West Liberty University President W. Franklin Evans reads a statement during a special board of governors meeting in November. - Photo by Alan Olson

The West Liberty University Board of Governors voted 8-4 on Wednesday evening to not renew the contract of President W. Franklin Evans.

Evans’ term as WLU’s president will end at the end of this year. Evans is the 37th president of the university and its first Black president.

Voting against renewing Evans’ contract were Jack Adams, Sydney Burkle, Richard Carter, Thomas Cervone, Rich Lucas, David McKinley and Jason Metz. Michael Baker, Arleen Brantley, Jamie Evick and Stephanie Shaw voted in favor of retaining Evans.

Evans has faced scrutiny and discontentment among the university’s faculty since assuming office on Jan. 1 2021. In his first year, Evans was found to have lifted quotes, without attribution, from a variety of sources for his fall convocation speech, a speech he gave on Juneteenth, and a speech he had given on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Evans subsequently apologized in a letter to the university.

Evans narrowly survived termination in October, when the Board of Governors voted 7-5 in favor of retaining him at the head of the university. The following month, the board voted unanimously – though with two members absent – to formally censure Evans, indicating severe disapproval with his actions. The faculty senate issued a vote of no confidence in Evans, voting 14-1, with one abstention.

In April, a survey of WLU faculty and staff was released, indicating widespread distrust of Evans’ leadership and personal integrity. Among the survey results of those polled, representing 149 people out of the 231 who had been asked, 86% considered his leadership “compromised,” and only 11% responded that they felt he was capable of leading the university. 75% disagreed, or strongly disagreed, that Evans’ interests aligned with that of the school.

Return to theintelligencer.net later for more on this developing story.