No part of state government acted more outrageously than the old board of regents of Western New Mexico University.

Its recklessness has spawned a fresh round of lawsuits as the university's new leaders are searching for a president.

If you don't remember the contempt Western's former five-member board showed for students, faculty members and taxpayers, here is a fast refresher: It handed the institution's then-president, Joseph Shepard, $1.9 million in return for his resignation. Shepard's buyout was almost five times more than his yearly base salary of $398,507.

In a lawsuit this month, Western's new board says its predecessors illegally paid Shepard. "Under the terms of the Employment Agreement, the Board had the right to terminate President Shepard without cause with a severance pay

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