Board of regents to meet in wake of hazing allegations
Meeting will be closed to public; official says details may not be available
The New Mexico State University board of regents has scheduled a closed meeting for Tuesday afternoon to discuss “limited personnel matters concerning individual NMSU employees,” according to a notice issued on the university’s website.
The meeting comes on the heels of the university’s decision Sunday to cancel the remainder of the NMSU men’s basketball team’s schedule, a decision prompted by a hazing incident that had sexual overtones, according to a police report. Regents are also scheduled to have a “discussion of personally identifiable information about individual NMSU students.”
Justin Bannister, NMSU’s associate vice president of marketing and communications, wrote in an email Monday since the regents are in a closed session, no video stream will be available, and he anticipates no summary will be provided to the public.
Bannister added the board will not make a decision on the status of Aggies head men’s basketball coach Greg Heiar and his coaching staff because it is a closed meeting.
“The Board can only take action in an open meeting,” Bannister wrote. “At this point, there are no open meetings scheduled for the board. They would need to provide notice of a meeting 72 hours in advance.”
On Sunday, NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu issued a statement declaring the cancellation of the remainder of the team’s games pending an investigation into allegations of hazing among Aggies players.
“This action is clearly needed, especially after receiving additional facts and reviewing investigation reports related to the hazing allegations involving student-athletes
on the team,” Arvizu said in the statement. “Hazing has no place on our campus and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions.”
A heavily redacted police report released Sunday cites three unidentified NMSU players for false imprisonment, harassment and two counts of criminal sexual contact against an unidentified teammate.
A report filed with the NMSU police department Friday states a member of the team claimed three teammates repeatedly harassed him over the course of several months. The latest incident occurred Feb. 6, the report states, when the three held him down inside the team’s locker room in the Pan American Center, removed his clothing and made inappropriate physical contact with his buttocks and scrotum.
The victim said other incidents happened in the summer, according to the document, with some of them happening in the team’s own locker room and on road trips. He claimed he had no choice to let it happen because he was outnumbered, and requested anonymity.
The alleged victim first approached police before the team’s departure for Saturday’s game at California Baptist. He told police he didn’t want to press charges.
The Aggies finish the season 9-15 overall and 2-10 in the Western Athletic Conference, capping a tumultuous season in which unidentified players faced internal discipline for their involvement in an October brawl against rival New Mexico in Las Cruces.
That incident led to a fatal shooting involving NMSU player Mike Peake on Nov. 19 on UNM’s campus. According to a UNM police report, Peake snuck out of the team hotel to meet a woman near the Coronado Hall residence hall, but was assaulted by three UNM students seeking retribution for Peake’s role in the brawl.
Peake engaged in a gun battle with UNM student Brandon Travis, who was shot and killed. Peake suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to the hospital by three teammates who also left the team hotel after curfew.
While Peake has not been charged in the shooting, Heiar drew heavy criticism for attempting to take his team back to Las Cruces before state police could complete their initial investigation. Police stopped the team bus on Interstate 95 near Socorro and retrieved Peake’s tablet from an assistant coach. Police later found Peake’s gun with another assistant coach at the team hotel in Albuquerque.
The school placed Peake on indefinite suspension in December and handed down lighter disciplinary actions against teammates Issa Muhammad, Marchelus Avery and Anthony Roy for leaving the hotel the night of the shooting.
The Western Athletic Conference deemed New Mexico State’s remaining games as forfeits.
The conference said in a statement Monday night the forfeits will be used for conference standings and seedings because the NCAA doesn’t recognize forfeited games in a team’s overall record.
“While there is no perfect solution to this unfortunate situation, I believe we landed in the right place,” WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton said in the statement. “I applaud our athletic directors for working collaboratively with our staff to reach this decision.”
Heiar took over the program in the spring, replacing Chris Jans after he took the head coaching position at Mississippi State. Heiar came from Northwest Florida State College, which won the National Junior College Athletic Association national title under his guidance in 2021-22.
Heiar had no Division I head coaching experience prior to becoming the Aggies head coach. He had been an assistant coach at LSU, Eastern Tennessee State, Wichita State and Southern Mississippi.