West Virginia Northern Community College President Regrets His ‘Passion’ Turned Into a ‘Distraction’
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WHEELING -- West Virginia Northern Community College President Daniel Mosser -- who lambasted some Wheeling city leaders last week over a possible collaboration with Bluefield State College -- said Monday he regretted that his "passionate" delivery had become an issue itself. His efforts, though, have received strong support from other local college leaders.
Mosser said specific points of contention about the city's memorandum of understanding with Bluefield State have caused parties to lose focus on the pertinent issues.
"I feel the ongoing public dialogue and attacks have not been constructive, nor do they focus on the matter at hand," Mosser said. "I am a passionate person who cares deeply about our college and the people we serve -- our students, our employees and the residents of the community.
"I regret that my passion has likewise been used to create a distraction."
West Liberty University President W. Franklin Evans and Wheeling University President Ginny Favede joined Mosser in publicly protesting the city's efforts to bring another outside institution of higher learning to Wheeling. City leaders have maintained that their MOU with Bluefield State is non-binding, and the city aims to fill space at the former Ohio Valley Medical Center, which the city acquired last year.
The proposal is also intended to fill a need for accredited engineering programs and training needed by the local business community. These programs are offered by Bluefield but not offered by the local colleges, city leaders said.
During Tuesday's council meeting, Mosser alleged that the city's collaboration with Bluefield was a "friends and family" scheme in which "their ethically challenged and politically connected friend, Robin Capehart," president of Bluefield State College, would open a campus in Wheeling, cost local colleges enrollment and revenue, and do so at a cost of up to $2 million of local taxpayer money to construct and house for the first year.
City leaders emphatically denied that any financial figures have even been discussed with Bluefield State.
"Defamatory allegations of this nature have the potential to do lasting harm to the reputation of those they are leveled against," asserted Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, Vice Mayor Chad Thalman and City Manager Robert Herron in the joint statement issued Friday. The three demaded supporting evidence for the claims leveled against them at last Tuesday's council meeting.
Mosser's response Monday took a much cooler tone as he explained the sources of those allegations.
"A couple were specifics contained in the MOU that the city manager executed with Robin Capehart on Jan. 5," Mosser said. "Some were mentioned by Mayor Glenn Elliott himself in recent meetings with college leaders attempting to resolve this, including the gross square feet of the space in question (5,000 square feet) and the city's estimate of build-out costs ($1.5 million)."
Mosser also compared the mayor's figure with Northern's actual costs per square foot from back when WVNCC renovated two deteriorating properties and expanded its footprint in downtown Wheeling.
"These buildings presently house industrial and technology and applied technology programs similar to that in question," Mosser noted. "Northern could have shared our experience with these similar facilities prior to the council meeting, had we been consulted."
According to minutes from the Jan. 7 meeting of Bluefield State College's board of governors, Capehart's report to the board specifically states that they were reviewing the MOU with the city on the OVMC property for engineering and manufacturing classes and there was to be "no cost for build out — they are handling." Officials at WVNCC contend that this indicates Bluefield's plan was to relocate to OVMC at no cost to the college, and that instead, the city was handling the cost of the build out.
"Let me be clear," Mosser said, "I feel very strongly that recruiting any higher education institution from outside our city and region, locating them just one block away from WVNCC and in close proximity to two exceptionally capable local universities, proposing to offer programs that overlap with and compete with our existing programs, underwriting this with Wheeling tax dollars represents economic malpractice on the part of our mayor — regardless of who contacted whom."
Mosser said he looked forward to reading the city's feasibility study on this matter and to a more constructive and meaningful dialogue between Wheeling's elected leaders and the local higher education partners.
After Mosser's speech last week, some city leaders questioned why and if the other college presidents — as well as the WVNCC board of governors — would stand behind him and "implicitly" endorse his allegations. David Artman, chairman of the WVNCC board of governors, and WLU President Evans went to bat for Mosser on Monday.
"I appreciate Dr. Mosser's dedication and commitment, not only to West Virginia Northern Community College, but to our partners at West Liberty University, Wheeling University, plus the residents of Wheeling and our region," Artman said. "Since learning of this MOU in the local press, our presidents have worked together tirelessly behind the scenes for two months to no avail. To this date, the mayor has yet to confirm that he received the joint letter sent by our presidents on Feb. 19.
"I want to acknowledge and express our board of governor's appreciation for the joint effort of Presidents Mosser, Favede and Evans."
Evans started in his position at WLU in the first week of 2021. On his first official day at work, the MOU between the city and Bluefield State greeted him before he even got a chance to settle into his duties.
"My belief regarding Bluefield State College coming into the area hasn't wavered," Evans said. "I stated the same position consistently over the past few weeks that I am confident that our local institutions are equipped to provide the educational needs of this region with quality programs that meet the demands of our regional employers."
Evans said he did not have the "time or energy for political games."
"I'm surprised that I'm being questioned about whom I can associate with or appear with in a photograph," he said. "I have other pressing, strategic initiatives to move West Liberty University forward that require my time, energy and focus. Thus, I refused to be bullied, intimidated or pulled into any childish antics. I am a professional who is 'unsought and unbossed'," he said, referring to Shirley Chisolm's campaign slogan from 1972.
Evans said that he had "never met or heard of" Capehart, nor had he met or been in the same room with the Wheeling city council, city manager or the other two presidents.
Evans said he spoke to the city manager by phone on Friday and listened to his concerns about what happened at the last city council meeting. He added that he was "saddened" by the lack of communication with Bluefield State on this matter.
"What really saddens me is the city itself has not said 'come on West Liberty University, come on Wheeling University, come on West Virginia Northern Community College — let's sit down and talk about this and ways we can better meet the needs of this area,' if those needs aren't being met," Evans said Monday.
Staff writer Joselyn King contributed to this report.