Commencement

Some of West Virginia University's graduation ceremonies last week lacked a certain key element, the president.

After one ceremony where students took the opportunity to show their outrage, Garrison opted to skip the Eberly College commencement. An empty chair sat in the president's spot.

Did Mike Garrison understand how symbolic that could be? An open wound that refuses to heal. A vacancy where leadership ought to guide. Whatever good intentions or vision he had when he entered the job could not outweigh the harm he does daily by clinging to his seat. A university president driven from commencement ceremonies cannot possibly retain the moral authority necessary to continue.

In this blog I advocated last fall that Garrison deserved a chance and I stand by what I said. He did deserve a fair shot. How his administration handled this situation more resembles the Dukes of Hazzard character Jefferson Davis Hogg than David Hardesty. Hardesty often sparked complaint, but never derision or questions about honesty. Most people believe Hardesty led the university well, despite his hiring sparking many of the same complaints as Garrison. The handling of this degree was at best was incompetent, at worst corrupt.

Silence often speaks louder than a voice. In this case absence revealed more than presence. West Virginia University must have the opportunity to commence a new era in its history with untainted leadership.

The Hallowed Halls of Academia

Eastern Community and Technical College has not gone the way of the Edmund Fitzgerald yet, but it is certainly sailing into rough waters. What began as a curious experiment in grass roots academics mixed with state level pork is shaping up to be a possible disaster. Two presidents have resigned in the past eighteen months and an $8 million grant to construct a main campus has been reversed.

When political considerations get in the way of common sense, situations such as this occur. Eastern CTC represented a nice cut of bacon for Delegate Harold Michael to bring home to his Hardy County constituents, but it also tries to compete with a long established two year school only a short drive up the road. Eastern has very little advantage over Potomac State College due to PSC’s merger with West Virginia University and Eastern’s continued lack of accreditation. All it has to offer residents of Hardy County is a somewhat shorter commute. It currently is banking on federal funds that would come if the school gets accreditation, but it also lacks a college president.

Governor Joe Manchin and the CTC council chairman for the state, Nelson Robinson, have both expressed concerns about the institution’s future. However Eastern does have students, instructors, and an army of deans. What it lacks is vision, focus, and seemingly coherent organization. A simple answer lies in folding Eastern into either Shepherd University or Potomac State College either of which offer a much wider variety of potential services for students.

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Speaking of lacking a college president (at least until last Friday) West Virginia University’s Board of Governors approved the candidacy of Mike Garrison, former Wise Administration aide. The student government leaders conversely had voted strongly in favor of Garrison.

In the strange world of academia, presidents have different roles. They are stewards of institutions that invest heavily in advancing knowledge and ideas, so some believe that university leaders must have impeccable academic credentials. One professor's quoted statement leads one to believe that a WVU degree in itself represents insufficient credentials. That being said, they must also have the political skills and experience to slug it out in the trenches of legislative politics. Finally a university president needs the charisma and connections to be chief fundraiser. What each person felt was the most important role of a university president went a long way towards determining who they backed for WVU president.

What seems to be happening here also is a backlash by proxy against Manchin. Could it be the case that the ultraliberal faction of state Democrats fought against the presumed Manchin choice? Could they have been wanting to make a political statement about the Governor without attacking him directly? It is probably best to reserve judgment about Mike Garrison until he has been on the job for a while. After all David Hardesty came from a rather unconventional background for a university president and had done a pretty good job.

The WVU presidential selection process, if nothing else, has been an interesting display of state politics in action. Thank goodness we could hire a basketball coach without this much fuss.