Gordon Gee approved as interim president at WVU

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Gordon Gee is returning to WestVirginia University as interim president,
five months after retiringfrom Ohio State University after remarks he made jabbing Roman Catholicsand
Southeastern Conference schools were made public.The WestVirginia Higher Education Policy Commission
approved Gee’s hiringFriday, a day after the WVU Board of Governors made its recommendationwithout
announcing a name.Gee’s stay is expected to be temporaryand his annual salary was set at $450,000. Former
President Jim Clementsaccepted the same position at Clemson University in November.Itmarks the seventh time
Gee, 69, has headed a major U.S. university,including two stints apiece at West Virginia and Ohio State.WVU
board chairman James Dailey said in a statement he’s thrilled with Gee’s appointment."Heis a seasoned
and respected higher education leader who has served fivemajor universities over 33 years, and I am
confident he will continuethe great work going on here and the momentum this University isenjoying,"
Dailey said.Gee, is expected to visit the Morgantown campus Tuesday."Iam delighted now to be able to
come back — and give back — to the WestVirginia University community while also continuing my commitments
toOhio State, as well as higher education in Ohio and nationally," Geesaid in a statement issued by
WVU.Gee has stumbled through aseries of verbal missteps for which he had to issue apologies. Heretired in
July after his remarks jabbed at Roman Catholics andcriticized Notre Dame and former Wisconsin football
coach Bret Bielema,who now coaches Arkansas.In those remarks, made a year agoThursday to Ohio State’s
Athletic Council, Gee said Notre Dame was neverinvited to join the Big Ten because the school’s religious
leaders arenot "good partners."A Mormon, Gee also jokingly referred to"those damn
Catholics," lampooned the academic integrity of theUniversity of Louisville and Southeastern Conference
schools, singlingout the University of Kentucky. He alleged that University of Wisconsinathletic director
Barry Alvarez considered Bielema a "thug." Gee alsomade mildly disparaging remarks about Alvarez
and Big Ten CommissionerJim Delany.Gee also laughingly suggested that someone would haveto "shoot"
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith before Smith wouldallow the University of Cincinnati to join the Big
Ten.Thiswasn’t the first case of Gee speaking out of turn, and it was hispenchant for inappropriate remarks
that led to Ohio State trusteeswarning him in March of this year that any additional missteps wouldlead to
his termination.In March 2010, as a memorabilia-for-cashand tattoos scandal involving then-football coach
Jim Tressel heated up,Gee jokingly said that rather than consider firing Tressel, he wasconcerned that the
popular coach "doesn’t dismiss me."Later thatyear, Gee compared the schedules of other major
college football rivalsto playing the "Little Sisters of the Poor." And last year Gee comparedthe
challenges of leading a large university to the "Polish Army." Heissued apologies for both those
remarks.Gee, who had remained atOhio State as a law professor after his retirement, will take an unpaidleave
of absence while serving at WVU.Gee was WVU’s law schooldean from 1979 to 1981 and served as university
president from 1981 to1985. He also served as the president of Brown University and theUniversity of
Colorado, chancellor of Vanderbilt University and on theboard of directors at Massey Energy.Gov. Earl Ray
Tomblin saidhe’s "confident Gee will provide the leadership skills necessary tomaintain the
University’s positive momentum."___Associated Press Writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio,
contributed to this report.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.

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