LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KTSM) — New Mexico State University President Valerio Ferme and the university's Acting Athletic Director Amber Burdge met with media on Friday, Jan. 3 to talk about the firing of former Athletic Director Mario Moccia. After spending nearly a decade as NMSU's athletic director, Moccia was dismissed by the university on Thursday. Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News was the first to report Moccia’s firing. Just after noon on Thursday, Ferme announced Moccia would “depart NMSU as the university’s athletics director.” NMSU parts ways with Athletic Director Mario Moccia During Friday morning's press conference, Ferme revealed that Moccia was fired with cause. Ferme reiterated that the New Mexico Department of Justice's report on the men's basketball team was not the only factor, but surely was a major one, he considered when coming to a decision to fire the long-time NMSU athletic director. The New Mexico Department of Justice released a 68-page report on the hazing and sexual misconduct allegations connected to the 2022-23 NMSU men’s basketball team. New Mexico State President Valerio Ferme and acting AD Amber Burdge met w/ media this morning to discuss the dismissal of Mario Moccia on Thursday.Here's Ferme's opening statement.- Moccia fired with cause- Ferme not seeking to start AD search at this time- Burdge and Ferme… pic.twitter.com/FwC9fwBkwf— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) January 3, 2025 "Let me first say, when one decides to let go with cause of a long-term employee, it is never a decision that one makes on a single factor." Ferme said on Friday. "Certainly, the (New Mexico) Department of Justice report caused me pause and it made me look holistically at many documents and what are priorities are with regards to students and student athletes in particular." "My assessment was that NMSU needed a change because it has been 2 1/2 years that we have been embroiled in controversy with athletics," Ferme said. "If we want to excel, NMSU should not aim to comply with laws, rules, and duties, we need to do better." Along with revealing that Moccia was fired with cause, Ferme revealed the decision to fire Moccia was solely his. When asked by reporters if he was pressured by state leaders or made the decision with outside input, Ferme said he was not. "This is a decision that I made. The document (from the NM Justice Department) came out the 19th of December. I spent a couple of weeks looking at it, and during that time I obviously looked at other documents, but that was a decision that I made based on my reading of these materials. I've had no contact with the government during that period." In the two months Ferme has been in New Mexico, he said that "he has never met, spoken, or had any communication with the governor." Ferme said he did have communication with Stephanie Rodriguez, the secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department, "two days ago." Ferme added the communication was a "courtesy call to just let her know of his decision." Ferme said Rodriguez did not have input on the conversation. "The report was certainly a big factor, but once you start reading the report, you also start looking at all the other stuff that is surrounding the report," Ferme said. "From my perspective, you have to have a little bit of humility as an institution and say, 'Let's look at what happened. Let's take responsibility for some of it. Let's see what we are doing well. Let's see what we are not doing, and then have the courage to say, 'We really need to move forward.'" Ferme’s decision to dismiss Moccia came on his second day on the job. Ferme, who was named NMSU’s president in September 2024, officially took over as president on Wednesday, Jan. 1. Ferme said he is not seeking to start a search for a new athletic director at this time, adding he will stick with Burdge as AD for at least the next six months. "I am not seeking to start an AD search at this time," Ferme said on Friday. "I have real confidence with Dr. Burdge, and she and I will reassess where we are in six months' time moving forward." Burdge has been with NMSU since 2022. She was the deputy AD for Strategic Initiatives and Leadership, SWA, and Deputy Title IX Coordinator before being promoted to acting AD on Thursday. "I am honored that President Ferme felt confident in me to step forward and fulfill the responsibilities of an athletic director." Burdge said. "100 percent of my focus will be on supporting our coaches and our staff so that they are able to provide the student-athletes an excellent experience." New Mexico State acting AD Amber Burdge's opening statement this morning.Burdge has been with NMSU since 2022. She was the Deputy AD for Strategic Initiatives and Leadership, SWA, and Deputy Title IX Coordinator before being promoted to acting AD on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/KyLdvf0g3d— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) January 3, 2025 The move into acting athletic director was a "surprise" for Burdge. When asked about her goals for herself in her new role, Burdge did give off the impression that this was a "surprise" to her. "That's a big question. It's not one that I am actually prepared to answer yet, as I've just stepped into this role yesterday, and it was quite a surprise," Burdge said. "I do need a little bit of time, but one thing that I will say is that we'll continue with the forward momentum that we have built." On Friday, Ferme did not confirm whether, or when, a national search would take place for a new athletic director. Ferme did not confirm whether a national search would take place for a new AD, but says he or she must meet 3 characteristics. 1. Hard work2. Humility3. TeamworkFerme wants this to be the NMSU athletics identity.— Nick Coppola (@Nick_Coppola__) January 3, 2025 As regards to Moccia's legacy at New Mexico State, Ferme is aware of what Moccia accomplished and how much success he led to the university's athletic programs to, but the bad outweighed the good at the end of it. "I want to be empathetic to people and the reality is that the decisions are not easy. No one wants to come in and say, 'Hey, this is what I want to do on day one of my job,'" Ferme said. "I think Mario has done a lot for the university, so I want to acknowledge that. I also think there are certain standards that I feel are important from my perspective about how I want to lead a university, that I want to see exemplified in the people that work with me. Some of them were just operative standards that I just do not think we were paying attention to for a long time. It's never comfortable to do something like this, but I do think it was the right thing to do at this stage."