Two weeks into his presidency, University President Michael T. Benson is checking in with faculty and staff.
Dear Colleagues,
As I get settled in here in Morgantown, I’m having the best time meeting all of you and hearing what you love about West Virginia University. In short order, I’ve come to recognize it is a special place with authentic ties that bind and one that I — with my family — intend to make home.
If you see me out at Kroger or heading to a fitness class, please say “hello.” I will always answer to “Mike.” However, when we do meet — wherever that may be — you should be prepared to talk with me about our collective vision for this University. I want to hear your specific ideas on how we can all move forward together.
There is nothing in this world like the power of education. It has the capacity to change the world, putting all of us in direct positions to take the kinds of actions now that will have lasting effects going far beyond our collective time here.
Now and in the future, we should all be proud to say, “This is West Virginia’s University.”
There may have been moments in the past few years when this has perhaps not been the case. As we move ahead, my pledge to you is that I will work to forge and maintain the trust that is necessary to ensure the University’s viability and longevity.
A few updates for you:
• The hiring process is well underway for a vice president for Enrollment Management, a key position on my executive leadership team, and, this fall, we’ll begin the provost search.
• Contracts have been extended for both Albert Wright, president and CEO of West Virginia University Health System, and Wren Baker, vice president and director of Athletics. Both have made and will continue to make impactful contributions.
• I attended my first Board of Governors meeting as president, a meeting which included several new Board members. I look forward to working with the BOG to advance the University’s best interests.
• Recent campus events I’ve been part of include poster presentations for the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium and a trip to the Outdoor Education Center.
• My inaugural “Welcome Home Tour” will take me to 18 counties through Aug. 1. I do intend to get to all 55 counties soon, fueled by pepperoni rolls and Diet Dr. Pepper, of course.
• As I have done at other colleges and universities, I plan to continue teaching history, a field that reminds us that we are where we are because of the people who have come before us. And as my hero Harry Truman often said, “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”
On the family front, I will forever miss my older brother, Stephen Benson, who died in July. A Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, Steve had no fear. At times, he measured his success in the amount of hate mail he received. More than anything, I admired his temerity and courage and will continue to draw inspiration from him as an ongoing tribute. My family and I are very grateful for the kind expressions of support and sincere condolences received in the past few weeks. Thank you.
Three decades of work in higher education across the United States have brought me, step by step, to the place I belong — the beautiful state of West Virginia in a position to lead its flagship, land-grant institution into a new era.
As I look ahead, I see the University continuing to improve and expand as an educational training ground built on exploration by putting the student experience first, leading to growing enrollment supported by sound financial planning.
Any success, though, that I have in the coming months and years will not be accomplished alone.
Let’s work together to make WVU a place where we can all be our best.
Let’s support and serve our students and each other with enthusiasm and heart.
Let’s build our future together.
Let’s Go!
Michael T. Benson
President and Professor of History
West Virginia University