GARRISON ABSOLVES HIMSELF FROM BRESCH SCANDAL

(05/10/2008)
WVU president Mike Garrison says he wants to move ahead of the Bresch degree scandal, absolving himself of any direct blame.

The report regarding the unearned degree of the governor's daughter, implies otherwise, indicating "palpable pressure" from "representatives of the president's office."

The Charleston Gazette says it is difficult to believe Garrison did not know what was going on within his inner circle.

The report says fake grades were "simply pulled from thin air," and inserted into Bresch's transcript.

Garrison says he did not know who actually inserted the fake grades.

The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reports, "In an affront to academic integrity, common sense and the good of his institution, WVU's president has dug in his heels and pretended this debacle doesn't involve him. Yet an investigative panel puts Mr. Garrison's office at the heart of the deception to invent credits..."

The overlay for the problem is money, huge sums of money, connected to political power.

At stake is the future of West Virginia University.