NMSU president says decision to fire AD Mario Moccia with cause was his alone

LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State President Valerio Ferme said the decision to fire former Athletics Director Mario Moccia with cause was his alone after reviewing documents related to alleged sexual assault and hazing incidents within the school’s men’s basketball program.

Speaking during a press conference Friday morning with acting Athletics Director Amber Burdge, Ferme said he had no contact from the state government or “any pressure from anybody” to make the decision Thursday to part ways with Moccia, NMSU’s athletics director since 2015.

Moccia had previously been criticized by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and former New Mexico Secretary of Education Stephanie Rodriguez, with both maintaining that his salary should not be paid with state funds “unless a thorough independent investigation has cleared him of any culpability or wrongdoing.”

An NMSU spokesperson confirmed Moccia was given notice of his termination, with cause, on Thursday. Due to terms in his contract, Moccia will be on paid administrative leave for one month, until Feb. 2, before the termination takes effect.

Firing Moccia with cause is noteworthy because it takes NMSU off the hook from paying out the rest of his contract, which was set to expire in 2028.

Ferme, who formally started at NMSU on Jan. 2, made it clear the separation was not mutual and that the school does not plan on providing a buyout.

It is currently unclear if Moccia, 57, will contest the firing. He did not respond to a request for comment from the Journal.

Moccia posted on X on Friday afternoon, his first public statement since the news of his termination was reported. He wrote: “Dear @NMStateAggies NATION! I will have more to say soon. A MASSIVE thank you, over 500 texts & calls from current & former student-athletes, staff, AD’s around the nation, media & friends. You have given our family an “It’s a Wonderful Life” movie ending!” and included a gif from the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Ferme opened Friday’s press conference noting Moccia’s termination was not an easy decision.

“These decisions are not easy decisions — no one wants to come in and say, ‘hey, this is what I want to do on day one of my job,’” he said. “I think Mario has done a lot for the university and so I want to acknowledge that. I also think that there are certain standards that I feel are important from my perspective of how I want to lead a university, that I want to see exemplified in the people that work with me.”

During the press conference, Ferme said he is not seeking to start a search for a new athletic director and that he will review Burdge’s status after her first six months on the job.

Report critical of Moccia

Ferme said the decision to fire Moccia was motivated in part by a recent report commissioned by New Mexico’s attorney general detailing its investigation into misconduct under former men’s basketball coach Greg Heiar. The basketball program cancelled its lone season under Heiar on Feb. 12, 2023 after a police report detailed allegations of multiple basketball players taking part in locker room hazing and sexual assault.

NMSU later settled a civil lawsuit in June 2023 with two former players for $8 million, and at least two other players and a student manager have filed a separate, ongoing civil suit alleging they were also victims of sexual assault.

Released in December by the New Mexico Department of Justice, the 70-page AG report criticized Moccia for not doing enough after reporting those allegations to the school’s Office of Institutional Equity.

The report also faulted the school for failing to provide more transparency with how Moccia’s salary was paid out. After the New Mexico Department of Higher Education and other state leaders requested Moccia’s salary not be paid with state funds in May 2023, he was compensated with monies from the Aggie Athletic Club, the fundraising arm of NMSU athletics.

“We want to be able to have back and forth (communication) at all levels, at all times, and I’m not sure that the document showed that was happening all the time,” Ferme said when asked what in the report warranted Moccia’s firing.

What’s next?

The report in part recommended that NMSU institute Title IX and anti-hazing training for all students and staff, “strengthen” standards for recruiting practices and implement “consistent discipline” for athletes involved in misconduct.

Ferme and Burdge said their initial goals will be to implement many of the recommendations listed in the AG’s report, including hiring an anti-hazing director. Ferme also said two positions have been approved to help OIE “in regards to Title IX and sexual misconduct or any other reporting.”

When asked, Ferme added he did not have a set timeline for NMSU to be in compliance with all of the recommendations, but noted Burdge has been “leading the charge” in responding to the report’s suggestions.

“Once we hire the director of anti-hazing, for example, we’re going to be able to talk with that person about what steps that person thinks are the most important to conduct,” Ferme said. “We want to reevaluate and we will be reevaluating on a constant, consistent basis on that.”

Burdge admitted stepping into the AD role was “quite a surprise” but said she was honored to lead the department going forward. She was NMSU’s deputy athletic director for strategic initiatives and leadership before being named the acting athletic director on Thursday, and has prior experience in athletic administration at Louisiana Tech and Neosho County (Kansas) Community College.

“Our coaches and student athletes have been phenomenal at community engagement, in our academic pursuits for excellence, on the field, on the court,” she said. “Those are the things we’re going to continue to strive for and continue to do well, and I believe that if we get those things taken care of, then we can begin to look further down the road.”

‘We really need to move forward’

Hired by his alma mater on Nov. 24, 2014 as the Las Cruces school’s 23rd director of athletics, Moccia oversaw an athletics department that won more than 50 conference championships with three bowl and five NCAA Tournament appearances. He also led the Aggies to full-time status in Conference USA after the football program functioned as an independent from 2018-23; other sports previously competed in the Western Athletic Conference.

Ferme said the AG report “certainly was a big factor” in firing Moccia, but emphasized it wasn’t the only one. He said he reviewed videos and documents surrounding the AGs report and prepared by the university and non-university agents in December.

“From my perspective, you have to have a little bit of humility as an institution to say, let’s look at what happened,” he said. “Let’s take responsibility for some of it. Let’s see what we’re doing well, let’s see what we’re not doing.

“And then having the courage to say, you know what, we really need to move forward.”

Ferme also stressed that he was not in contact with the government for this decision, only giving New Mexico Secretary of Education Marianna Padilla a “courtesy call” on Jan. 1 to notify her of the decision.

Both Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raúl Torrez have publicly called for anti-hazing legislation over the last two years as New Mexico is one of six states without anti-hazing laws, according to the DOJ’s investigation.

“I am appalled by the allegations at New Mexico public universities involving hazing and abuse — outrage doesn’t go far enough,” Lujan Grisham said in April 2023. “It is the responsibility of higher education leadership and governing boards to establish a safe, healthy environment for students, and I’m incredibly disappointed that it does not appear to be a priority at some of the state’s public colleges and universities.”