Let's Roll This Train: My Life in New Mexico Education, Business, and Politics by Lenton Malry

Author:Lenton Malry [Malry, Lenton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Political, Personal Memoirs
ISBN: 9780826357441
Google: DTfJDAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 29441364
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2016-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Governor King had appointed me to WICHE in 1972, and Governor Apodaca reappointed me in 1976. That year I asked Governor Apodaca to appear as our keynote speaker at our annual conference at the Hilton Hotel in New Mexico. On request I gave the commissioners some free time during the conference for touring, and many of them visited Santa Fe, Old Town, and the Sandia Peak Arial Tramway. I also hosted a party at my home. The commissioners had a great visit to our state.

The annual WICHE conference was always held in the summer, so my family and I always planned our vacation around it. We would usually drive to the conference because I wanted to sight-see and explore the beautiful West. One of our longest vacations was the year the conference was in Seattle. From Albuquerque we drove to Los Angeles to visit my brother John and his family for almost a week, then we drove up the coast to San Francisco and stayed there a couple of nights, and after that we went to Portland, Oregon, for a couple of nights. During the conference we took a ferry over to Victoria, British Columbia, and spent some time there. When the conference was over I packed my ice chest with lots of seafood and we drove back to Albuquerque. We had been gone for more than two weeks and had had a great time seeing the West Coast.

A few years later the conference was in Spokane, Washington. Dr. Terrell invited me and my family to spend a few nights with him and his family at Washington State University in Pullman, which is about one hour from Spokane. Again we took off in the car, this time through the Rocky Mountains. We spent several days visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We took a lot of pictures and had a great time. We then continued to Pullman and stayed two nights with Glenn and Francine Turrell. Glenn and I played lots of golf. I remember Francine giving Joy a recipe for buttermilk pancakes that we still use today. They’re delicious!

I was learning more and more about higher education in general and the important initiatives that WICHE could institute. Back in New Mexico, while serving as a legislator, I was always responsible for facilitating the progress of the bill that made the appropriations for WICHE. Also, at the request of Dr. Davis, I assisted with the UNM budget. One year he asked me to make an appropriation to upgrade the university library. I got a bill passed that gave $10 million for books, materials, and capital projects for the UNM library. I also sponsored legislation to build a new engineering-department building.

In 1975–1976 I was very busy serving as WICHE chairman. Once a month I would fly to Colorado and spend the night in Denver, then rent a car the next morning and drive to Boulder to meet with the senior staff from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The staff would brief me on policy and administrative activities.

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