In firing Ryan Cordova on Oct. 28, Northern New Mexico College Vice President for Finance and Administration Vince Lithgow told Cordova that he had violated terms of his administrative leave, which stated that he should not contact Northern coaches, faculty, staff, students or Regents.
When Cordova asked for clarification, according to a recording of the meeting between Cordova and Lithgow acquired by the Rio Grande SUN, Lithgow responded that the college had received an email from Mario Caetano supporting Cordova.
Caetano, a former coach of the women’s basketball team, is not currently a Northern employee, as he is now the head women’s basketball coach at Adams State University.
Throughout the meeting, and in fact throughout the process of Cordova’s leave and firing, Lithgow and administration seemed unsure of why exactly Cordova — the former athletic director and men’s basketball coach, who essentially started the Northern athletic program — was in trouble, on leave and fired after 12 years.
“You have to know these things before you fire me,” Cordova said to Lithgow at one point when discussing an issue with international students.
Speaking with Caetano would not appear to violate any of the terms of Cordova’s administrative leave, contrary to what Lithgow told Cordova. Even still, in Caetano’s letter to outgoing college president Bárbara Medina, he makes clear that Cordova did not ask him to sent the letter, and Cordova said in a phone interview with the SUN that he never spoke with Caetano while he was on leave.
“I have seen Coach Cordova build the athletic program at NNMC from the ground up, despite the minimal resources he has to work with,” Caetano wrote in the Sept. 20 email. “Coach Cordova really takes pride in what he does and has poured a great portion of his life into growing the college’s athletic program.”
“I respectfully urge the board of regents to really think of their decision regarding Ryan Cordova’s future at NNMC,” he wrote.
Cordova claims that the college violated policies in firing him by never providing specifics for the action taken against him, and emails obtained by the SUN in a public records request paint an unclear picture of the circumstances.
The College responded to a public records request for an investigation into Cordova writing, “No responsive records exist to this request,” or that they were exempt under attorney-client privilege. Cordova said, though he spoke with an investigator, he had never received any investigation from the college after multiple requests.
Medina declined to comment in response to an emailed list of questions.
In September, after being placed on administrative leave, Cordova emailed a letter to Medina and Lithgow, and wrote that he was preparing to file a lawsuit, accusing them of violating college discrimination policies. (Cordova has not yet taken any legal action, though he has contacted an attorney, he told the SUN).
“I am a male employee and I stand in the way of the interim president placing herself in the Athletic Director position at Northern New Mexico College, when her term as Interim President expires,” he wrote in the letter.
When Cordova was placed on leave, Medina initially named herself as interim athletic director, despite having never worked in athletics besides a high school coaching position, she previously told the SUN. Later, she ceded the position to Jesus Aragon, who was hired in the summer to be assistant men’s basketball coach, his first position in college athletics.
Cordova wrote that he was placed on leave with a letter saying they would investigate “concerns in your department,” and was never told specifics about the investigation. Later, according to the letter, Lithgow told Cordova the investigation was “nothing specific, it is just a generic investigation.”
Cordova accused Northern administration of not following proper protocols with regard to his leave. Notably, a copy of Northern policies, which Cordova attached to the letter, mention investigatory leave and states, “The level will be confirmed in writing, stating the reason and the expected duration of the leave.”
Cordova said in a phone interview that Medina had previously approached him to inquire about a job in the athletic department after her term as interim president ended.
Cordova said the process started with a July meeting with Medina, and afterward he met with the human resources director, and said he felt he was being questioned and intimidated.
Cordova had previously been a finalist for the interim president position, which went to Medina.
In July, Medina emailed Cordova to request the names of recruits that he was bringing to visit the school. After he responded, she then emailed Emma Hashman, Northern’s director of admissions, to ask about “discretely” if those students had applied to Northern and the status of their applications, according to a set of emails acquired by the SUN via public records request, with many emails withheld due to “matters of opinion in a personnel file.”
When Hashman responded that three of the four had been admitted, Medina replied, “Thanks keep my request on the down low please.”
On Aug. 23, assistant provost Don Appiarius (now listed on the college website as interim dean of students) emailed Cordova and administration about two international students.
“We have a problem,” he wrote. “I don’t believe there is a workable solution. We have 2 international students who are here, out of status, and one is not even legally here.”
Cordova told the SUN, “I went to the right channels. I went to the correct offices to ask about what these kids should do and how they should do it. I did it back in April.”
According to Cordova, one of the students was not accepted because his transcript was in Spanish, even though he had in fact graduated high school, contrary to what Appiarius wrote in the email — where he wrote that the student only had credits through his junior year. The student in question was deported to Panama, Cordova said, but then was accepted to the school two weeks later.
Appiarius wrote that he recommended that the basketball coach should “turn that over to Admissions” whenever looking at an international recruit; Cordova said he sent them to the international recruiter to walk the students through the application and visa processes.
Medina replied to the email that “(Cordova) should receive a letter of non-compliance of NNMC admissions requirements.” Appiarius responded that one of the students had lied about his status. Cordova told the SUN that he never received such a letter.
Soon after that, the college placed Cordova on administrative leave, and Cordova said the College did not provide any specifics on why he was being investigated.
“It was just completely unfair, to be honest,” Cordova said. “It got to the point where I felt harassed and intimidated.”
Cordova was officially put on leave on Sept. 12, and was fired on Oct. 28, effective one week later. In the time between, Cordova said he spoke with an investigator, who mostly asked about recruiting processes. He claims to have followed proper protocols for all recruiting, and that he has followed the same process through his entire college coaching career.
“I said, what policy did I violate?” Cordova said. “And they couldn’t name a policy I violated. Not an NAIA (athletics association) one, nor a Northern New Mexico College one.”
Cordova said the conversation with the investigator seemed to veer into personal territory, including asking if he was on drugs.
“That was really upsetting to me, that they would even accuse me of those things,” Cordova said.
Cordova’s personnel file, acquired from a public records request, showed nothing more interesting than a contract, and no records of any disciplinary actions or misconduct.
“This is a hit job, I’m telling you,” Cordova said.