DaughterGate Update

Forces remain arrayed against West Virginia University President Mike Garrison, in the wake of Friday's Board of Governors meeting.

The main opposition group, "Mountaineers for Integrity and Responsibility," has collected signatures from "576 alumni, 263 faculty members, 186 students, 50 staff members and 165 others" for a petition seeking Garrison's ouster, The Associated Press reports.

AP also follows up with faculty who have twice voted no confidence in Garrison. Update: so does the Charleston Daily Mail.

AP's Vicki Smith was among those was among those reporting Friday that the board "believes President Mike Garrison did nothing to influence the improper awarding of a master’s degree to the governor’s daughter last fall."

MIR has planned a 1 p.m. Monday rally at WVU's Mountainlair. "Students, faculty members, local leaders, WVU Administrators and University President Mike Garrison have all been invited to be part of the rally," MetroNews reports.

Update: AP reports that the rally drew "about 100 students and faculty members," but that WVU's Faculty Senate also demanded that Garrison's administration "provide details on alleged irregularities in some 70 degrees awarded through its executive master's of business administration program."

MetroNews, The Charleston Gazette, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Public Broadcasting are among those with coverage of the "action plan" presented by Garrison at Friday's meeting.

The board has posted Garrison's interim reports in two parts, here and here.

The Charleston and Pittsburgh newspapers delve into allegations by WVU officials that "many other students in the College of Business and Economics had similar problems" to that of Heather Bresch, daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin.

Update: Public Broadcasting examines what it calls a "key discrepancy" between Garrison's action plan and the independent report it responds to. With audio.

MetroNews highlights the personnel changes made "in connection with his response to the Heather Bresch degree controversy." It also offers an interview with Garrison and audio.

Public Broadcasting and MetroNews also offer audio from Friday's board meeting, and the latter has additional multimedia links as well.