USW honors two native alumni

Two graduates of University of the Southwest were honored Wednesday at the weekly chapel service at the university.

Jon Gilcrease was named 2016 Alumnus of the Year and Steve Sauceda was named 2016 Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year.

Larry Guerrero, university provost, noted that both men elected to remain in the community after they graduated and to make positive contributions to it.

Gilcrease, a native Hobbsan, graduated from Hobbs High School in 1991 and from New Mexico Junior College in 1993. “I decided to stay in school here because of the small, hometown atmosphere at both New Mexico Junior College and the university,” Gilcrease said. “I loved Hobbs and wanted to stay here to go to school.” Gilcrease earned not only his Bachelor of Science degree from USW, but also his Master of Science in Education degree from there.

He has worked for Hobbs Municipal Schools for 21 years. Gilcrease, who is now an assistant principal at Houston Middle School, taught mathematics, advanced placement calculus at Hobbs High School and coached eighth and ninth-grade basketball.

Eighty-three percent of his students passed the AP calculus exam in 2009 and in 2015, 100 percent passed the exam. His ninth-grade basketball teams won the Border Conference Championship twice.

Gilcrease said he misses the interaction with students in math classes, but doesn’t miss making lesson plans and “all the stuff that goes with it.”

“I’m really enjoying getting to know teachers,” he said.

Saucedo, who earlier this year was named Outstanding Young Man of the Year by the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce, chose USW for some of the same reasons Gilcrease did.

“The class sizes were small and that meant I could have a relationship with my professors and get help when I needed it. There was a real family atmosphere here,” he said.

After he graduated from USW at age 22, he went to work for the university as director of alumni services, a position he held until 2006, when he became director of the annual fund. He earned a master of business administration from Eastern New Mexico University.

He joined the staff at New Mexico Junior College after leaving USW and has been employed there for 10 years. He is now the director of workforce training at the college.

In February of 2016, Saucedo was featured on the cover of the Permian Basin Oil & Gas magazine because of his leadership in leading NMJC to earn the No. 1 ranking in workforce training in New Mexico for two straight years.

He hosts a weekly radio show, “Untucked with Steve Sauce-do,” which is available worldwide on iTunes and Podcast.

He is the vice-president of the United Way of Lea County board of directors and is frequently asked to be a speaker at events throughout the region.

“I love Hobbs and the people here,” Saucedo said. “And USW will always have a special place in my heart.”

Dorothy N. Fowler can be reached at 575-391-5446 or education@hobbsnews.com .