This is interesting, Gordon Gee is their current President. He was the president at Ohio State while I was there he was well-loved by the students and would routinely make appearances at off-campus parties and pose for photos with students. He also had a razor-sharp memory for people and recognized me multiple times when I bumped into him. But that wasn't his strongest suit, he was a fund raising machine, that man brought a lot of money into the university from alumni and other donors. I'm shocked to hear that WVU is having financial issues under his leadership.
My freshman year at WVU was the year Gee took over as president. That was definitely his thing to ingratiate himself to the students. The whole frost couple weeks he would go up and down frat row, and through all the big house parties and shake hands, pose for pictures, etc. He quickly got this vibe as the "cool dad" with his cute bow ties. This won the student body over easily, so we were confused when our professors were really bummed about it. Apparently word gets around on your management style and spending habits.
The dude ripped through money he didn't have, hired a ton of bloat, and is now cutting staff in nearly all the programs I held dear.
While they have many skills, connections being one of the most useful to their employer, my theory is that the greatest skill of executives is the ability to gain credit and avoid blame. They hone that razor sharp and wield it constantly to achieve their positions.
