Due to a lack of preparation, transparency, and accountability by WVU President Gordon Gee, the Board of Governors, and other members of the administration, the school’s budget deficit has been widened to $35 million for the 2024 fiscal year and is projected to grow to $75 million over the next five years. It is critical that we as concerned students of WVU have our voices heard before its effects get even worse. This petition aims to show support for WVU students and faculty, raise awareness of these issues and those responsible, and demand action.

Instead of addressing the budget issues ahead of time, President Gee continuously averted them, and later placed blame on the faculty and students, questioning the “quality of education” that students were receiving. Over the course of 29 months, the university had failed to accurately assess budget issues despite employing several staff with that responsibility who each make well over $300,000 a year. As a result, Gee has now begun measures that will actively harm the University’s capability to deliver quality education, through unfair staff terminations, critical program discontinuations and restructures that will negatively impact WVU for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, those most affected by the University’s decisions are also the ones with the least input in the situation. Dozens of staff have signed an open letter opposing the Board’s RIF (Reduction in Faculty) measures. Gordon Gee also recently signed an $800,000 extension amidst major budget cuts with the total support of the Board of Governors, despite large criticism from students and faculty alike. Gee is set to retire in 2025, having made over $11 million in total compensation from WVU. As such, he has left future children and workers to deal with the consequences of his actions long after he is gone.

We continue to support the WVU faculty who are advocating for fair treatment and preservation of our academic institution’s key functions. Additionally, we are asking that President Gee and his staff consider taking pay cuts in order to help mitigate the situation that they have allowed to progress, and to improve the “quality of education” that our school is apparently lacking. It is critical that WVU maintains its position as a source of opportunity and success, and in order to do so, we are calling on those in power to do more.