MORGANTOWN — If it was a power grab – as one outgoing member suggested – it was a successful one.
In Gordon Gee’s final meeting as the school’s president, the West Virginia University Board of Governors voted 9-6 Friday to select Robert “Rusty” Hutson Jr. as the body’s next chairman, effective July 1.
Hutson, who joined the BOG in September after being appointed by former Gov. Jim Justice, was selected over sitting Chairman Richard Pill.
The co-founder and CEO of Diversified Energy Company, Hutson is a former chairman of the Fairmont State University Board of Governors.
His selection ran counter to the recommendation of the BOG’s nominating committee, which tapped Pill, Vice-Chair Patrice Harris and Secretary Robert Reynolds to keep those positions for the coming year.
Following the vote for chairman, Harris declined the nomination for vice-chair and nominated Reynolds, who was unanimously approved.
After Charles Capito and Susan Lavenski refused nominations for secretary, Paul Mattox accepted and was approved by the body.
Mattox, a former state transportation secretary, was reappointed to a newly created seat on the BOG by Gov. Patrick Morrisey in May after his previous seat was eliminated by legislation.
The selection of BOG leadership occurred in the first meeting since the West Virginia Legislature stripped faculty, staff and student representatives of voting power.
Based on comments offered during the meeting, all four backed the Pill, Harris, Reynolds leadership team.
While the discourse remained civil, there was an undertone of friction throughout the meeting as seemingly innocuous comments about “transparency” and “honor” landed as clear references to the recent public infighting surrounding, among other things, the process for selecting the university’s next president.
Frances “Frankie” Tack, attending her final meeting as a faculty representative, offered the most pointed remarks, explaining that the BOG has “weathered an array of dysfunctional practices” in the past year.
She predicted those practices would continue Friday, explaining it was “unprecedented” for the body to not follow the recommendation of the nominating committee when selecting leadership. Further, Tack said the body traditionally promotes leadership – from secretary, to vice-chair to chair – from among experienced members for the sake of continuity.
“So what’s changed in the 2024-2025 year? In a word, membership,” she said, later adding, “If there are attempts to nominate officers other than those the BOG members of the nominating committee have vetted and voted to bring forward to this board, you will know a power grab is being attempted … ”
Hutson later countered that his interest in leading the body shouldn’t be viewed as an indictment of Pill’s leadership.
“It’s about whether I feel like I can add value to a very challenging time moving forward, that my skill set may be different than what Rick’s is. It has nothing to do with whether I think Rick’s done the best job or I could do the best job,” he said. “It has to do with the way I feel like the board can be managed going forward – and the challenges, and the issues that I believe are going to be on the horizon. That’s all it’s about.”
Almost lost in the proceedings was the fact the meeting was the last in Gee’s tenure. He’ll leave the university on July 14. Incoming President Michael T. Benson starts the following day.
Pill was overcome with emotion in expressing his gratitude for Gee’s efforts at WVU.
In his final president’s report – which took place prior to the selection of leadership – Gee spoke glowingly of Pill, Harris and Reynolds, and cautioned the body against allowing division to fester within the board, particularly in a time when the public regard for higher education is on shaky ground.
“I make a plea to all of you today to think about the fact that the university is more important than you. You have individual interests, but the university is more important than any one person. The university is certainly more important than me,” he said.
