These five should be commended as the champions they are of academic integrity, along with other core values of the university…

If you were so “struck by their wisdom”, why don’t you follow suit, do the wise thing, and resign? If you were so “struck by their dedication to students, their willingness to listen and learn from their students,” why don’t you show some dedication and attentiveness to the students WHO ACTUALLY GO TO THEIR CLASSES, and resign? If you were struck by their “faith in students? ability to do incredible things,” you should be terrified of the students’ ability to turn into alumni who won’t contribute a sime to WVU if you don’t resign.

WVU needs catharsis so that the excellent faulty here can continue providing an excellent experience to the students. Of the six people who figured prominently in this blog entry…”One of these things is not like the others…”

It was on topic, although tangentially. But go ahead, disable comments again.

As a member of Gen X, I am expected to question authority. As a graduate of WVU and a member of the university community, I feel the need to question the authority of Mike Garrison and the BOG. Garrison should step aside until his telephone and email records requested under FOIA are released and Garrison proves—not merely asserts—that he was not in fact involved in awarding Bresh’s (temporary) degree.

It seems to me that the “press” is having a feeding frenzy about the “HEATHER GATE” How perfect to fall into the hands of the academia at WVU , a reason to throw stones at someone who they didn’t approve of to get the position. Mike has done a splendid job as president as the increased enrollment shows.

Don’t you even dare consider resigning!

Leah Levine Stern

Garrison is repsonsible for “increased enrollment” when he did not take office until after the school year began? Was there an unprecedented number of new admittees for the January semester?

Or, are you simply following his “leadership” and pulling things from “thin air” when you are totally lacking in evidence to document your assertion?

Perhaps, insttead of offering defenses so weak as to be harmful to garrison rathger than helpful, you should consider that a primary reason so many people (faculty and otherwise) did not want him to get the position was fear he would exploit the position and tarnish the university by engaging in preciselt these types of corrupt practices for his and his friends’ political purposes. Now, that those fears have been confirmed beyond dispute all that would seem to demonstrate is that those opposed to his appontment could not have been more correct.

Garrison should resign, and if he refuses to do the honorable thing, he should be fired. Nothing less will show that WVU is committed to upholding even minimally acceptable standards of honesty, integrity and ethics.

“Our students are in good hands.”

That, they are. As a young person who has completed four years of education at West Virginia University, I can attest to this statement. My experiences with my professors and the administrators have always been great. Their commitment to us, as students, is second to none. My success at West Virginia University is very much due to the commitments made by the faculty and administration to the student body. West Virginia University is fortunate to have as many great leaders as they do within this institution.

I am proud to say that I am, and always will be, a Mountaineer!

I simply just want to say that I think you (President Garrison) are a coward for not supplying an email address where students and others can contact you. Our previous president had his WVU email address listed in the directory so that students could freely contact their leader and president with any concerns and issues that they feel need to be voiced. I took advantage of this “open door” policy to voice my opinion on the hours of the campus libraries during finals week, and lo and behold..my voice was heard! I think you are nothing more than a coward for this and your absence from the recent forum to discuss the Bresch debacle where students might actually have been given a chance to tell you their concerns. But you seem to cut off any flow of communication because you are scared of the backlash of you and your office’s decisions.

I want to tell you that as a recent graduate, I was looking forward to making a humble donation to WVU because I was so proud to attend such a fine university. I will no longer donate any money and your university will not see one penny from me as long as you and these individuals involved in this scandal are in office.

I am posting this on your blog because it seems this is the only way to communicate with you.

Ms. Stern:

If only increased enrollment were the only, or even a logical, indicator of the University’s well-being. I’m not so sure that ever-growing enrollment figures are, alone, something to celebrate.

It is difficult to take your support for President Garrison seriously. What you call a “splendid job,” and you have a right to your opinion, has brought embarassment and shame to West Virginia University. Mr. Garrison’s chief-of-staff attended meetings during which a degree was erroneously awarded. Why was a key member of Mr. Garrison’s administration even involved if the president’s office, as Mr. Garrison says, has no say vis-a-vis grades. It is quite clear that, irrespective of whether Mr. Garrison directed his chief of staff to find a way to give Bresch a degree – even if unearned, the involvement by a member of his staff in the decision has tainted his administration beyond repair.

With many faculty, students, and alumni questioning President Garrison’s involvement, he should take the only step that will bring back a sense of trust at WVU; Garrison must resign.

He must put the University before himself; thus far, he has not.