West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee delivered his Spring State of the University address in the form of a Q&A-style webinar via Zoom on Tuesday evening.
In his opening remarks, Gee said “back to normal” is not a realistic goal as pandemic aftershocks in the form of mental health challenges, financial concerns, and societal issues including racial and economic inequities, gun violence and political discourse, will persist.
He said the pandemic has necessitated advancements in the university’s technological capabilities and in its mental health care options.
“To me, things have already changed dramatically in the past year, and that change has often been unpleasant. But as the future brightens, we have a once in a lifetime chance to harness change and make it work for us,” Gee said.
Joining Gee as panelists during the virtual event were Dr. Carmen Burrell, Medical Director of WVU Medicine Student Health and Urgent Care; Corey Farris, Dean of Students; Maryanne Reed, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Meshea Poore, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Rob Alsop, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives.
The faculty members accompanied Gee in responding to both previously submitted student inquiries and those that were asked in real-time during the session. Many of those questions focused on the topics mentioned by Gee in his opening remarks.
Poore spoke about the development of WVU’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and its subcommittees.
She said the university is “moving with intentionality” and that the DEI Council allows each college at which it is instated to do the same by identifying the needs of their faculty, staff and students.
“It is all of our responsibilities to do it, not just a division, but each of us – students, faculty, staff – because we’re supposed to be lifting together,” Poore said.
She said that while the subcommittees of the council have already been working in their respective colleges, the council itself is freshly formed and should be met with reasonable expectations regarding what it is capable of at this stage.
Poore said the needs of students depend largely on which students one asks – LGBTQ+ students may need more conversation surrounding gender identities and pronouns, while Black students may need true conversations about systematic racism and how it affects students at the university as well as to feel a sense of welcoming and belonging.
“What I would challenge [is]: never get comfortable with thinking that you have this as a quick answer. Your responsibility is to be curious, to continue to learn about your university family and making sure no matter how you might identify that you are engaging with other people that might identify differently, so you’re being embracive,” she said.
Gee added that it is the university’s goal to make sure that students attending the institution find their place and feel comfortable in that place.
“We have students from 55 counties, 50 states, 120 countries, so one size does not fit all. But a number of sizes can come together to make sure that there is a level of comfort and recognition, and that no one feels that they are not part of the university family,” Gee said.
Alsop responded to a question regarding potential campus carry legislation that the university has openly opposed in the past.
He said there are multiple pieces of campus carry legislation in different forms that are currently sitting in various places among the legislature, mainly in judiciary or education committees.
Alsop said Crossover Day – day 50 of the 60 legislative session days – can determine the life of a bill. If a bill has not passed at least one legislative house by Crossover Day, the bill can no longer be considered.
“I think we’re on day 49 today and there haven’t been any campus carry bills to make it out of committee…they have to be read on three separate days to be considered, absent some unique procedural rules that there are not enough votes to do, so it’s unlikely that that bill will move,” Alsop said.
He said the university would need to examine the possibility of amendments of the bill in other gun-related bills that are moving in legislature, but that the actual campus carry legislation should not make it out of committee.
Alsop also addressed concerns about how the West Virginia state government’s push for legislation that, if enacted, would only allow transgender athletes to participate in sports based on the gender they were assigned at birth might affect WVU sports teams.
“I believe that the legislation as it’s contemplated is applicable to middle school and high school sports. So, it does not relate to higher education in terms of rules and policies going forward,” he said.
Alsop said WVU’s rules pertaining to sports are governed by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) policies. He was not able to speak to NCAA guidance regarding transgender athletes and said the university would need to research that as well.
Poore said the WVU LGBTQ+ center has been communicating with members of the legislature to educate them on the topic. WVU student government has also been involved in that endeavor.
She said it is important that we continue to educate ourselves on such subject matter and that she is proud of WVU faculty, students, staff and alumni for coming together to participate in the university’s action-oriented groups and of the institution’s Inclusive Campus website which details the university’s efforts at inclusion, diversity and equity.
In his closing remarks, Gee expanded on his earlier statements regarding academic transformation.
“We want to be an institution that people look at and say, that institution is intellectually strong, that it is on the front edge of ideas and that it is creating opportunities for students not only in terms of their academic wellbeing but in terms of getting good jobs, in terms of being able to go out into the world and be very competitive. We want to be a place that people hire from and that people come to because of that,” Gee said.
Gee said the university also wants to be a place that plays a role in the transformation of the state of West Virginia, and strives to make the state a place that people want to stay in.
The event was hosted by Daily Athenaeum Editor-in-Chief Jared Serre.
