New Mexico State is moving on from athletic director Mario Moccia in the wake of an investigation that criticized the school's behavior around sexual abuse that temporarily shut down the Aggies men's basketball program.
Valerio Ferme, who took over as university president at the beginning of the year, announced Moccia's firing on Thursday and that Amber Burdge, NMSU's assistant athletic director for strategic initiatives and leadership, would be interim athletic director.
“After carefully reviewing the recent report issued by the New Mexico Department of Justice, I felt we needed a fresh start in our athletics program,” Ferme said. “I have complete confidence in Dr. Burdge's ability to lead our athletic department and look forward to working with her in the coming months.”
Ferme said Burdge played a key role in NMSU's strategic response to hazing prevention as the school's top administrator and deputy Title IX coordinator.
Two former basketball players have agreed to plea deals in assault cases filed against them, and a third is scheduled to stand trial next month.
The assault allegations forced New Mexico State to shut down its 2022-23 season. In 2023, the school paid $8 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two of the victims, former players Deuce Benjamin and Shak Odunewu, who went public with stories of their abuse.
But also in 2023, the state of New Mexico gave Moccia a five-year contract extension and a raise from $72,000 to $351,000 a year in the first year of the new deal, which was scheduled to end in 2028.
That agreement was signed by Chancellor Dan Arvizu on the same day he resigned from office; The timing the school said was a coincidence.
The state Department of Justice's review of the sexual assaults found that they “did not occur in a vacuum, but rather reflected a more pervasive toxic culture throughout the program.”
“There were ample opportunities for those around the team to observe this toxic culture as it developed, but they failed to intervene and prevent it effectively,” the report says. “This inaction was compounded by inadequate institutional preventative safeguards.”
Among the report's criticisms of Moccia was that he did not do enough when he learned of the assaults, relying on his belief that once staff reported the case to the school's Office of Institutional Equity, they had fulfilled their responsibility.
“As an initial matter, it is worth noting that this belief conflicts with actual practice; Director Moccia met and watched relevant videos of [two of the accused players] after the OIE received the Deuce Benjamin report in February 2022,” the report said.
The report also noted the school's lack of transparency in using Aggie Athletic Club booster funds instead of state funds to pay Moccia under his new contract.
“While the use of AAC funds for Moccia's compensation was publicly reported in mid-2023, the reliance on the media to inform donors about the potential uses of their donations is inadequate,” the report says. .
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
