New Mexico State's first graduating class in 1893 had only one student—and he was shot and killed before graduation.

Sam Steel Way was named for a young man who would have been the first graduate of NMSU, then known as New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, had he not been murdered in 1893. Steel was shot and killed on March 9 of that year in what today is known as Mesilla Park. The 17-year-old was the son of a prominent Mesilla Valley family and a nephew of local Judge John McFie, who helped found the college. Steel began attending the college at age 13.                                            According to an article in The New Mexico Collegian, a monthly publication of the Columbian Literary Society, Steel was delivering milk at the time of his murder. An excerpt from the article read:                                          "The hearts of the whole community were stricken with sadness when it was learned that Samuel Steel, the most brilliant student of our College, had been foully and wilfully [sic] murdered on Thursday evening, March 9th. We do not consider it in place to refer to the details of this ghastly deed, which are known to most of our readers; we only feel assured that it was perpetrated in sheer cold-bloodedness, and, knowing the victim as well as we have done, without the slightest provocation.                                          "There were no witnesses to Steel's murder. The only suspect, John Roper, was found guilty of the crime in a Doña Ana County courtroom, but was later released after a higher court appeal in Sierra County.Two days after the shooting, College President Hiram Hadley delivered Steel's funeral sermon at the local Presbyterian church, where six members of the Columbian Literary Society served as pallbearers. In his sermon, Hadley praised Steel's academic performance and his potential.for more info