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7/28/2019 NMMI Alumni Association Says Superintendent Grizzle Is
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: JOHN PHINIZY
512-771-7125
JUNE 22, 2013
NMMI Alumni Association Says
Superintendent Grizzle Is ContinuingCampaign of Lies
Roswell Daily Record egregiously fails to checkfacts or require
documentation before printing false
claims
ROSWELL, NM In what has become a disturbing pattern of deceit,
currentSuperintendent Jerry Grizzle is continuing his "campaign of
lies" against the 50-plusyear old independent NMMI Alumni
Association in his attempt to seize the Associations$5.2 million in
assets.In a Friday news article written and published by the
Roswell Daily Record, Troubled
NMMI Alumni Break RankGrizzles representatives gave false
information about theAssociation to a reporter and then the
newspaper egregiously failed to fact-check thosefalse claims before
printing the article.
"Superintendent Grizzle is continuing his campaign of lies
against the AlumniAssociation and the Roswell Daily Record has
failed to protect itself against those falseclaims, said John
Phinizy, NMMI Alumni Association President. We are requestingthat
the newspaper run the proper corrections to set the record
straight.
The false claims and requested corrections are:
False Claim No. 1: The Roswell Daily Record wrongly claims that
the AlumniAssociation has spent "$300,000 in alumni contributions
to pay for a newly rented office,a lawyer, a new executive director
and a public relations firm."
Fact: The Association has spent a total of approximately
$35,000.00 on all of itsexpenses since it was locked out of its
offices on May 6, 2013. This issubstantially less than the Roswell
Daily Records claim of $300,000. This is
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roughly the same amount that would have been spent had the
Association remainedoperational in its on-post office.How can a
person not connected to the Alumni Association and who clearly
knowsnothing about its finances tell a newspaper how much money he
thinks it is spending,
and then get it printed without question? asked Phinizy.
False Claim No. 2: The Roswell Daily Record wrongly claims that
the AlumniAssociation is refusing to hold a general membership vote
to determine the fate of theorganization, stating Phinizy has
denied the request twice. The most recent denialcame Thursday.
Fact: The Alumni Association has said all along that it intends
to take the issue ofdissolution to a vote of its members. Phinizy
never denied taking the issue to avote to the Roswell Daily Record.
Alumni Association President John Phinizy hasrepeatedly supported a
general membership vote, which has been well-documented in
several alumni communications as well as two press releases that
were sent to theRoswell Daily Record one on May 19, 2013 and one on
June 13, 2013. According toPhinizy, the Association cannot survey
its members or call for a vote untilSuperintendent Grizzle
reinstates the Associations access to its database of alumnicontact
information. On May 6, the Grizzle administration locked the doors
on thealumni office and changed the passcodes needed for access to
the alumni databases.In addition, the Associations website,
critically important for communication withmembers, was redirected
by staff members who were instructed to make the change byGrizzles
administration.False Claim No. 3: The Roswell Daily Record failed
to fact check, and then printed,
inconsistent statements made about Grizzles withholding of
necessary financialinformation. NMMI Spokesman Carl Hansen said
NMMI has not prevented (Alumni)access to the necessary information.
We have nothing that would prevent them fromdoing their financials,
Hansen said. The Association was offered an agreement byNMMI Board
of Regents to remain on campus and sort through its remaining
business,but the group could not sign the deal.
Fact: All of the Associations important alumni information is
housed indatabases that require passcodes for access and those
passcodes were changedat Grizzles direction in early May. Those
passcodes and other importantinformation are being withheld at
Grizzles direction. According to the Roswell Daily
Records reporting, time for a transition was first offered to
the Association but thenrefused because the Association could not
legally dissolve itself without a vote by themembership the demand
which Grizzle had placed on the table. Hansen claims thatthe
Institute is not preventing the Association from accessing its data
while at the sametime the Roswell Daily Record reports that the
time to transition had been offered andthen refused. Time and
access were clearly needed, but not given. The Roswell DailyRecord
failed to report this inconsistency.
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Superintendent Grizzle would like the Association to produce a
current financialstatement, and he would like to have our
membership vote to dissolve itself so that hecan have control of
our assets, but he is refusing to hand over the information we
needto even attempt to complete our financials, much less contact
our membership toconduct a vote, said Phinizy.
Its time that the Roswell Daily Record start checking its facts
before it publishesstories, said Phinizy. We are spending a lot of
resources trying to correct the recordbecause of it.
The New Mexico Military Institute Alumni Association is an
independent non-profitorganization that has supported its members
and the Institute while raising money andoperating separately from
the Institute and the Board of Regents for more than 50years. The
long-standing relationship that existed between the Institute and
theAssociation was recently breached by actions taken by current
Superintendent JerryGrizzle.
