{"id":47624,"date":"2025-08-04T14:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T21:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=47624"},"modified":"2025-08-04T14:29:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T21:29:03","slug":"wnmu-regents-ax-joseph-shepards-severance-and-teaching-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wnmu-regents-ax-joseph-shepards-severance-and-teaching-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"WNMU regents ax Joseph Shepard\u2019s severance and teaching contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

The new board members who took this action acknowledge that the move leaves Shepard\u2019s status \u201cin limbo,\u201d but the vote seems likely to affect an ongoing lawsuit from the New Mexico Attorney General<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

by Joshua Bowling, Searchlight New Mexico<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story<\/a> was originally published at Searchlight New Mexico<\/a>, a NMPBS partner.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Western New Mexico University. Courtesy of Western New Mexico University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unanimously, the newly appointed regents at Western New Mexico University have approved a plan to strike down former President Joseph Shepard\u2019s previously awarded $1.9 million severance payment and five-year teaching contract, on the grounds that they were awarded in violation of the state\u2019s Open Meetings Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regents at the July 31 meeting acknowledged that they aren\u2019t sure if or how their move can pull back the nearly $2 million that the Silver City school already paid to Shepard following his December resignation \u2014 regent chair Steven Neville said the votes leave the agreement \u201cunapproved and basically in limbo at this point.\u201d But it appears likely that the board\u2019s decision will influence the ongoing lawsuit from Attorney General Ra\u00fal Torrez that seeks to recover the severance money and void Shepard\u2019s teaching contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Thursday\u2019s decision does not affect another court challenge Shepard is facing. In June, the New Mexico State Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that, while president, Shepard misdirected funds meant for an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant project toward an outdoor patio that he used for his daughter\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s going to be a lot of questions after these votes,\u201d regent John V. Wertheim said at the meeting. \u201cShepard\u2019s separation agreement and faculty appointment are no longer in existence \u2026 The best resolution for everyone is to get this in front of a retired judge or justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court to hammer out a fair, negotiated settlement. That\u2019s certainly my goal in making the motion I made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shepard and the New Mexico Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an unprecedented occurrence for WNMU\u2019s regents, Friday\u2019s meeting, which was held in person and on Zoom for virtual attendees, was derailed by hackers. Shortly after people initially logged on to the meeting\u2019s virtual component, several hackers joined and displayed pornographic videos, racial slurs and swastikas on their video feeds. Attendees in the room appeared not to notice the chaos \u2014 regents were unfazed as they continued to discuss routine government business \u2014 but even presentations shared by the host of the meeting were quickly replaced by the explicit pornographic videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot
The meeting was interrupted by hackers who posted posted pornographic, racist and anti-Semitic content. Screenshot: Joshua Bowling\/Searchlight New Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several of the hackers\u2019 video feeds featured text that read: \u201chacked by nuenze.\u201d The same group seems to have carried out a similar operation in Mississippi earlier this week<\/a>. After WNMU administrators ejected bad actors from the meeting, everyone in remote attendance had their cameras turned off. Earlier this year, in April, Russian cyberattackers appeared to infiltrate<\/a> WNMU employee computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s vote was the latest step in what has been a busy year for Shepard and WNMU. Concerns over his conduct as president were first widely raised in late 2023, after Searchlight New Mexico broke the story<\/a> of how he; his wife, former CIA agent Valerie Plame; and several other university officials used taxpayer dollars to pay for lavish lifestyles in an otherwise impoverished town. Searchlight found Shepard had adorned his on-campus house with nearly $28,000 worth of exotic furniture from Seret and Sons, a Santa Fe business known for imported pieces and steep prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within weeks, state lawmakers grilled<\/a> Shepard at the Capitol over Searchlight\u2019s reporting. The Higher Education Department and the Office of the State Auditor both announced they were looking into WNMU\u2019s finances and sent the university scathing letters questioning many of Shepard\u2019s purchases. Employees at the university and its sister foundation told Searchlight that the foundation had been reduced to being \u201cthe presidential piggybank.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, though, things were relatively quiet for most of 2024. The Amazon Prime streaming show \u201cThe College Tour\u201d released an episode<\/a> set at WNMU; Shepard appeared in it to laud how the school serves students in unique circumstances, such as first-generation college students. \u201cWe\u2019re that small place that gives that big experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By fall of 2024, developments picked up. In November, the state auditor released a blistering report<\/a> detailing the highlights of his office\u2019s investigation. It alleged $363,525.99 in \u201cwasteful\u201d and \u201cimproper\u201d spending, including a trip to the Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month after the auditor\u2019s findings were made public, Shepard resigned<\/a> from his post as university president. At a Dec. 20, 2024, regents meeting, Shepard was awarded $1.9 million in severance and a five-year teaching contract in the university\u2019s business school for $200,000 per year. He had been in his job for more than 13 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Shepard has been the target of multiple lawsuits relating to the terms of his departure and his conduct as president. In January, the New Mexico Department of Justice filed suit<\/a> against Shepard and the regents to nullify his severance and teaching contract and to recoup the nearly $2 million \u201cgolden parachute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
New Mexico Attorney General Ra\u00fal Torrez and House Speaker Javier Martinez announcing a lawsuit against Joseph Shepard and WNMU\u2019s then-Board of Regents in January. Nadav Soroker\/Searchlight New Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s unanimous decision from the new Board of Regents has the potential to affect the NMDOJ\u2019s lawsuit over Shepard\u2019s severance and employment contract. But it does not appear poised to affect a lawsuit filed in June by the State Ethics Commission, which accused Shepard of violating the state Governmental Conduct Act, which regulates how employees at all levels of New Mexico government comport themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs WNMU President, Shepard had a practice of authorizing university expenditures from which he benefited that were only loosely connected to university purposes,\u201d the 106-page lawsuit alleges. \u201cWhile a university president has wide latitude to authorize university expenditures for university purposes, the Governmental Conduct Act places a limit on the expenditure of public funds for a private purpose. Shepard transgressed that limit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was originally published at Searchlight New Mexico<\/a>, a NMPBS partner.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new board members who took this action acknowledge that the move leaves Shepard\u2019s status \u201cin limbo,\u201d but the vote seems likely to affect an ongoing lawsuit from the New Mexico Attorney General by Joshua Bowling, Searchlight New Mexico This story was originally published at Searchlight New Mexico, a NMPBS partner. Unanimously, the newly appointed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":47627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10906],"tags":[10907],"class_list":["post-47624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-partner-stories","tag-partner-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nWNMU regents ax Joseph Shepard\u2019s severance and teaching contract - New Mexico In Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wnmu-regents-ax-joseph-shepards-severance-and-teaching-contract\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WNMU regents ax Joseph Shepard\u2019s severance and teaching contract - New Mexico In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new board members who took this action acknowledge that the move leaves Shepard\u2019s status \u201cin limbo,\u201d but the vote seems likely to affect an ongoing lawsuit from the New Mexico Attorney General by Joshua Bowling, Searchlight New Mexico This story was originally published at Searchlight New Mexico, a NMPBS partner. 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