Group criticizes NMSU president in wake of athletic director's termination

An anonymous group of business people, many with active relationships with New Mexico State University and its athletic department, has delivered a letter to the school’s new president expressing its disappointment in the decision to, and manner in which, he fired Athletic Director Mario Moccia.

The group, which calls itself Community for a Stronger NMSU, delivered its “Memorandum of Concern” to the office of President Valerio Ferme and to the NMSU Board of Regents on Jan. 10. The memo did not have names of the group’s members.

On Jan. 2, the university announced Moccia’s contract was being terminated. The following day, Ferme in a press conference stated the decision to move on from Moccia was his alone and he also confirmed the firing was “with cause,” citing a report from the New Mexico attorney general criticizing the athletic director for not doing enough after sexual assault and hazing allegations rocked the school’s men’s basketball program.

The Community for a Stronger NMSU stated the decision to fire Moccia “with cause” — which would withhold more than $1 million remaining on Moccia’s employment contract — was not only unjust, but has created great concern in Ferme’s ability to run the university and could affect donor support.

Notably, the group is not advocating for Moccia to be reinstated.

In announcing Moccia’s firing, Ferme cited the 70-page report from the state’s Department of Justice detailing its investigation into allegations of hazing and sexual assault within the 2022-23 NMSU men’s basketball program under former head coach Greg Heiar and criticizing the former athletic director for not doing enough after reporting the allegations to the Office of Institutional Equity.

The state has already paid two players a total of more than $8 million to settle civil lawsuits and at least three other suits — two from players and one from a manager — are pending.

The AG report noted the purported hazing and sexual assaults “were reflective of a more pervasive toxic culture throughout the program. There were ample opportunities for those around the team to observe this toxic culture as it was developing, but they failed to effectively intervene and prevent it. This inaction was compounded by inadequate institutional preventative safeguards.”

The report was one of several investigations — from inside and outside NMSU — into the allegations and did not necessarily reveal new information.

“It is crucial to note that Mr. Moccia was not implicated in any of the five investigations into NMSU athletics, and three previous presidents (Chancellor Dan Arvizu, Interim Chancellor Jay Gogue and Interim President Monica Torres) found no cause to hold him responsible,” the letter states. “Instead, these investigations pointed out systemic issues within NMSU’s policies and the Office of Institutional Equity.”

Ferme in his press conference thanked Moccia for his decade as AD and noted “Mario has done a lot for the university”, though he also said “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.” In that conference, Ferme also announced that Amber Burdge, deputy athletic director for strategic initiatives and leadership, would become NMSU’s acting athletic director.

The NMSU Board of Regents announced they had selected Ferme as the university’s next president on Oct. 25 and that his official start date would be Jan. 1, 2025.

One of Ferme’s first acts was to fire Moccia. When the AD’s contract was terminated, it triggered an arbitration period and Moccia is expected to fight the “with cause” determination.

The letter’s authors are advocating the “with cause” determination be withdrawn and also “strongly urge” Ferme to “respect the history and culture” of NMSU and to “repair the relationship between (NMSU) and its stakeholders.”

The letter warns Ferme his every decision will now be “under intense scrutiny” because “the community now questions (his) ability to make sound, well-informed decisions.”

The morning Moccia was fired, the Journal has learned the Chief of NMSU Police was present to escort Moccia out of the Athletic Department offices, though there is no indication he was resisting or not willing to leave.

Moccia told the Journal on Friday he is not yet ready to comment publicly on his firing, though did confirm he’s aware of the letter and said he was not involved in it being written.

In a post on X on Jan. 3, Moccia thanked Aggie fans and supporters who had reached out to him after the news broke, including writing “I will have more to say soon.”

NMSU on Friday confirmed it received the same letter the Journal had been given earlier this week.

Through a spokesman, NMSU released the following statement to the Journal:

“President Ferme believes that connecting with each of the communities NMSU serves is vital to the university. That is why he has been engaged in discussions with our stakeholders across New Mexico regarding a wide range of topics for the past few months.

“Since the beginning of the year, he has had individual discussions with some of the university’s top donors and alumni, as well as coaches and other staff in the Athletics Department. These efforts, and others to strengthen the town and gown relationship, will continue going forward.

“Our students, including our student athletes, are always at the center of what we do. We continue to be focused on their safety and well-being. We welcome hearing from our community members and look forward to engaging with them to further strengthen these relationships.”

Arvizu, on his final day as chancellor on April 7, 2023 signed various documents, including a contract extension for Moccia. The five-year, fully-guaranteed contract (unless fired with cause) increased Moccia’s salary from $280,000 to $351,000 for 2023 and it was to increase annually until reaching $425,000 in the final year, 2027.

The same month Moccia received the new contract, New Mexico Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez penned a column published around the state expressing concerns about the hazing allegations and leadership of the department.

In May 2023, Rodriguez wrote to Gogue making clear she, nor Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, felt state money should be used to pay Moccia until he was fully cleared of culpability.

“It is the position of the New Mexico Higher Education Department and Governor (Michelle) Lujan Grisham that, given the heinous nature of the incidents that occurred under Director Moccia’s tenure, state funds should not be applied toward his salary or compensation until and unless a thorough independent investigation has cleared him of any culpability or wrongdoing,” she wrote.

Moccia had since been paid by money raised by the Aggie Athletic Club, the fundraising arm of NMSU Athletics that funnels donations through the NMSU Foundation.

This past September, Rodriguez penned a column amid NMSU’s presidential search stating she felt the candidate pool, including Ferme, was inadequate. She even cited the issues in athletics.

“The recent history of leadership, with frequent changes and interim placeholders as well as alleged instances of hazing and assault among student athletes, suggests the search process must be more rigorous,” Rodriguez wrote.

The Journal on Friday asked Rodriguez her opinion on Moccia’s termination and if she had any direct communication with the new president before he made his decision.

“The decision to remove the athletic director and appoint an interim was the president’s decision to make alone,” wrote Auriella Ortiz, communications director for NMHED in an email to the Journal. “The New Mexico Higher Education Department supports university leadership making independent decisions that put students and their wellbeing first.”

Ortiz’s email did not specifically address whether Rodriguez and Ferme had discussed the matter prior to the decision being made.