WNMU board chair defends handling of ethics investigations; public calls on mass resignations

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WNMU board chair defends handling of ethics investigations; public calls on mass resignations

Dec. 14—The parting shot on Thursday from the outgoing chair of the Western New Mexico University Board of Regents was that embattled President Joe Shepard and the board, accused by the state auditor of spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer funds on lavish furniture and foreign business trips, are being treated unfairly in the court of public opinion.

Mary Hotvedt’s comments came in a prepared statement during the board’s meeting in Silver City, where members of the public called on Shepard and the entire board to resign as numerous state agencies — and WNMU itself — investigate the university’s alleged $360,000 in wasteful spending from 2018 to 2023. Shepard did not respond to the public’s comments on Thursday but did ask for the board to “re-look” at the university’s travel policy.

Shepard may be losing a significant ally in Hotvedt, who deemed the university’s board meetings “boring.” “There is a political drumroll to not just damage the president,” Hotvedt said on Thursday, “but also the university and its entire governing structure.”

Certainly, whistleblowers, critics and investigators in state legislators do not find Shepard’s actions boring. Shepard, who has served since 2011, is being publicly questioned ahead of the start of the legislative session in January and as the state and the university continue their investigations into the spending.

While critics have taken the board’s “careful silence” to mean that members are unaware of the ethics violations or “complicit in something bad,” Hotvedt said this could not be further from the truth.

“The people of this board are some of the most accomplished, solid human beings I have ever met,” she said, noting she was getting emotional. The successor for Hotvedt, who departs after a six-year term, has not been named, a university spokesperson said Friday.

Searchlight New Mexico first reported the ethics allegations in December 2023. The article said Shepard purchased high-end furniture for the president’s residence and went on foreign trips with board members and his wife, ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame.

In an interview with Searchlight at the time, Shepard said the travel was needed to help boost recruitment of international students and the residence furniture would give donors a unique experience at events. He has since declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the Office of the State Auditor, and the university all launched audits into the matter. Only state Auditor Joe Maestas has completed his investigation, which was forwarded to the State Ethics Commission for review.

On Thursday, Hotvedt said the university started asking for an independent spending audit in the summer of 2023. She said the university has complied with all audits and reformed university policies. Hotvedt noted that Maestas applauded the university’s reform in his November letter to her.

“(The board) shall continue to do the work necessary to ensure the health of the university,” Hotvedt said during Thursday’s meeting.

She said that some people, including news media members, may find that information “boring,” but “the truth is, boards are designed to be boring.”

She said board members should remain “calm” and “deliberative” and not speak to the media, except on the decisions made. And even then, Hotvedt said, board members don’t make editorial comments.

During the public comment ******* of the meeting, Sen.-elect Gabe Ramos, R-Silver City, said he came to stand in support of the university.

“It’s time to move on; it’s time to let Dr. Shepard and the board do their job and keep us on track,” he said.

But Miriam Hill, a former WNMU adjunct, disagreed.

“Please be accountable, Dr. Shepard and Regents,” she said. “Out of respect for the students, the university culture and the community that supports it, it’s time for you all to step down.

Jay Hemphill, a former WNMU employee who has filed ethics complaints against Shepard — and once considered him a friend — said the president could have made policy reforms. However, he has refused to take responsibility or apologize for the spending.

Hemphill said Shepard and the board have run the university’s reputation into the ground and hurt its ability to raise funds.

“How can the New Mexico Legislature take us seriously anymore?” Hemphill said.

The board and university officials who defend Shepard’s conduct are trying to “deflect attention away from the real issues,” Hemphill said.

Later on in the meeting, student Regent Trent Jones said he welcomed public comment.

“It’s really the public that gets to critique us when you believe we’re not doing something the way it should be done,” Jones said.

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