By Shiann Smith

After weeks of speculation, it was announced on Monday, April 1 that Dr. Tracy Pellett was resigning from the presidency of Glenville State College. The announcement quoted Pellett as saying that he has been thinking of leaving the college for quite a while. The president never signed the one-year contract extension offered to him on November 7, 2018. Vice Chairman Tim Butcher said, “We’ve been waiting for him to make up his mind as to whether he’s going to go or stay.” Butcher also stated that he was not aware of Pellett’s resignation as of April 1.

The reveal was preceded by various rumors about the president moving from his home, with some students reporting that they saw a moving truck on Tuesday, March 26. Beginning before spring break, The Phoenix repeatedly tried to get a statement from Board of Governors Chairman Greg Smith regarding the rumors but was asked to leave a message. One more call was made on April 4 after the announcement but, again, we were not given any additional information. Later that day, we received a statement from him through GSC public relations specialist Dustin Crutchfield, which basically repeated the statements from the email sent to faculty and the article in Monday’s Charleston Gazette-Mail.

The timing of the announcement is confusing to many people. The newspaper article appeared on the Gazette-Maila website before the email was sent to faculty, and staff did not get a notice until later this week. Many people are unhappy with the release statement of his resignation, seeing as how his “promised” statement was in a paper and had no additional information. Why was the release aimed to seem like the President began thinking about leaving right after the no confidence vote scandal back in November? How could Butcher be unaware of Pellett’s resignation if he had, in fact, moved out of the campus house a week earlier? Why were notifications of faculty and staff sent out after the media accounts? And, from a student standpoint, why is it that as of Friday, April 5, students have received no official notice?

The Phoenix hopes to receive additional information for next week’s issue, on line at www.glenville.edu/phoenix every Thursday evening.