Bloodless Coup

The Dirtiest Side of the Bresch Scandal: Intimidating WVU Students

Miles Layton buried the lead in his story in today's Dominion-Post on the climate of fear that's come to exist at WVU. It's well known that those friendly to the Goodwin/Garrison side of things have been putting pressure on certain faculty, especially at the medical center, to openly side with President Garrison, or at the very least not come out against him. But something else that's also gone on is far more disturbing.

Layton notes, several paragraphs into his story, that students who've wanted to take a stand against the mismanagement of the Garrison administration have come under heavy pressure from other students, especially some associated with student government, not to do so. In fact students who had agreed to serve in the new group that is trying to improve the university's reputation in the wake of the scandal, Mountaineers for Integrity and Responsibility, have been pressured out of joining the organization. As to the students in question, it's no great secret who some of them are - while SGA President Jason Parson has publicly backed Garrison, SGA Vice President Tommy Napier and others have been openly critical of the administration's failings.

What Layton fails to report though is exactly what kind of pressure the pro-Garrison students are putting on the critics of the administration - and why that pressure would be enough to silence, at least a bit, students who've spoken out against the misdeeds of some in the administration. Basically, pro-Garrison/Goodwin students (or at least one of them) have conveyed threats from a prominent member of the Board of Governors, telling these students that they will never have careers in this state unless they shut up. That a member of the Board of Governors is threatening WVU undergrads is horrifying. That a WVU student (who will of course deny it) is happily serving as his hatchet man is equally despicable. That WVU undergrads (who obviously can't speak out about it) find themselves in this position for wanting to improve their university is a sad, sad thing.

[NOTE: Mike Garrison is NOT involved in this intimidation of students. But that one his allies on the Board has engaged in it shows that getting back to business as usual is the last thing this state and university needs.]