In 1904, William Wilson Gallacher boarded a train in White Oaks, N.M., bound for the fledgling New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts campus in Las Cruces. He had $25 in his pocket and a determination to earn an engineering degree. What he may not have had was an inkling that the example he was setting would result in 24 degrees for 19 family members over the next 102 years from what would become New Mexico State University.

After earning his degree in mechanical engineering in 1908, Gallacher returned to the family ranch north of Carrizozo to help his brothers. During the next decades of his life, he would survive the fighting and flu epidemic of World War I and the tough life of a rancher, but he would never forget his connection with New Mexico State University.

“He loved college,” says his daughter, Anne Ferguson, a 1959 graduate in home economics education. “He told all us kids to go, study hard, but have a good time.”

Gallacher followed his own advice while at NMSU, where he was a pitcher for the Aggie baseball team and a basketball player. A photo of Gallacher dressed in his baseball uniform published in the student newspaper in 1908 called him the “Aggie Devil of 1908.”

“He really enjoyed his college days,” Ferguson says. Gallacher was a faithful fan at Aggie games for many years, and enjoyed being recognized as the “oldest living Aggie” when it was announced at the games. He passed away in 1985.

Gallacher’s son, William Wilson Gallacher Jr., earned a degree in animal husbandry in 1951. His college years started in the days just after World War II, when students were required to live in Quonset huts and shortages sparked rumors that the university would have to close. But World War II servicemen began to use their GI Bill benefits and soon filled the classrooms.

Ferguson was an Aggie cheerleader, Spring Carnival Queen and Panhellenic president. Her freshman class in 1955 – 970 strong – was the largest the school had ever had. Her husband, Wally Ferguson ’59 was senior class president as well as a quarterback and fullback for the Aggies. He was voted “Greatest Aggie” in 1958. Anne was voted “Most Popular Girl” and together they earned the distinction of “Most Popular Couple.”

The degrees the family earned in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s ranged from agricultural education and animal science to elementary education and nutrition. So many family members attended NMSU, they became known as “the Carrizozo Connection,” says Matt Ferguson, a 1986 Ag business graduate. Six have earned master’s degrees – the most recent this year – and two family members are currently enrolled at NMSU. Over all those years, the family’s commitment to NMSU has not waned.

“The friends you make at college are your friends for life,” Anne Ferguson says.

Scott Shafer, who earned bachelor’s (1972) and master’s (1974) degrees in animal science, is a grandson of Gallacher and one of many family members to join Alpha Gamma Rho, the Ag fraternity. He says the layout of the campus made it easy to get a well-rounded education.

“I took as many classes on the hill as I did at the Ag college,” he says. “It was all right there. You could walk to it. It allowed for a more diverse education.”

College life at NMSU was a chance for family members to meet new people, get an education and step into adulthood.

“You had to grow up and grow up pretty fast,” Ferguson says.

“But what a great place to grow up,” adds Shafer.