Former WNMU President Sues Lawmakers, Alleges Corruption

Months after stepping down amid a spending scandal and controversy over an exit package that included $1.9 million in severance, former Western New Mexico University president Joseph Shepard is suing WNMU, its board chair and lawmakers, accusing them of a political vendetta. 

Shepard resigned late last year after facing withering scrutiny from the public and state politicians following a report from Searchlight New Mexico that found he spent lavishly on international travel and furniture for his on-campus home. The Office of the State Auditor subsequently found he “engaged in the waste of public funds” and his travel appeared, at times, to be “unrelated to official university business.”

Fury over Shepard’s golden parachute prompted WNMU regents to resign en masse and an effort from the state to claw back his exit package. While that effort was unsuccessful, newly appointed regents voted to void his separation agreement and terminate his teaching contract, which would have had Shepard teaching two classes a year with a $200,000 annual salary. Regents argued the prior board violated open meetings laws in approving his exit package.

Now Shepard is going on offense and claiming he is the victim. 

His lawsuit, filed last week, alleges “conspiracy, collusion, and collaboration among the highest members of the New Mexico State government to cover up criminal wrongdoing by former and current State Senators.” He specifically names former state senator Siah Correa Hemphill, current lawmakers George Muñoz and Mimi Stewart, and State Auditor Joseph Maestas.

Shepard claims in his lawsuit that the Senate Finance Committee was set to allocate $500,000 to a nearby charter school, in an arrangement that would see WNMU acting as the fiscal agent for the money. That allocation ultimately did not end up in the budget, and Shepard claims that lawmakers instead redirected the $1 million slated to go to WNMU to the charter school instead, which Hemphill’s children attended and where she previously worked.

Shepard claims he pressed Hemphill to disclose the conflict, which prompted her and others to retaliate. Muñoz allegedly told a lobbyist—who in turn told Shepard in March 2023—that he planned to conduct a forensic audit of Shepard’s expenses and “make life difficult” for him, according to court documents. Shepard alleges a “smear campaign” began in December 2023 after he told WNMU’s independent auditor he believed “fraud occurred” in relation to the state appropriation.

After the Searchlight New Mexico article ran, Shepard then contacted the state attorney general to discuss the alleged fraud. No legal action came out of Shepard’s allegations, despite multiple conversations with state officials, the lawsuit noted. Instead, he argued, state lawmakers targeted him for being a whistleblower.

Shepard’s lawsuit seeks damages but does not specify a dollar amount.