Many faculty members had already voiced support for President David Schmidly at the faculty meeting on Wednesday when a woman, who did not immediately identify herself, stepped up to the microphone.
"I would like to urge you to vote against this motion," she said. "I came (to UNM) because of President Schmidly. I was very moved by his dedication and passion for the students as well as ensuring that the academic institution of this institution was moved forward."
The woman said that many of the decisions UNM's faculty are unhappy about were not made solely by Schmidly.
"I also want to remind everyone that academic decisions do not get made at the president's level. They get made at other levels, much below the president's level," she said.
She was interrupted during her comment by biology professor Timothy Lowrey, who asked her to introduce herself.
Josephine De Leon then introduced herself as the vice president for Equity and Inclusion, and sarcastic laughter rang through Popejoy Hall.
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Staff Union President Terry Mulcahy said people might have laughed at De Leon when she revealed her title because of a perceived top-heaviness in the University.
"The vice presidents had too much authority over the deans and over the whole structure, and here President Schmidly is bringing more in," Mulcahy said. "So when that position came in, I'm sure that's why they laughed, because it was one that just bothered everybody."
Mulcahy said De Leon made a valid point about not putting all the blame for the University's problems on Schmidly.
"While he did make some of these decisions, I think a lot of people are upset because he kept bringing in vice presidents to a structure that was already vice president-heavy," he said.
De Leon attended the meeting as a voting faculty member, even though she does not teach courses.
Faculty members are allowed to vote depending on their activity status in the University, said a source familiar with the process.
All full-time faculty members, including professors and lecturers, can vote, but part-time faculty cannot, the source said. There are about 1,100 voting faculty members on Main Campus.
Faculty Senate President Howard Snell said there were about 800 faculty members at the meeting, about 500 of whom were voting members.
"The way the voting was controlled was people had to sign up and their names were checked off the roll of voting faculty," Snell said. "So the only people that were given ballots to pass and red cards to hold up were people who were checked as being voting faculty."
Breda Bova, Schmidly's chief of staff, also attended in a voting capacity and made a public comment in support of the president.
