Governor seeks resignation of Western New Mexico University board after spending revelations
FILE – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has asked for the immediate resignation of regents at Western New Mexico State University after revelations of wasteful spending and failures in financial oversight, according to documents released Thursday.
In a year-end letter to the five-member board of regents, Lujan Grisham said new leadership is needed in the “spirit of a clean slate” to ensure the Silver City-based university can regain its “equilibrium and once again serve its students first and foremost.” The board’s chairwoman resigned Tuesday.
The purge follows the announced resignation of Joseph Shepard as university president after an investigation by the state auditor’s office found top university officials and regents had failed to uphold their fiduciary responsibilities.
State lawmakers started raising questions in 2023 about Shepard’s spending on international travel and high-end furniture, along with wife Valerie Plame’s use of a university credit card. Plame is a former CIA operations officer who ran unsuccessfully for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Regents backed an arrangement for Shepard’s resignation as president that guarantees him a new faculty job and a one-time payment of $1.9 million.
The package is under scrutiny by the State Ethics Commission, and state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced an inquiry into whether the board of regents satisfied its fiduciary duty. Shepard and board members have defended their conduct.
Professor and faculty senate president Phillip Schoenberg expressed gratitude for the governor’s decision to replace the board of regents, citing a need for “responsive and decisive leadership.” He describe outrage among faculty at a severance agreement for Shepard that includes a contract to teach at the university’s business school.
Although its name has changed multiple times over the years, Western New Mexico’s history dates to the 1890s, before statehood.
Shepard was appointed president in 2011, following a 16-year career at Florida Gulf State University that included several administrative roles.