Silver City, NM- Perhaps you’ve seen him at the book store, or maybe you’ve seen him lounging in the Chief Justice Chambers on the third floor of the SMB. Rarely seen without his trademark flannel and baseball cap, Thomas Durham is both a distinctive and important member of the Western community, and Grant County as a whole.
While he is a quite modest about himself, Thomas has a wealth of accomplishments. He primarily serves the university as the Chief Justice of Student Government, as well as the President of the Young Democrats of America, but he’s also had a very interesting and varied life outside of Western. He is a lead advocate for SASS, the Silver Regional Sexual Assault Support Services, and a board member for El Rufigio, which is a Silver City based advocacy group for victims of domestic violence. He is also a veteran of the United States Air Force, and before becoming a student at WNMU, worked with the Army Corps of Engineers as an executive assistant and second-in-command to the site manager of the Fire Island Sandy Recovery Project in New York. Currently, Thomas is in Santa Fe, working as an intern for New Mexico State Senator Howie Morales.
He is also an accomplished writer. For a time, Thomas was the youngest person to place in the San Antonio Poetry Slam. He is also technically a published poet, due to a PBS broadcasting of the poetry slam. He’s currently working on a Bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies with a dual-focus on English and Political Science. He also has a twin brother, John, and a sister who lives in Panama. He also enjoys reading and watching horror movies, and asked The Mustang to let all the ladies know that he is in fact “not taken.”
A humble man at heart, Thomas wants his fellow students to know that he is sincerely honored to be their classmate. A proud democrat, Thomas wants to encourage all students to become politically motived and get involved and start participating in their communities. “I don’t care what party, just get involved,” Thomas says, explaining that it is political entities that help shape our daily lives, not just locally, but everywhere.
More importantly, Thomas wants people to be good to each other and enjoy life, stating that: “Helping others will always pay dividends. You get out of life what you put in; put in a great deal of the time, you get a lot more out of it. You’re gonna take some hits, occasionally some hard ones, and no one makes it through life without stubbing a toe or two, but life is good. It’s a gift. Take no day for granted.”
