one of life's mysteries...

Kevin Leyden, in his statement to the Faculty Senate, insisted that "most people believe Michael Garrison has performed his duties beyond expectations," that Garrison is an effective leader so far, citing money Garrison brought in from the state government for salaries and research. Others cite the development of a WVU day care program. He is responsible for these things even when, in most cases, he is not directly doing the work, others are negotiating, holding meetings, etc.; perhaps some of these decisions were even already in place when Garrison became responsible for them... Similarly, there are occurrences of all sorts and at all levels at WVU that Garrison is responsible for in his role as President. ("My responsibility as president extends to the entire university," he says.)

On the other hand, it seems from Garrison's response in the last few days that he is not responsible for what happened in the meetings about Heather Bresch's grades. His public statement takes responsibility for "this matter," which seems to mean the aftermath of the report, but not for what happened in the meetings, not for the decisions made there. He makes a clean distinction: "I removed myself from this process immediately after handing this matter off." His representatives - Macia, Walker, Case, etc. - were present in the meetings and presumably they are in some way responsible, but it seems Garrison himself was not in the room, not present at the meetings, and therefore not responsible.

The mystery for me - and I would think for faculty, employees, students, etc. - is for future references how to know when Garrison is "in the room" or not? Sometimes he is and sometimes he isn't. How do we know what he is and is not responsible for? Will there be a sign? (Perhaps a good name for one of Leyden's committees: "On Discerning the Presence of the President.")