NANCI (MAHONEY) SALVIDIO
WESTFIELD – Nanci Salvidio, an assistant to former Westfield State University President Dr. Evan Dobelle, is no longer in her position at the university. Additionally, Director of Multicultural Affairs & Executive Assistant to the President, Waleska Lugo-DeJesus, is also no longer with the university. Both were reported to have been walked off campus this week by campus personnel.
Dobelle resigned Nov. 8, ending a three-month legal battle with trustees and the state Higher Education Commissioner over what some considered extravagant spending on travel and other perks. Dobelle defended the spending, saying he was simply promoting the university.
Dobelle accumulated charges on Salvidio’s university credit card, incurring thousands in expenses in her name, including personal items such as $875 for a 2011 stay at a five-star London hotel that wasn’t repaid for more than a year, according to an expense report.
Westfield State University’s ongoing legal battle against its own president is expected to cost at least $1.2 million.
Salvidio, who’s title at the university was Associate Vice President, Alumni and Community Relations, is a 1973 graduate of the then-Westfield State College. She was a trailblazer for women’s sports at both the school and western Massachusetts as a player, coach, and official.
She was an outstanding multi-sport star during the early years of the Westfield State women’s intercollegiate athletic programs more than 40 years ago, several years prior to the passage of the landmark Title IX legislation in 1972.
She was a standout in field hockey, leading the team in scoring and earning most valuable player award recognition, an aggressive power forward on the basketball hardwood, and pitched and played first base on the softball diamond.
John Flynn III, chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, declined comment, saying the situation is a “personnel matter.”
