“ West Virginia is a very small state, and we have every problem in America, but we are small enough to be able to— if we stack our hands and have courage and have the will— solve our problems. We have to start right here and right now.”
This was the message Dr. Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University( WVU), shared at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’ s 81st Annual Meeting and Business Summit this summer. As one of West Virginia’ s most outspoken advocates, Gee recognizes the potential that exists in the Mountain State. He sees West Virginia’ s greatness in every student he meets and every community he visits. This state’ s greatest asset is its people, according to Gee, and as such, they deserve more than what they now have.
“ The people who dwell among these magnificent hills and hollows deserve lives as soaring and strong as our landscape,” he told the summit’ s attendees.“ They deserve economic security, stellar education and first-rate health care that would allow them to approach life on an even footing with every other American, but in this moment, many of them lack these essentials.”
This void is one of the reasons Gee returned to WVU in 2014 when he could have retired or returned to teaching. A lengthy career presiding over several prestigious higher education institutions would have been enough for him to hang his hat on, but when he first came to Morgantown in 1979 to serve as the dean of the WVU College of Law, he fell in love with this special little state. That love has fueled a passion that today drives him as
WVU’ s 24th president. His position at the helm of the state’ s largest university and largest employer and one of the country’ s top research institutions gives him a unique perspective on West Virginia’ s dire economic situation, and rather than sit idly by, he has rolled up his sleeves and put that passion to work for every West Virginian.
At the business summit, Gee announced the creation of West Virginia Forward, an initiative to address the state’ s laundry list of woes in order to pave a new path to prosperity. Partnering with the West Virginia Department of Commerce and Marshall University and utilizing data and insight gathered by McKinsey & Co., Gee is seeing his vision for WVU as a beacon of hope and a helping hand to the Mountain State come to fruition.
An Uphill Battle
West Virginia’ s greatest weaknesses are not a budget deficit, an uneducated workforce, a struggling energy industry and an opioid epidemic. West Virginia’ s greatest weaknesses are its debilitating lack of confidence, its unwillingness to take chances and its shortage of hope— deep-cutting issues that lie at the heart of all the other major problems.
“ Our state suffers from what I call negative elitism,” says Gee.“ We can’ t understand why anyone would want to work or live here. Instead of supporting success, we’ re all too ready to tear it down. Likewise, we have believed our own bad press for too long, and we need to change that because we have a great story to tell.”
Just as harmful as poor self-confidence is West Virginia’ s lack of intestinal fortitude.
While Gee acknowledges that change is difficult and trying new things can be scary, West Virginia has reached the point where not taking action is no longer an option.
“ If we want to transform this state, if we want to lead rather than trail among our peers, we must nurture fresh opportunities and prune the deadwood restricting our growth,” he says.“ Our biggest obstacle has been our unwillingness to try for fear of failure. Some strategies succeed and some fail, but failure is not as perilous as inaction. Failure produces learning and adaptation in strength and action, and inaction only produces
ExEdge
As of July 2014, Dr. Gordon Gee led his higher education peers in degrees conferred at a record 261,818.
Source: WVU Libraries
inertia. As Franklin Roosevelt said at the height of the Great Depression,‘ Above all, try something.’”
Gee has taken this quote to heart, and as a result, West Virginia Forward was born.
Inspired to Act
Gee’ s vision for West Virginia Forward was inspired by a similar initiative during his tenure at Ohio State University( OSU) when the state of Ohio was facing challenges similar to those West Virginia is now struggling with. At the time, McKinsey & Co. was hired to work with Ohio’ s governor and OSU to find solutions to the state’ s dire situation. Inspired by the success experienced by the Buckeye State, Gee was certain McKinsey & Co. could dig deeper into West Virginia’ s problems
“ If we want to transform this state, if we want to lead rather than trail among our peers, we must nurture fresh opportunities and prune the deadwood restricting our growth.”
Gee addresses faculty, staff, students and community members at the WVU State of the University in September. Photography by Greg Ellis.
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