The lack of wokeness coming from some members of the Northern New Mexico College Board of Regents is driving the selection of outgoing President Rick Bailey’s replacement. It was clear from the time he resigned that a majority of the Board wants “someone local.”
Past Board of Regents have repeatedly proven there is no one “local” who is qualified to properly lead the College. Any good Rio Arriban knows what local means. A large part of higher education is exposure to new ways of doing things, different ideas and being open to new experiences.
When hiring a high level executive who will lead several initiatives, answer to a board, hire and fire, help raise money, lobby elected officials and a plethora of other responsibilities, one would not assume that the most important qualities of the prospective executive be his or her ability to know the difference between north and south New Mexico. One regent thought that was important.
The struggle by some Regents to “hire locally” began by immediate push-back to even hire an out-of-state national search firm. Arguments against ran from not knowing the culture here or how to hire someone who “would fit in.”
Regent Erica Velarde said the firm needs to understand people of color and their rich history.
Fitting in is clearly necessary when hiring an executive but national search firms who place college presidents routinely know that there are always nuances to every job. The left-handed remarks about how “we’re different here,” could be overlooked but in two long Regents meetings, Velarde and Regent Porter Swentzell continued to bring them up.
Beyond the pale was Swentzell’s remark that it’s necessary for a prospective president “go get greasy eating Parasol tacos.”
Velarde wants the new president to know what it means to order “Christmas” in a restaurant. We’re confident that someone with a PhD can be taught that quickly, in one sitting, without a refresher course. They may not even need to visit a restaurant to add that to their resume.
No one discussed skills, education, preferable degree, experience at a college or community college level, fundraising skills or leadership abilities. They glossed over them as they reviewed the job description. However, in a job search for a top level executive you’d assume (wrongly in this case) those issues would be front and center. Sadly, no, it was how to eat tacos and order in a Mexican or New Mexican restaurant.
Anyone who’s followed Rio Arriba County politics for 10 minutes knows that what the Regents pushing for a local search firm and local president are really talking about is getting someone they can control, start working the back door deals and return to the “friends and family” hiring practices common before Bailey took over. That’s what Bailey walked into five years ago and it took him years to rid the College of unqualified people making large salaries, doing substandard jobs.
The Regents doubled down when they selected a politician and long recycled superintendent Veronica Garcia to lead the search. She’s a great pick if you want someone who understands Northern New Mexico cuisine and will answer the political call. No one asked for references or for Garcia to even name someone she’s helped hire at a high level.
As far as political connections, she was the first cabinet secretary of education. She has a ton of awards and a long education resume. More importantly, she’s likely eaten red and green chile and knows where Las Cruces is on a map.
Someone should have at least spoken to some of the Santa Fe School Board members for whom she worked during two stints as super. Maybe compare test scores, graduation rates and enrollment during her time as superintendent.
Regent Ruben Archuleta said he worked with Garcia and she’s really passionate about Northern New Mexico. It’s worrisome that was the best he could come up with to describe her talents as someone to search nationally (hopefully) for our next College president.
As a passing thought Swentzell added that she was a lot cheaper than the two east coast firms. Going with the lowest bid doesn’t always get the best results.