The New Mexico Department of Justice took two additional legal actions yesterday in an ongoing attempt to squash a severance package for the outgoing president of Western New Mexico University.
Joseph Shepard resigned on Dec. 19, after a state audit uncovered evidence of his spending on overseas trips and furniture and his wife’s use of a university credit card.
At the same time, WNMU’s board of regents unanimously approved a severance payout of $1.9 million while Shepard also secured a new teaching contract that pays at least $200,000 annually.
Attorney general Raúl Torrez announced yesterday that the DOJ had added a supplement to a prior order aiming to block the severance payment. Torrez also filed a lawsuit against the university, the board of regents, and Shepard.
“The level of greed and self-dealing and arrogance that has been exhibited throughout this process, and frankly throughout the last year and a half has only been amplified by the actions and mismanagement of the Board of Regents at Western New Mexico and the actions of Dr. Shepherd.”
The scandal first came to light in December 2023 after an investigative report by Searchlight New Mexico.
After news of the resignation and separation agreement emerged in late December 2024, the Department of Justice asked for documentation around the decision to grant the payment and new job.
Torrez said at yesterday’s press conference that WNMU representatives told the DOJ that there was no on at the university available to comply with the document requests over the holiday break.
The DOJ responded on Monday with an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to block the payment, which was expected to be issued on Shepard’s scheduled last day, January 15.
But then Justice found out that the payment had already been processed, on January 2, leading to yesterday’s additional legal steps.
The lawsuit against the university, its regents, and Shepard alleges a breach of fiduciary duty, unconscionable contract, and violations of the open meeting act, among other charges.
Adding fuel to the fire, said Torrez, was the fact that the Silver-City based public university is in an area where many live below the poverty level and some students deal with food insecurity.
“Their parents are struggling, their families are struggling to pay these bills. And it is absolutely disgraceful that the people who have been entrusted with making sure that they get the education they need. To build a better future, have instead used that opportunity to enrich themselves to go on lavish taxpayer funded trips, and then when they're held to account, to hand out a golden parachute to one of their pals
The lawsuit seeks to recover the severance payment, and invalidate Shephard’s new faculty contract, arguing that the university failed to act in the public interest and violated the most basic precepts / of open government by negotiating this contract in secret.
As the case moves to court in consideration of the DOJ motions and lawsuit, lawmakers and state officials are collaborating to develop a package of bills they’ll present in the upcoming legislative session.
The measures will be designed to provide more oversight and checks on the powers conferred on regents and senior executives at the state’s public colleges and universities.
Speaker of the state house, Javier Martinez, was also at the announcement with Torrez, and issued a warning not only to Western New Mexico, but to all higher education institutions in the state.
“Every university and every region should be put on notice,” Martinez said.
“The time of playing political games with our public institutions is coming to an end. And so we will work together with the Attorney General, with legislative leadership in the House and the Senate to ensure, that we put an end to this practice of doling out these positions for the sake of politics.”
In a statement, the DOJ said the legislative proposal would address an array of issues, including how regents are selected, under what circumstances they can award severance payments, and streamlining the process when they breach their duties to the public.
