Scandal-ridden Krebs deserves no-confidence vote

Editor,
On Dec. 5, the Graduate and Professional Student Association Council overwhelmingly voted to have the GPSA membership’s voice heard by having a special election with regard to how Senior Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs handled the Locksley/Gerald incident. The council has called for a “no-confidence” vote in Mr. Krebs’ leadership of the Athletics Department, they have requested that the UNM Board of Regents launch a third-party, independent review of the incident, and have asked that the Student Fee Review Board only fund projects that further the University’s mission statement.

At the heart of these ballot questions is the Sept. 20 altercation between UNM head football coach Mike Locksley and assistant coach J.B. Gerald in which Locksley allegedly punched and choked Gerald during a coaches meeting. The next day, Gerald filed a police report with the Albuquerque Police Department, but UNM didn’t immediately investigate. When it did, it did so internally, which is against UNM’s Human Resources policies. Several weeks later at a press conference, when Krebs was asked why he violated the UNM policy on workplace violence, he said that as a Senior Vice President of Athletics, he shouldn’t be expected to follow all UNM policies.

The result of that internal investigation by the Athletics Department was that Locksley received a verbal warning — what the media called a slap on the wrist. Only when there was uproar from faculty and staff about the internal investigation did the UNM Human Resources Department step in to do an investigation. Then the notes from the original investigation were destroyed. All of this was under Paul Krebs’ watch. But there’s more. When Locksley was first hired, he allegedly fired Silvia Lopez from his staff for not being young or pretty enough. Ms. Lopez filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against Locksley and a lawsuit against UNM. When interviewed and asked who else treated her poorly, Ms. Lopez named Krebs — also under Krebs’ watch.

We’ve all seen the Elizabeth Lambert hair-pulling incident on national TV and YouTube. I know it was blown out of proportion, and I feel for the young lady, but it just added to the embarrassment UNM has faced from UNM Athletics under Krebs’ watch.

All of this national and international embarrassment for UNM was courtesy of UNM Athletics — under the watch of Paul Krebs.

To add insult to injury, UNM students are being mercilessly taxed, via their student fees, to subsidize UNM Athletics.

Does this sound right? Don’t you want your money back? Don’t you want unbiased person to investigate what really happened when Locksley allegedly assaulted Gerald? Don’t you want to tell Paul Krebs you don’t like the way he has handled the whole incident? And oh, by the way, you won’t like the way he’s managed the Athletics Department.

If any or all your answers to the above were “yes,” then get to your computer and vote “no confidence” in Paul Krebs, that you want an independent investigation and you want to send a message that our student fees are better spent on programs that enhance your learning experience at UNM.

Danny Hernandez
GPSA Council Chair