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West Liberty University is facing a serious situation between its faculty and president that the institution's Board of Governors must deal with immediately before it causes any greater distraction for students and families.
On one side, you have a faculty with little to no trust in President W. Franklin Evans' leadership. On the other, you have Evans -- the university's first Black president -- alleging that he is being targeted by faculty because of his race.
A faculty survey of Evans we received last week shows that only one in nine faculty members has confidence in his ability to lead the university.
Evans, when asked about the findings, questioned whether similar surveys have been done of previous West Liberty presidents. He also claimed some of the faculty expectations -- that he visits classrooms -- are not common practice for a college president.
"It speaks to me, coming from a marginalized group, it's not the same behavior that had been expected before," Evans told our reporter. "Why is it different for me? ... It's the every day, day-in-and-out, unrealistic expectations they have for me, and it really is biased. These are not the expectations that existed before. Why, all of a sudden, are they existing now? Is it because I'm younger than the other presidents? Is it because I'm a single parent? I would say no. It has to do with the four-letter word we don't like to talk about."
Those are serious accusations from Evans. Faculty Senate members have a responsibility to address whether such surveys have been done in the past, and dispel the allegation that race played any role.
The university's Board of Governors also needs to intervene immediately, as the allegations are not healthy for the institution and its future.
What can't happen is for WLU leaders to allow this matter to fester. Deal with it immediately.