This year’s symposium offered a special tribute to the late J. Paul Taylor, a revered New Mexico legislator and longtime educator who founded the symposium. Taylor passed away in February 2023 after celebrating his 102nd birthday in August 2022.
“Mr. Taylor was the resounding voice of social justice in our region for decades," said Cynthia Bejarano, NMSU Regents Professor and former chair of the symposium who worked closely with Taylor for many years. “As an educator, he worked in higher education as the NMSU registrar and in public education as a schoolteacher and then principal. He was also a fierce advocate for bilingual and migrant education and worked for all students, children and youth alike, even those who were incarcerated.”
Taylor’s New Mexico roots go back to the late 1500s. His mother, María Margarita Romero, hailed from prominent Hispanic families in Las Vegas, New Mexico. His father was a railroad worker from Texas of Irish descent.
The youngest of six children, J. Paul Taylor was born Aug. 24, 1920 on the family’s farm and grew up in Chamberino, New Mexico. He graduated from Valley High in Anthony, now Gadsden High School. He then attended New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now NMSU. He earned his bachelor’s degree with a major in history and a minor in English and received a master’s degree in education in 1954. The university gave him an honorary doctorate in 1985.
Taylor served in the Office of Naval Intelligence from 1942 to 1945, then was offered a job as assistant registrar at the university. From working in the registrar’s office, Taylor shifted his career sights back to his childhood goal of education, becoming a sixth-grade teacher at Mesilla Park Elementary. His career evolved through many administrative positions in Las Cruces Schools until he retired in the 1980s.
After retiring from education, Taylor launched a new career as a state representative in District 33, which would start a nearly two-decade stint in the New Mexico House of Representatives. He served from 1987 to 2005. During his tenure, his work gravitated toward education, mental health, arts and culture, and women and children. He earned the nickname the “conscience of the Legislature.”
In 2005, Taylor spearheaded the Social Justice Symposium that bears his name. NMSU’s College of Arts and Sciences established the symposium and continued it year after year, based on Taylor’s support and encouragement. The symposiums have dealt with a wide range of topics from incarcerated youth, to a regional discussion of issues in Dona Ana County, to issues impacting farm workers.
“Like everyone who knew Mr. Taylor, I deeply miss him and our conversations over dessert,” Bejarano said. “I will miss seeing him at each symposium, as he was always interested in attending and engaging with every aspect of each year’s symposium. His wisdom, high energy, good humor and sweet disposition and passion for improving the lives of others will stay with me always.”
Taylor’s papers will be given to the NMSU Library to be preserved in its Archives and Special Collections.
-30-