 | ||||
RepublicanGazette
Abernathy Strategies
Submissions welcome
The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included. Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.
All opinions are those of The Republican Gazette and its editor, Gary Abernathy, except letters or commentary signed by others, and do not reflect the views of anyone else, including clients of Abernathy Strategies.
-------
Search the Republican Gazette ---->
Friday, May 23, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005
JAMES D. DAVIS
4940 CENTER COURT
BETTENDORF, IOWA 52722
May 2, 2008
Governor Joseph Manchin III
State Capitol
State of West Virginia
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
Dear Sir:
Since I mentioned your name in my letter to the Board of Governors, I am courteously supplying you a copy of that letter.
I frankly believe that you are more responsible for the disgrace brought upon my alma mater than any other single person or body. Consequently, I urge you to resign the position of Governor of the State of West Virginia.
Very truly yours,
James D. Davis
Governor target of alumni outrage
Manchin increasingly seen as source of scandalous behavior by officials at WVU
Gov. Joe Manchin is increasingly being targeted by West Virginia University alumni as the real source of the scandal involving the cronyism and corruption that led to his daughter being awarded an unearned degree.While WVU President Mike Garrison is takingmost of the immediate heat from outraged alumni, faculty and media, the governor and his methods are more and more being mentioned by talk show callers as the source of where the real problems exist.
A letter by WVU alumnus and retired Iowa businessman James Davis, addressed to the WVU Board of Governors, sums up the feelings being expressed by many graduates far and wide. His letter to the board is below, and a separate letter from Davis to Manchin is shown above.JAMES D. DAVIS
4940 CENTER COURT
BETTENDORF, IOWA 52722
May 2, 2008
Board of Governors
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6201
Morgantown, WV 26506
Att: Steve Goodwin
I am a retired Vice President and Officer of Deere & Co. (John Deere). I hold two degrees from WVU, a BA and an LLB. I joined Deere & Co. in 1963 at an entry-level position and began the arduous course of moving up in the organization. Along the way I passed competent graduates from Harvard, Yale, Michigan et. al. I believe my education at WVU played a large role in my success and I was always a booster of the university among my friends and business associates. Realistically, I knew that the academic reputation of the University in no way compared to the others mentioned. I believed WVU stood somewhere in the second tier of state universities. It was also my opinion, however, that it was capable of achieving an increase in its stature and reputation. How wrong I was. Today both my diplomas are off the wall and stored in a bottom drawer. It is not a pleasant experience to have friends and acquaintances (albeit kiddingly) ask me what I paid for my degrees. How unbelievable, after a nationwide search for a new president, that the most highly qualified applicant was found right there in Morgantown, a lawyer no less, and a friend of many state politicians, including the current governor. Give me a break!! How strange that the University permitted Rich Rodriguez, a football coach, to become its public face, foul-mouthed and avaricious. Apparently, he negotiated his way past the athletic director, the president of the university, and perhaps even the governor. What is the first priority of a great university? Is it academic excellence or football? Wouldn't a Nobel Prize winning professor have been preferable? Unfortunately, I believe many, if not most of you, don't have a clue as to what this uproar is all about. This is true even though you have been willing participants in it, or, even worse, witnessing all of this happening when you were in a position to do something about it. Did special treatment and great seats for athletic events get in the way? I wonder. My recommendations are as follows:1. President Michael Garrison should resign or be terminated.2. While I believe Chairman Steve Goodwin to be the chief offender among you, each of you should tender your resignation from the Board of Governors.3. The new president of West Virginia University should appoint a task force to develop a code of conduct and policies to begin to restore the university's damaged reputation and to put it back on the road toward respectability and academic excellence.Very truly yours,
James D. Davis
Alumni, faculty heat grows
Board silent as crisis at boil point
Faculty members leaving, donations drying up, as board hangs hat on June 6
Even as faculty members leave for greener pastures, donors close their wallets, and commencement ceremonies take place while the school's president hides in his office, the West Virginia University Board of Governors is staying mum two days after holding an "emergency meeting" -- a meeting which apparently resulted in the decision to continue to do nothing.As reported Thursday by The Associated Press, three of West Virginia University's full-time professors are leaving, all three citing the scandal involving the degree awarded to Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter, and the continued presence of President Mike Garrison, as major factors in their decisions.Meanwhile, two days after holding an emergency meeting at the behest of several members of the Board of Governors, the board has remained inactive and has failed to take any action to address the crisis, other than claiming it is waiting on a June 6 report from Garrison, which is certain to change nothing in the perception of faculty, alumni or most critical members of the media.The lack of leadership from the Board of Governors seemed that it might be coming to an end on Monday, when a sudden meeting was called, and which, after it convened, lasted for about three hours.But apparently, Garrison's defenders managed to twist arms just hard enough to result in an adjournment without taking any action at all. RUSS WEEKS: Not your average Joe
MOJO & MIKE: Standing by his man
Having Fun With Mojo
How is any of this my fault?
Hey kids! Mojo here! Have you heard about the scandal at West Virginia University? Probably not. Well, there are some people trying to blame me for the whole mess! How can that be? Geesh! Did I have anything to do with Mike Garrison getting hired there?Well, uh, actually...OK, but do I have any power or control over the WVU Board of Governors?Well, truth is....Never mind! Try this one -- is there any connection between me and the former student who got a degree she didn't earn?Uh, well....So what? It's all just a bunch of coincidences! I'll tell you one thing -- what's really making me mad is that some people are trying to make this whole thing political! Politics has nothing to do with it! Like I said Monday, the Board of Governors can do anything it wants! And I'll support whatever it does!After all, haven't I been fully supportive of everything it's done so far? 