LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) 鈥 Of all the troubling video made public over a year of crisis at New Mexico State 鈥 from the brawl involving basketball players to the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old, allegedly by one of those players, to the police interviews with the coach afterward 鈥 one 42-minute log of footage might best explain how the school is in the mess it is today.
In that video, , an officer is interviewing the university鈥檚 $500,000-a-year chancellor, Dan Arvizu, and his wife, Sheryl Arvizu. The officer had been called to the couple鈥檚 house to resolve a dispute that came out of Sheryl鈥檚 suspicion her husband was having an affair with a staff member at New Mexico State.
Dan Arvizu denied the affair. Sheryl Arvizu ended up being booked into jail on a battery charge that was later dismissed. Officials at the school's Office of Institutional Equity looked into the allegations for possible conflict-of-interest issues, though there was no report filed.
During these fraught days at New Mexico State, where the once-treasured men鈥檚 basketball program has been shelved for the season after that fatal shooting and a gruesome allegation of locker-room hazing, the Arvizu police video is a reminder of who is ultimately responsible at a university that has, in many eyes, become unhinged in areas well beyond basketball. The Associated Press spoke to more than a dozen people affiliated with the university, many of whom expressed deep concerns with leadership at the school.
鈥淧eople are embarrassed,鈥 said Jamie Bronstein, a history professor who also serves as vice chair of NMSU鈥檚 faculty senate. 鈥淧eople feel terrible for the students.鈥
In a letter sent to 鈥淥ur NMSU Community鈥 after the AP first published this story, Arvizu acknowledged that his family had been through 鈥渁 deeply personal situation.鈥
鈥淚mportantly, there is no truth to the allegations made that evening,鈥 the letter said. 鈥淚t was a low point for me, and since that time, my wife and I have worked to rebuild our relationship. I am confident this matter has not impacted my ability to lead our university.鈥
There have been seven different presidents, interim presidents and chancellors over the past 15 years at the state's second-biggest university, where more than a quarter of the 14,000 students are the first members of their family to attend college.
鈥淲hat makes NMSU such a special place is the huge opportunity to change students鈥 and their families鈥 lives by increasing our students鈥 social mobility,鈥 business professor Jim Hoffman said. 鈥淭his is why excellent leadership, thoughtful decision making and wise use of (limited) resources are so important.鈥
New Mexico State has always been able to thanks to a men鈥檚 basketball program that traditionally thrives on the strength of players and coaches who don't always take the traditional route to Division I. But this year, the program disintegrated.
The unraveling can be traced to an NMSU football game last Oct. 15 in which a handful of the school鈥檚 basketball players with students from rival New Mexico. Video of the melee shows junior forward Mike Peake among those throwing punches.
Five weeks after the fight, the players headed to Albuquerque for one of the season鈥檚 most anticipated games, against the Lobos. Peake broke curfew and went to the dormitory complex of one of the students involved in the fight at the football stadium.
parking lot shows Peake being attacked with a baseball bat before exchanging gunfire with the student, Brandon Travis. Peake was taken to the hospital with leg wounds that required surgery. Travis died from his gunshot wounds.
Peake, who said he was acting in self-defense, has not been charged with a crime. Police video shows Peake in a hospital bed asking to get his gun back because 鈥渢hat's my only weapon.鈥 Guns are not permitted on New Mexico State鈥檚 campus or on school-related road trips.
The Aggies continued to play for nearly three more months. On Feb. 12, Arvizu after allegations surfaced about three players ganging up on a teammate in what a police report said included a possible incident of criminal sexual contact.
Two days later, , Greg Heiar. The player who made the allegations said similar hazing incidents had been occurring since summer. Arvizu said he was never made aware of it. School spokesman Justin Bannister said school policy calls for employees to report misconduct to the Title IX office and that the university is 鈥渓ooking at additional support systems鈥 for the future.
Both the shooting and hazing incidents are being sorted out by internal and third-party investigations.
Current and former employees the AP interviewed described scenarios in which top administrators refused to hold themselves or others accountable, inside and outside the athletic department. One said the 鈥済uardrails鈥 designed to protect students and faculty had all but disappeared.
鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 so much churn in our upper administration, we never get to the point of hammering out who is actually accountable for upholding policies,鈥 Bronstein said.
Some of the dissatisfaction among faculty was resolved last year, when President John Floros stepped down and Provost Carol Parker was fired. Arvizu鈥檚 five-year contract runs out in June and it won't be renewed, leaving NMSU to face the basketball crisis with top leadership again in transition.
When Arvizu dismantled basketball for the season, he went out of his way to back Mario Moccia, who is in his 10th year as AD.
Moccia defended his hiring record and insisted the vetting process for Heiar was solid; it was the first head-coaching job at a Division I school for the 47-year-old Heiar.
The Aggies have been to March Madness 11 times since McCarthy left after the 1997 season, always as a double-digit seed with a reputation for giving the big boys trouble; a year ago, they knocked off UConn in the first round.
There won鈥檛 be any postseason this year. Two players quit after the hazing allegations.
鈥淭he entire program has caught on fire, and the fire has burned down everything, and all that鈥檚 left are the roots,鈥 said Jim Paul, the former NMSU AD who fired McCarthy.
___
AP college basketball: and and
