WVU Board Of Governors Bids Farewell To President Gee, Departing Members 

West Virginia University President Gordon Gee will retire from his position July 14 after the board approved a minor contract extension until incoming university President Michael T. Benson takes the role July 15. Gee was originally slated to retire June 30.

He addressed his final board meeting as university president Friday, amidst public clashes between board members over the presidential search process and disclosures of conflicts of interest.

Gee called on board members to remember their commitment to the university and to put aside political or personal divisions. 

“I make the plea to all of you today to think about the fact that the university is more important to you,” he said “You have individual interests, but the university is more important than anyone.”

Gee has served as the university’s president since 2014, and previously served in the position in the 1980s. He has also served as the president of four other universities across the country throughout his career.

Along with Gee, the meeting was also the final one for student representative on the board and former Student Government Association president Charlie Long, classified staff representative and administrative assistant Shirley Robinson, as well as Frankie Tack, faculty representative on the board and service associate professor. 

This was the first board meeting since the passage of House Bill 3279, which added seats to the board for representatives of the agricultural industry, but also stripped student and staff members of the board of their voting rights.

 Faculty representatives, including Tack, called on the board to support faculty and students, emphasizing the importance of shared governance.  

“In my opinion, the faculty need board members who understand and respect the academy and its central role in our society,” she said. “They need board members who understand that the myriad benefits of a college degree, such as earning 1.2 million more over a lifetime and being half as likely to be unemployed, can only occur if there is a flourishing faculty to facilitate that education.”

The board welcomed three new members to seats created by HB 3279: Terry Hauser, Paul Mattox and Charles Wilfong. Current Board terms end June 30 for Board Chair Rick Pill, and Board members Bray Cary and Alan Larrick. BOG members are appointed by the governor.

The board also selected board officers for 2025-26 with Robert “Rusty” Hutson Jr. as chair, Robert “Bob” Reynolds as vice chair and Mattox as secretary.

During her comments to the board, and again during the nomination process, Tack questioned the elevation of new members to the board to positions of leadership. She voiced opposition to Hutson being nominated to the position of chair after only serving for one year on the board. Tack cited a longstanding tradition of elevating the existing vice-chair to lead the board as establishing stability for the board.

“This has only been a practice, of course, and at any given point other candidates could have been nominated, but they have because the practice has served to build a strong knowledge and experience base, as well as continuity among the executive officers of the board,” Tack said. “The practice has simply created stability. In fact, most members nominated for secretary under those conditions have served for a few years on the BOG prior to being elevated to a position of executive leadership.”

Current vice-chair Patrice Harris withdrew her nomination to continue on in that position and nominated Reynolds before his ultimate approval in that position. Board members Susan Lavenski and Charles Capito also declined nominations to the secretary position before Mattox was selected.

The board also approved a $1.2 billion financial plan for Fiscal Year 2026 that includes a tuition and fees increase of more than $300 per semester for state residents and more than $900 per semester for non-residents.