By SHERRY ROBINSON
All She Wrote
Western New Mexico University has now been investigated by four state agencies and sued by two of them.
Former President Joseph Shepard’s actions have kept reporters busy tracking allegations of misspending at the Silver City institution. It’s a lesson in ethics for the state’s other institutions.
But I’m not convinced we see the whole picture.
Let’s talk about what’s come to light, and then we’ll peel back the layers.
In 2023 reporter Joshua Bowling of Searchlight New Mexico broke the story about overseas travel on the university dime by Shepard, university executives, members of the Board of Regents and Shepard’s wife Valerie Plame (who had her own university procurement card).
Bowling also reported that Shepard spent some $27,740 in university money on exotic furnishings from a high-end Santa Fe retailer, which Shepard said he needed for entertaining potential donors at his home.
Since then, Patricia Trujillo, acting secretary of the state Higher Education Department, took Shepard to task, and the State Auditor tallied $363,525 in wasteful and improper spending.
International travel, seating upgrades and amenities, lacked “any documentation articulating the business need” for the travel. And Plame, who wasn’t an employee, shouldn’t have a university purchasing card. State Auditor Joseph Maestas said university management and regents violated WNMU’s own rules and breached their fiduciary responsibilities.
After regents inked a separation agreement with a $1.9 million golden parachute late last year, the Attorney General sued. And last month, the State Ethics Commission sued, claiming that Shepard took money intended for an ADA-compliant ramp and walkway and instead spent it on a patio where his daughter held wedding events.
WNMU defenders circled the wagons and argued that Bowling’s story and Trujillo’s remarks were intended to push Shepard from office. Regents agreed to a review of spending policies and an independent audit, but in July, they gave Shepard a glowing annual review and a $50,000 bonus. After the State Auditor’s report, members of the public called for Shepard’s and the regents’ resignations, reported Juno Ogle, of the Silver City Daily Press.
Regents Chair Mary Hotvedt countered: “This board has taken pummeling in the media and from some vocal critics. They have accused us of being corrupt nincompoops or mere political hacks and toadies, or really, just stupid. Our careful silence is taken to mean that we are unaware or complicit in something bad.”
Late in 2024 a regents’s subcommittee drafted a severance agreement. Shepard would step down on Jan. 15 and join the business school as a tenured faculty member (this was a surprise to the business school) at $200,000 a year. Plus, eight months of sabbatical. Plus, indemnity against future claims. Plus, walking money of $1.9 million, which he received Jan. 2.
The governor demanded regents’ resignation, and state Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Shepard and all five regents.
There are several nagging aspects to this string of events.
Most people join boards not to do bad things but to make a contribution. They don’t expect to be cops. The flip side, as I’ve learned in my reporting, is that boards can be manipulated by charismatic executives with big budgets, and the usual tool is travel and luxury hotels.
At WNMU the governor appointed regents with impressive backgrounds – people you expect not to be manipulated, especially the two who authored the separation agreement. Daniel Lopez was the highly respected president of New Mexico Tech for 23 years and a former cabinet secretary. Dal Moellenberg is a Santa Fe attorney with decades of experience who appears on best-lawyer lists.
Why would either man want to blight his considerable reputation? Mary Alice Murphy’s December story in the online Grant County Beat sheds some light.
In reporting the December regents meeting, Murphy allows Shepard to tell his side of the story. When he came to WNMU in 2011, weeds were growing faster than enrollment, buildings were deteriorating, gas lines ruptured, staff morale was low and Silver City residents didn’t feel welcome on campus.
Shepard said he cut the budget by 25%, reduced faculty and staff, prioritized programs, beautified the campus, revitalized infrastructure, upgraded athletic and recreation facilities, built new residence halls, and welcomed the community. Enrollment is up, and a number of programs are nationally ranked.
Lopez told Shepard, “I’ve been very close to the university over the years… and the transformation is miraculous in every respect.”
Do the wise decisions outweigh the self-serving inclinations that smack of entitlement?
Shepard deserves credit for the good he’s done, but the courts of law and public opinion will probably focus, as they should, on loose spending and lax oversight.