When Mike Garrison was appointed president, I was willing to give him a chance despite his lack of academic credentials. He’s tried to respond to faculty and staff needs by raising salaries to make WVU competitive with peer institutions, starting work on the daycare center, and instituting a program to help new faculty spouses find employment in Morgantown. But faculty probably care more about academic integrity than salaries—even if we’d rather not have to choose between them.
The gross infractions of academic integrity committed to give Heather Bresch an unearned eMBA undermines our mission as educators and devalues our students. WVU students work hard in their classes, often while working long hours at outside jobs to put themselves through school. They value their education, respect their professors, and commit to earning their grades and their degrees. I feel privileged to teach them. For their sake, as well as for the rest of WVU’s stakeholders, the administration must commit to restoring the university’s reputation for academic integrity.
The first step would have been for Garrison to accept the findings—not just the recommendations—of the fair and objective investigative panel. Despite the fact that the BOG explicitly charged him to take responsibility for the errors of judgment and poor leadership that resulted in granting Bresch the degree, Garrison failed to take this first step. It is not only the initial errors but Garrison’s continued cavalier attitude that is causing a groundswell of support for his resignation.
I am particularly persuaded by the eloquent and considered letter by physics professor and faculty senator Boyd Edwards calling for Garrison’s resignation. I also know that others in the Faculty Senate leadership, beyond Riemenschneider and his second, are planning to move in that direction. I am increasingly convinced that this is the right decision.
About political patronage:
Education has long been considered the key to upward mobility in the U.S. Garrison likes to offer himself as an example, frequently touting his credentials as a first-generation college graduate who is proud to have his degrees from WVU. Unfortunately, the Heather Bresch affair makes us question whether WVU’s leadership is really working equally for all West Virginians, or is it working harder for some than others? In this case, not only did a well-connected individual get special treatment, but all other WVU graduates have been harmed by the damage done to WVU’s national reputation and the consequent devaluing of a WVU degree.
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