Dear Board Chair David Hendrickson, COO Diana Vargo, and WU Employees:
It’s been a crawl-walk-run process, but the crisis with leadership at Wheeling University is over now that the suspended president has completed her employment and has returned all university property.
“Provisional Authorization” to operate is in hand and the university can welcome students again come late August now that the quality of life issues have been addressed and the bills are getting paid. One after another, issues inside the university’s buildings – like mold, leaky roofs, broken HVAC systems, inoperable elevators, and questionable swimming pool filtration – have been cleaned, repaired, and replaced, and the university’s board also has been revamped following a few resignations, as well.
Oh, and those figurative burning bridges have been extinguished, too.
Now, there is much more work to do, and your community understands that fact because we realized back in March the odds were against the university remaining a university because of finances and the physical condition of the campus. We do not know the dirty details as to why this once proud institution evolved so tragically since the Summer of 2019 – yet – but we do know a healthy Wheeling University makes for a healthier Wheeling, W.Va.
Thank you for your hard work and determination, and please know, NO ONE is rooting against you.
Sincerely,
The Neighbors
