she said.

On average, Esquivel said, graduate workers are making $24,000 a year. According to a union survey, 70% of the graduate workers at UNM report financial insecurity.

Esquivel said Stokes鈥� administration has not been friendly to the union.

鈥淚 know during the certification process, there was a lot of pushback of grad workers unionizing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 would not say we had the administration鈥檚 support in that process.鈥�

Higher education under Trump

The beginning of the second Trump administration in 2025 brought with it funding cuts, free speech concerns and immigration fears to college campuses nationwide.

At UNM, several international students had their visas revoked last spring, along with at least nine students at New Mexico State University and one at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.

Stokes said the university has seen a drop in international students consistent with national trends.

UNM also had millions of dollars in federal grants targeted for cuts under Trump, according to the , a policy institute.

鈥淚 think probably one of the most challenging parts of it has been that uncertainty,鈥� she said, adding the university had put some programs in place intended to help faculty and students who were 鈥渃ounting on research funding to navigate their changing circumstances.鈥�

A flagship health system

UNM is in the midst of a major expansion of its health sciences programs 鈥� the university plans to double the size of its medical school by 2030 and recently opened a new critical care tower in a bid to serve more patients at its overcrowded hospital.

For Lee, one of Stokes鈥� most notable achievements as president has been mending the 鈥淟omas gap鈥� between UNM鈥檚 main campus and its health sciences campus across the street, which were historically disparate.

鈥淚 really believe that that is Garnett's true legacy, is mending that gulf and bringing the institution as under one umbrella for the students and for New Mexicans,鈥� Lee, the former regent, said.

Stokes will be succeeded by Dr. Steve Goldstein, a physician and health sciences administrator from the University of California, Irvine, who officials hope will shepherd UNM鈥檚 Health Sciences system into a new era.

鈥楢 tremendous mentor鈥�

Stokes is a first-generation college graduate who had not planned to go to college at all until a high school teacher pushed her to apply. Her father, a master sergeant in the Air Force, gave her a list of Baptist schools to choose from 鈥� she chose Carson-Newman University east of Knoxville, Tennessee, where she studied psychology.

鈥淢y senior year, it was suggested I go to grad school, which is not something I ever considered,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what I did.鈥�

Stokes earned her master鈥檚 degree and later a doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Georgia. She spent nearly 30 years at UGA, first as an assistant professor, then full professor, then the head of the school鈥檚 psychology department. In 2004, she was selected as dean of the school鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences.

鈥淚鈥檇 say that鈥檚 the point that really changed my trajectory,鈥� she said.

Before her tenure at UNM, New Mexico had been on Stokes鈥� radar for a while, she said. While living in Athens, Georgia, in the early '90s, Stokes 鈥� reading Tony Hillerman books at the time 鈥� took a spring break road trip in a pop-up camper with a friend to New Mexico. She found it beautiful, she said.

鈥淚 was paying attention to New Mexico and this university, probably for many years before I actually applied for the presidency,鈥� she said.

During her time at UNM, the university reported four consecutive years of enrollment growth. Retention and graduation rates 鈥� though still lower than national averages 鈥� are both almost back up to their pre-pandemic numbers.

Stokes also launched the Grand Challenges initiative, soliciting proposals from researchers to solve pressing societal issues like sustainability, substance abuse and artificial intelligence. The project has generated over $100 million in grants and awards, UNM officials said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rare to have a leader who instills that sense of purpose in folks so deeply, so genuinely,鈥� said former Provost James Holloway, who left UNM in 2025 to become president at the University of Toledo.

鈥淪he was a tremendous mentor,鈥� Holloway said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be a university president today if I hadn鈥檛 spent those six years with her.鈥�

Lee said she pushed for Stokes to be president because she believed she could become another Tom Popejoy, the longest-serving president in UNM history and the namesake for Popejoy Hall, the school鈥檚 performing arts venue.

"I wanted her to be another name that goes down at UNM as a long-term leader who moved the institution forward,鈥� she said.

When she leaves UNM in July, Stokes and her husband, forensic psychologist Jeffrey Younggren, will move to Redondo Beach, California, to be near their grandchildren and enjoy their days, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 time for my husband and me to have the rest of our lives together,鈥� Stokes said. 鈥淚 feel very good about this decision, and I feel good about the direction the university is going.鈥�

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.