CHARLESTON, WV – Today, Governor Patrick Morrisey released the following video statement on West Virginia University (WVU) ending the WVU Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The school’s announcement follows Morrisey’s day one executive order to end DEI in West Virginia.
Read WVU’s statement message to faculty, staff, and students below:
WVU provides update regarding DEI
West Virginia University has been diligently reviewing Gov. Morrisey’s Executive Order No. 3-25 while actively engaging with members of the campus community and key stakeholders and providing internal guidance and talking points to assist with initial questions or concerns.
The University administration genuinely appreciates the patience being shown as this work continues.
While it will take time to determine the full scope of the Executive Order, as well as the subsequent federal executive order issued by President Trump, the University is taking immediate steps to comply.
This includes closing the current WVU Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. A new unit – the WVU Division of Campus Engagement and Compliance – has been established with a redefined mission. This unit will focus on ensuring the University adheres to federal and state guidance and fulfilling the needs of our campus community, including compliance with Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act which is its primary focus. This is not a rebranding, but a shift in focus that will align with the Governor’s directive.
Once the University’s review is complete, administrators will have a better understanding of the impact and will provide more specific, unit-level guidance at that time. The University is committed to keeping the WVU community informed throughout this process and will continue to provide regular communication and feedback as it works to ensure it is in compliance with any and all obligations.
Those with questions should contact Vice President Meshea Poore and Associate Vice President Travis Mollohan.
Transcript of Governor Morrisey’s statement:
Fellow West Virginians,
Several weeks ago, I came to you during my inaugural address to talk about how we needed to eradicate the woke virus in our schools. We emphasized the importance of getting rid of DEI out of West Virginia state government. The very next day, I issued a series of executive orders, one of which was to eliminate DEI out of state government. I directed my cabinet officials, agency heads, and others, and any entity receiving state resources, to take steps to eliminate DEI.
This is important for a lot of different reasons. I’m a believer, like many of you, that God looks at us, the rule of law looks at us, as equals. We have an equal protection clause. We care about the rule of law. We care about freedom. We don’t want special preferences unlawfully benefitting one group over another – race, color, age, ethnicity. We have to make sure we’re taking steps to treat everyone the same under the law. We know that there was a very big Supreme Court decision several years ago that made major steps in that direction.
Well, after this executive order, I’m pleased to report that there’s some good news on this front. Today, West Virginia University announced that it was eliminating its Division of DEI. This is a big win for the Mountain State. I want to applaud WVU for the actions that it’s taken. This is really critical. I know there’s always a lot of pressure to do the wrong thing – here is West Virginia, we’re going to do the right thing and we’re going to make sure that West Virginia always stands for freedom, the rule of law, and the American ideal. We’re going to keep going – this is just the beginning of our effort to root out DEI. That’s going to happen more and more in the weeks and months ahead. But I wanted to report this to you, because it’s another win along the way.
Thank you so much, and we’ll check in with you soon.
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