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Saturday, January 30, 2010
Krebs Gets Vote of No Confidence
By Martin Salazar
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
University of New Mexico graduate students this week voted no confidence in Athletics Vice President Paul Krebs and asked UNM regents for an independent investigation into the Mike Locksley altercation that drew the national media spotlight last year.
"This shows that graduate students are keeping track of what's going on, and we're concerned for the reputation of our university," said Danny Hernandez, Graduate and Professional Student Association council chair.
In addition to voting no confidence in Krebs' leadership, graduate students voted no confidence in his handling of the Sept. 20 Mike Locksley altercation. The four-day online election wrapped up Thursday, and results were released Friday.
Krebs, in a statement, said this school year has been a tremendous one for his department, and he criticized the graduate student government for focusing on the Locksley issue.
"It is unfortunate that in this time of unprecedented success for UNM student athletes and the UNM Athletics Department the GPSA chooses to focus on one isolated occurrence," he said.
Krebs initially reprimanded Locksley for his Sept. 20 confrontation with then-assistant coach J.B. Gerald. Following an outcry that the punishment was too lenient, Krebs later suspended Locksley without pay.
Locksley has apologized, and although he admits a physical altercation, denies he punched and choked Gerald.
UNM President David Schmidly has acknowledged that UNM botched handling of the matter, which included initial interviews of witnesses by an Athletics Department human resources employee that seemed to confirm the punching and choking allegations.
Krebs said UNM Athletics coaches, staff and student athletes have much to be proud of, "including record graduation rates, significant community involvement, and outstanding competitive success."
"For example," Krebs added, "a record four teams participated in their respective NCAA tournaments in the fall; the UNM ski team is currently ranked No. 1 in the country; our men's basketball team is experiencing great success."
The measure asking regents for an independent investigation of the handling of the Locksley/Gerald altercation was approved by an almost two-to-one margin.
Regents have said they see no need for an independent investigation.
Graduate students also voted to ask the administration to reallocate $1.5 million in student fees from athletics to academic programs. That measure was approved by 86 percent of students taking a position on the issue.
"Clearly, graduate and professional students do not have confidence in Paul Krebs or UNM Athletics, especially in their handling of the altercation between the head football coach and his subordinate," Hernandez said.
Nearly 1,200 of the roughly 5,500 graduate students enrolled this semester cast a ballot in the online election.
The no-confidence vote against Krebs' leadership was approved by two out of three graduate students who had an opinion. Even more graduate students — 81 percent who had an opinion — said they had no confidence in Krebs' handling of the Locksley/Gerald incident.
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