Embattled WNMU president to step down following ethics investigations

Western New Mexico University President Joe Shepard, the embattled leader embroiled in ethics investigations over wasteful spending for the past year, announced on Friday he will step down early next year.

But Shepard, who will resign from his post on Jan. 15 and assume a president emeritus and faculty position within the School of Business on the Silver City campus, did not accept the terms of his separation agreement without commenting on the allegations of spending. These include foreign university trips with board members and his wife, ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame, purchases of high-end furniture for the president’s residence, and his daughter’s 2023 wedding, held at the residence.

Friday’s meeting marked the third for the regents this month as they met to discuss matters surrounding the ethics investigations by multiple agencies, including the New Mexico Higher Education Department. The department’s secretary, Stephanie Rodriguez, called Shepard’s announcement “long overdue,” but indicated that the university still has progress to make on ethics reforms and the state agency’s audit of the institution, which is still ongoing, could be completed soon.

“I have been and remain deeply troubled about the reports of gross negligence and mismanagement of taxpayer funds at Western New Mexico University,” Rodriguez said. “The health and stability of WNMU moving forward will require further examination and accountability.”

The scandal began last December, when the news outlet Searchlight New Mexico reviewed the university’s financial records and found that Shepard, Plame and members of the board went on expensive foreign business trips and purchased high-end furniture for the president’s residence.

Board Chair Mary Hotvedt said on Friday that Jack Crocker, provost and vice president of academic affairs, could serve as an interim president while the board searches for a permanent replacement, but the temporary appointment is pending conversations with the board, a university news release said. Hotvedt said during the meeting that she would not step down as planned and would wait until the presidential search concluded.

Once the Searchlight story broke, Shepard reasoned that the trips were needed to boost recruitment of international students and the furniture would please donors, but the president soon faced questions from lawmakers about his spending. State Auditor Joe Maestas uncovered more than $360,000 for 402 instances of “extravagant” travel and 91 instances of purchasing. He turned over his findings to the State Ethics Commission, which is reviewing the information.

On Dec. 12, the regents got an earful from members of the public calling on Shepard and the entire board to resign. In response, Hotvedt issued a prepared statement saying that despite complying with all audits as well as making policy reforms, Shepard and board members are being treated unfairly in the court of public opinion.

During Friday’s meeting, Shepard said the trips were elective and he notified the board; he paid for all expenses for the wedding and Plame’s university-issued credit card was approved by the board. Further, Shepard argued he was being defamed and he and his wife had not been afforded due process in the investigations. He even likened Plame’s situation of being in “the uninvited spotlight” to the time President George W. Bush’s administration outed her identity as a CIA agent.

Speaking virtually against the backdrop of campus, Shepard said he concluded the path forward is to “remove myself from the equation and resign.” It was not an “easy decision,” he added.

“I leave my post not in defeat, but with a deep understanding that it is the right thing to do, to advance that which I dearly love,” Shepard said.

He thanked his supporters and said to his detractors, “I hope you find peace.” Shepard added he wanted to move beyond “toxic” feelings and move “back to compassion.”

During Friday’s closed-door meeting, the board heard an update on possible personnel actions and discussed the contract. The board voted unanimously in public session to approve the separation and faculty appointment agreement between it and Shepard.

Shepard’s previous contract, provided to the Journal by the university, was signed in October 2022 and expired in June 2027. He earned a base salary of $365,000 per year, with a retention bonus of $50,000 beginning fiscal year 2022-23.

The new agreement, which the university provided Friday, said Shepard will receive a payment of $1.9 million when he resigns. As a faculty member, Shepard will earn a base salary of $200,000 a year for five years, with his salary increasing at the same rate as his future counterparts.

Shepard’s appointment as full professor to the business school will begin once his presidential term ends. He will teach two courses per semester. He could also take an eight-month sabbatical. At the end of five years, Shepard’s appointment will be subject to a post-tenure review.

Hotvedt said during the meeting that “none of us were excited” to enter into a separation agreement with Shepard. She said to the president directly, “I can’t say enough good things about you.”

But Brenda Findley, a former vice president of business affairs who later settled a whistleblower settlement with the university after she called out Shepard for spending, disagreed in an interview following the meeting, saying Shepard was bad for the institution and needed to go. She said she attended the board meeting because “it’s fundamental to me” to “follow through” on these university developments, however long after her termination in December 2016.

“There’s no way he could continue in that role and be legitimate — and he knows it,” Findley said. “The only thing he could do at all was to resign and negotiate this (agreement).

She added, “I’m cautiously optimistic” about the university’s future.