A March 13 memo indicates New Mexico Highlands University administrators and state officials were well aware of unsafe conditions at a track and field facility, which had led to multiple injuries, and the “potentially significant tort liability” those conditions posed for the school.
As reported by Santa Fe New Mexican, the memo notes the deteriorating track and turf surfaces had caused three broken ankles, one ACL injury and lower-body injuries to 28 of 30 women’s soccer players.
“This is not a speculative hazard. These injuries have already begun,” states the nine-page memo, which the New Mexican obtained through a public records request.
It’s unclear who drafted the document, which adds, “The next injury, whether another broken ankle, another ACL, a more catastrophic outcome, will not occur without warning.”
"The memo — a scathing document written in response to the New Mexico Higher Education Department Capital Outlay Committee’s rejection of a privately funded project to remedy the dangerous conditions at the facilities — was never sent to state officials, according to correspondence between university administrators, and notes the 'hazardous conditions remain unaddressed,' " Margaret O'Hara and Will Webber of the New Mexican reported.
Per O'Hara and Webber, the memo suggests there was potential bias among committee members and “fundamental disregard for student safety,” and points to the heavy impact of student-athletes at the Division II school — where some 425 undergraduates, a quarter of the estimated 1,700 undergrads enrolled, participated in university sports in the last school year.
The Higher Education Department contends, however, the committee denied approval of the project’s first phase at a March 11 meeting due to concerns about whether the school was ready to move forward with construction, as well as limited information about financing.
Higher Education Department spokesperson Aurellia Ortiz said in a statement Friday the first phase was estimated at $8.5 million and “focused on the demolition and removal of the existing track and related track and field elements, visitor bleacher, a press box and the construction of a new Olympic-style track, stadium lighting upgrades, new synthetic turf for football and soccer fields, and security fencing and sidewalks.”
The New Mexican reported in October that Phase I was part of a larger, $85.5 million facilities overhaul and would cost about $5.1 million. Funding for the first phase was “largely in place,” according to then vice president for advancement and university relations Paul Grindstaff, who envisioned completion by the Cowboys’ 2026 football season opener.
The Capital Outlay Committee’s decision and Highlands’ unsent response came ahead of an administrative upheaval in May that led to dismissals of Grindstaff and several other high-level officials at the state-owned school in Las Vegas, N.M. — including then-President Neil Woolf — as well as a string of lawsuits and probes by state agencies.
Grindstaff sued NMHU in July, claiming he was terminated for attempting to draw attention to unsafe practices in the athletics department, including the field condition.
Related: New Mexico Highlands Sued by Administrator Who Voiced Concerns About Athlete Safety
Email records show Grindstaff had sent the March 13 sports safety memo to General Counsel Doajo Hicks on May 4, — the same day Grindstaff was fired, according to his federal lawsuit.
“I wanted to take a minute to put some things in writing, most of which we’ve already discussed but making sure they’re on the radar,” Grindstaff wrote in the email to Hicks, which also notes concerns about the availability and competence of an athletic trainer and the use of a football helmet model “recently disqualified for use in competition by the NFL.”
According to O'Hara and Webber, the March 13 memo wasn’t addressed to any particular person but requests action regarding the track and field safety improvement project, the overall capital outlay system and Highlands’ potential liability exposure due to injuries from several government agencies: the Governor’s Office, the Higher Education Department, the Legislative Finance Committee, the General Services Department’s Risk Management Division and the State Board of Finance.
“The Committee denied the request, stating that the project could not be advanced out of its priority order in the master plan or five-year plan, and could not leapfrog other projects in the queue,” the memo states.
