Many excursions, but not many foreign students

Apr. 4—A showdown continues in the old mining town of Silver City, where a retired physician is at odds with a group of powerful, nearly autonomous bureaucrats.

Dr. Mark Donnell has lost confidence in the regents of Western New Mexico University. He says so at every opportunity, notably at regents' meetings.

Western's president, Joseph Shepard, and the regents authorized 47 taxpayer-funded trips to 12 foreign countries in the last five years. Shepard and his wife, former CIA officer and congressional candidate Valerie Plame, went on many of the trips.

Some members of Western's board of regents also traveled abroad at public expense.

"You may not realize it, but some of you have been played by Dr. Shepard in a manner that the CIA would highly endorse," Donnell told the regents at their most recent meeting. "What better way for Joe to avoid criticism and oversight by his regents than to involve as many of them as possible in his corrupt activities."

Shepard and the five-member board of regents have lauded publicly financed travel to Greece, Nepal, Spain, Zambia and eight other countries as a wise use of money. Shepard once described international trips as a catalyst for intellectual growth.

"What happens is when you go to these places and start to interact with other cultures and other ideologies and so forth, you yourself gain tremendous knowledge and you yourself begin to do research," Shepard said.

Donnell wonders how travel for a favored few benefits students from New Mexico.

Shepard said another benefit is international travel raises Western's profile and helps attract more foreign students to Silver City.

His statements led me to file a public records request to determine how many international students attend Western.

The university's enrollment is about 3,500. International students have accounted for 1% to 2% of that total during the last five years.

At its nadir in the pandemic summer of 2021, enrollment of international students was 11. The high mark last fall was 66 foreign students.

Did those 47 international trips involving Plame, Shepard, other administrators and university regents expand Western's worldwide reach?

The university's own records cast doubt on a connection between travel to foreign lands and enrollment of international students.

A delegation from Western visited Nepal, but no students from that country in South Asia have attended the university in the last five years.

Another trip was to Greece. One student from that country enrolled at Western for two semesters in 2020. No one from Greece has attended since.

Three students from Spain were at Western in 2020. Since then, one Spanish student enrolled in 2021 and another this year.

Mexico by far is the leading country for international students at Western. The Mexican border is little more than an hour from the campus, and parts of Mexico are communities of interest for Silver City.

Twenty-one students from Mexico enrolled at Western this spring. Twenty-four Mexicans studied at the school last fall. Those were the highest totals of any foreign country in the last five years.

Zambia has sent the second-most international students to Western. At least five students from the African country have enrolled at Western in every semester since 2020. A high of 11 Zambians attended Western last fall, and six are enrolled this spring.

Donnell's complaint about certain university regents being compromised in their supervisory duties involves Zambia.

Mary Hotvedt, president of Western's board of regents, and her husband, Robert Garrett, traveled in 2022 to the Zambian capital of Lusaka. Shepard and Plame also made the trip.

State expense records show airfare alone for Hotvedt and her husband totaled $6,093.

Donnell said taking part in exotic, taxpayer-funded travel turns regents into ineffective bosses.

"Being complicit, you cannot provide unbiased oversight without risking exposure yourselves," he said to the regents.

Hotvedt has declined to be interviewed. She referred me to the university public relations department.

Revenue or lack of it is another dimension to this story. Many foreign students who enroll at Western are not paying tuition.

Of the 66 international students last fall, 30 received full scholarships for tuition, according to school records. Eleven others had partial scholarships or a tuition waiver. The other 25 paid full tuition.

The percentage of foreign students granted full tuition scholarships was even higher last fall — 29 of 54. Varsity athletes account for many of those receiving scholarships.

Controversy swirling around the regents and Shepard doesn't mean there will be changes.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham nominates university regents, and the state Senate votes to confirm or reject them. Nearly everyone nominated is confirmed, sometimes without a word of debate by the Senate.

Shepard is on good terms with his regents, who keep defending all the international travel. Donnell continues challenging them.

Studying the statistics, the trips abroad seem like paid vacations for people in power.

A spring cleaning at Western is in order. Odds of that happening are as good as buying the winning Powerball ticket. During all the travels of Shepard and company, the regents have lost their way.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.