Western New Mexico University regents void severance agreement with former President Joseph Shepard

SILVER CITY — Western New Mexico University regents effectively voided a controversial separation agreement with the university’s former president Thursday.

The university’s new governing board, appointed earlier this year by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham after asking the previous regents to resign, took up a contract approved by their predecessors last December, which granted former president Joseph Shepard a $1.9 million severance payment plus a faculty appointment paying $200,000 annually with an eight-month sabbatical. Shepard was set to teach a course in business ethics this year.

The contract prompted a lawsuit from state Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who stated in the complaint that the contract was unlawful and that regents had negotiated the terms in violation of New Mexico’s Open Meetings Act. The litigation is pending in New Mexico’s 6th Judicial District Court, with a motion hearing scheduled for October.

Shepard, who had led the university since 2011, resigned in the wake of a probe by State Auditor Joe Maestas into the spending of public funds for luxurious business travel and furnishings for the president’s residence. Allegations of wasteful expenditures also prompted questions from state lawmakers, an audit by the state Higher Education Department and an inquiry by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission, which is suing Shepard over construction work at the president’s residence.

Shepard’s resignation as president took effect in January, and the severance was paid that month. Torrez had asked the court to order Shepard to place the money into a trust while the litigation was pending, but state District Judge Jarod Hofacket declined to impose that remedy after Shepard’s attorney contended that the agreement was legally valid.

At Thursday’s meeting, held in the J. Cloyd Miller Library on WNMU’s campus, Regent John Wertheim told those in attendance that, in his view, the former board had not complied with the open meetings law, as the agenda for that meeting did not adequately inform the public of what would be decided.

Under the law, Wertheim said that made the former board’s decision invalid, meaning the agreement had no effect and would need to be voted on in a properly noticed open session. The entire board concurred, unanimously approving a resolution declaring the Dec. 20 approval of the Shepard agreement invalid.

Next, the regents took an up-or-down vote on the agreement itself, unanimously voting to reject it.

“As of right now, from the perspective of the Board of Regents, Dr. Shepard’s separation agreement and faculty appointment is no longer in existence,” Wertheim said.

Shortly after the meeting, Shepard said Thursday’s action “is the continuation of the highly orchestrated political smear campaign to damage and destroy my reputation, career, and livelihood.”

In his written statement, Shepard continued: “After serving 14 exemplary years of advancing the University, it’s troubling that this new governor-appointed board has chosen this path. This is a matter before the courts. The Board’s desire to attempt to circumvent the legal process is telling that they know they can’t win where facts matter and are doing all they can to prevent the truth from being shared.”

During the meeting, Wertheim said he hoped the vote was a step toward a “negotiated, mediated settlement” encompassing the separate lawsuits by Torrez’s office and the Ethics Commission.

The state Department of Justice welcomed the regents’ actions. “This action will have profound consequences for our pending lawsuit against Dr. Shepard, and we intend to file supplemental motions to bring this matter to the attention of the district court,” DOJ Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez said in a written statement.

A search for WNMU’s next president is underway, with Interim President Chris Maples, who attended Thursday’s meeting, formally starting on the job Friday.