Enrollment slumping at most New Mexico universities

New Mexico State University Chancellor Garrey Carruthers has charisma. With his quick wit and friendly demeanor, the high-spirited 78-year-old can turn a tense situation into a fun and relaxed setting.

The former Republican governor of New Mexico also has friends in high places with political clout and deep pockets, which has served him well as the head of the state’s second-largest university.

But what Carruthers doesn’t have is enough students navigating the classrooms on campus in Las Cruces, at least not in the eyes of the university’s board of regents.

When the regents gave the popular chancellor the boot last week, announcing they would move forward with a search for a new leader amid calls from lawmakers and others to keep Carruthers on board, some of them cited declining enrollment and Carruthers’ inability to turn the numbers around as a driving factor behind their decision.

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