Joyce McConnell Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

WVU Voices Support for International Community at Forum and Vigil

Laila Sakkal, a senior pre-med student at West Virginia University who was born in Charleston, held back tears as she talked about her Syrian grandmother, who can no longer join Sakkal’s family in the United States as planned. On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that temporarily barred non-U.S. citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. – though the details of the order are still unclear.

The order barred Syrian refugees indefinitely.

“We’ve been working for a visa for her for to come here and stay with us for over two years. It just got approved last month. We were going to go get her in March because she’s too sick to travel alone,” Sakkal said.

West Virginia University community members gather Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at Woodburn Circle for a vigil to support those affected by a recent U.S. executive order.

On a cold and snowy Monday night, Sakkal and others voiced opposition to the executive order at a vigil at WVU’s Woodburn Circle in Morgantown. Students and community members who who weren’t affected showed their support for those who were through signs and speeches. At one point, a group of men drove by chanting Trump’s name.

The presidents of at least three academic organizations – WVU, West Virginia State University and Marshall University – have pledged their support for international students and faculty affected by the ban. WVU estimates that the order affects about 140 of their students and faculty.

Before the vigil, WVU held an open forum for concerned community members to ask questions about the executive order to a panel that comprised of WVU Provost Joyce McConnell, immigration attorney Barbara Bower, Vice President for Global Strategy and International Affairs William Brustein, Dean of Students Corey Farris and Muslim Student Association President Sara Berzingi.

Many who attended the vigil held signs to support those affected by the executive order.

“You may not know how quickly words spread in an administrative structure. But as soon as the executive order was issued, we were on it,” McConnell said.

Questions ranged from, “Will WVU provide housing to international students who can no longer return home during breaks” (yes, though pricing was unknown at the time) to “Will WVU become a sanctuary campus” (the university will wait and see how events unfold before making that decision).

A community member asks a question of the panelists at an open forum at prior to the vigil.

Several students and faculty asked Bower questions about the order’s effect on international travel and employment and education opportunities for international students. She emphasized that the executive order was written so broadly that not even immigration lawyers can say for certain how it will be enforced or which demographics will be affected.

“If you are from any of those seven countries, and you don’t have to travel abroad, I would encourage you to stay here,” she said.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., released a statement Monday evening opposing the executive order. He wrote that he supports the extreme vetting of immigrants, but that he’s concerned that the executive order was not “properly vetted by senior security advisors and members in the Administration.” West Virginia’s Republican senator, Shelley Moore Capito, had not released a statement regarding the executive order as of Monday night.

In a statement to The Charleston Gazette, Representative Evan Jenkins said that vetting immigrants keeps the country safe, but asked the Trump administration to clarify the parameters of this specific executive order.

WVU Provost to Step Down at End of June

West Virginia University Provost Michele G. Wheatly plans to step down at the end of June.

Wheatly has served as the university’s chief academic officer since Jan. 1, 2010. She came to WVU from Wright State University in Ohio, where she was head of the College of Science and Mathematics.

WVU President E. Gordon Gee said Tuesday in a news release that he has named College of Law Dean Joyce McConnell to replace Wheatly as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. McConnell’s appointment is effective July 1.

Gregory Bowman will serve as interim dean of the law school, effective July 1. Bowman is associate dean for Academic Affairs and a professor of law..

Gee says the university will conduct a national search for a permanent dean.

Girl Scouts Campaign Pushes for Change

Having more women as leaders in our community is what Girls Scouts of the USA strive for, and yesterday afternoon, the Black Diamond Council, who serves nearly 15,000 girls in a 61-county jurisdiction including most of West Virginia, gathered together female leaders from the community to discuss the future of our young girls.

The Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council kicked-off their “ToGetHerThere” campaign, which the organization calls their most aggressive campaign for girls to date, aiming to provide every opportunity to empower girls to reach their fullest potential and build a better world.

The event included a panel discussion centered on the current state of girls in our own state, how to build courage, how to build confidence, and how to build character. However, the topic that pushed heaviest as a means to progress change and promote leadership among girls was building confidence. Confidence seemed to be the key, and First Lady Joanne Tomblin, a member of the panel, says she thinks its organizations like Girl Scouts who will help build young girls confidence.

“A lot of young women come from dysfunctional families,” said Tomblin, “they don’t have people at home to support them, so it’s going to be those organizations that are at least going to start helping them build that confidence, and also, we need more women, more professional women, more parents to volunteer to mentor young women and then give them experiences. The more experiences that you have, the more confidence you’re going to gain.”

Another member of the panel, WVU Law School Dean, Joyce McConnell says she thinks it’s very important for women around the state to reach out to girls who may not have the best family life to help build their confidence with support they may not be receiving at home.

“Support for other women to reach out to girls, help girls understand their own talents and their own strength,” said McConnell, “and so I would say that if a girl has enough confidence to ask for a mentor, that’s a wonderful thing, but so many girls won’t even have that baseline, confidence, that we really have to reach out to them. We have to be much more proactive, and it can happen in the churches, it can happen in our schools, it can happen in community centers, but I think we have to take more responsibility.”

Princess Young, the Chief Development Officer for the Girl Scouts in Charleston said she was very happy with the turnout at the event, and she hopes all the people who were in attendance will be proactive and be interested in being a part of the bigger picture.

“A lot of folks just don’t know,” said Young, “they think of girl scouts, they think cookies, camping, and crafts. And for me, today was about everybody learning about the three C’s that are in our mission, which is building girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. And I think folks got that picture today, and they realize a little bit more about what we’re about and hope they want to get more involved and helping us develop and open those doors for girls in our region.”