LAS VEGAS, N.M. — New Mexico Highlands University interim President Kimberly Blea attempted to assuage worries from faculty, students and staff at a campuswide forum Wednesday afternoon, after days of administrative upheaval at the university.
The board of regents voted in a special meeting Friday to place Highlands President Neil Woolf on paid administrative leave, a move that appears to be the first in a wave of high-level departures at the state university.
Blea spoke to members of the Highlands community — virtually and in the university’s student union building — for about 10 minutes Wednesday afternoon.
She prefaced her remarks by saying she would not be discussing “personnel matters,” and she did not take questions from the audience of about 100 in-person attendees and many more online. Neither Blea nor the university’s regents have provided any official explanation for the recent spate of departures.
“I know that not every question can be answered today. I also know that uncertainty is difficult,” Blea told the crowd. “But what I want to assure you is that our students remain at the center of our work.”
Though sources at the university have said at least three other top administrators have been dismissed in recent days, Highlands general counsel Doajo David Hicks stopped short of confirming any recent personnel changes or dismissals of high-level administrators, citing individual privacy rights.
Blea during her announcements Wednesday did reference “temporary organizational reporting changes,” including an interim provost to replace Dann Brown as the university’s top academic administrator.
Hicks indicated in an email Tuesday that departments previously overseen by Vice President for Advancement and University Relations Paul Grindstaff and Vice President for Government Affairs David Lepre will now report to Hicks on an interim basis.
Highlands’ men’s basketball coach Zach Settembre has also been fired, despite a recent three-year extension to his contract.
Neither Blea nor the regents have responded to repeated inquiries from The New Mexican requesting explanations for the recent changes in leadership.
“The University is unable to comment on the reasons underlying personnel decisions, including the circumstances surrounding Dr. Neil Woolf’s placement on paid administrative leave,” Hicks wrote in the email.
The university had 2,741 students enrolled as of last fall, which university officials said at the time represented a 4% increase in undergraduate enrollment over fall 2024 largely driven by big jumps in the number of freshmen and transfer students attending. However, total enrollment has been declining over the last decades, according to the state’s figures — there were 3,512 students in fall 2016.
State Rep. Anita Gonzales, a Democrat who represents much of San Miguel and Torrance counties, said she is monitoring the evolving situation at Highlands alongside many others in Las Vegas and northeastern New Mexico.
“Highlands is really deeply ingrained into our community,” said Gonzales, an alumna who attended Wednesday’s forum. “I think it affects nearly every resident of Las Vegas. Between jobs, students, culture, history, whatever you want to call it, I think all of us have a tie here to the campus.”
Graduation, facilities services unchanged
Despite the uncertainty, Blea announced two things that will move forward unchanged. First, she said graduation ceremonies will take place in Las Vegas, Rio Rancho and Farmington later this month as originally scheduled.
Second, Blea confirmed Highlands will not outsource its facilities services department, a change university leadership previously planned to make.
That was welcome news to Cin Ulibarri, president of the Clerical and Facilities Bargaining Unit of the New Mexico Highlands Faculty and Staff Association.
“It is a great relief,” Ulibarri said. “That decision that was announced means that there’s going to be a lot more stability in the lives of these facilities employees.”
Blea framed the current period of transition as the latest of many opportunities for the college to demonstrate its resilience.
“I am no stranger to difficult times at Highlands — and neither are many of you,” said Blea, an alumna who has worked at the university for nearly 20 years. “Together, this university has faced COVID, fires, floods, water issues and two cyberattacks.”
She added, “One thing I know about this community is that we persevere. We always have, and we will do that again.”
Highlands community response
Juniors Bodie Schlinger and Tela Mulitalo left Wednesday’s forum feeling a lack of transparency from Highlands’ administration.
Both members of Highlands’ football team, Schlinger and Mulitalo said they respected Woolf, who was a major booster for the university’s sports programs. As president, he led an ambitious — and ultimately doomed — effort to overhaul the university’s athletics complex at a cost of $85.5 million, which would have been the largest-ever athletics expenditure in New Mexico history.
“I was hoping to at least learn what the situation was or at least see if there’s anything we can do as students to help out, be a voice of support for our president,” Mulitalo said. “But it just sounds like we’re moving forward.”
Michael Remke, an assistant professor of forestry, recognized the need for accountability for Highlands administrators — but also their genuine care for the campus.
“Some of the people affected by what’s happened here truly loved this university and this community. I’ve seen it,” Remke said. “That matters, and it deserves to be acknowledged even if some of the decisions or approaches weren’t taken through transparent governance.”
Pat Leahan, a former Highlands faculty member who attempted to access the meeting virtually, voiced another concern: More than 100 people were left in the Zoom waiting room, unable to join the virtual meeting.
“It was incredibly disappointing,” Leahan wrote in an email to The New Mexican. “Maybe it was simply a technical glitch but HU should have told us that. Now some folks are feeling unseen and disrespected.”
Highlands officials later apologized for the issue and sent out an all-campus email with a link to a video of the forum.
For others on campus, however, Blea’s leadership appeared to be an opportunity for change.
That includes New Mexico Highlands Faculty and Staff Association, according to a joint statement released Wednesday by union President Kathy Jenkins, American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Whitney Holland, and National Education Association of New Mexico President Bethany Jarrell.
The union leaders, who have long been at odds with Woolf, said Blea has the opportunity to “reset the university’s course” and “heal divisions” among faculty, staff and administration.
“The members of the New Mexico Highlands University Faculty and Staff Association stand ready to meet with interim President Blea and work collaboratively to rebuild trust and move our beloved University forward for the benefit of students, faculty, staff, and the wider Las Vegas community where we live, work, and teach,” the joint statement added.
Ulibarri, too, said Blea’s address Wednesday was a notable step forward in administrative transparency.
“They’re being more transparent than they have been,” Ulibarri said. “This is a marked improvement, but I do still feel that there are pieces missing that the campus community deserves to know.”
Jess Goldberg, an assistant professor of American literature at Highlands and director of the university’s gender and women’s studies program, agreed Blea’s forum marked an improvement.
“I feel more positive and hopeful about the direction of Highlands from the last half hour than I have in maybe the entire last eight months,” she said.