Bogged down for more than six months by a controversy surrounding a master’s degree improperly awarded to the state governor’s daughter, the president of West Virginia University announced on Friday that he will step down in September.
In late April, an independent panel reported that the university showed “seriously flawed” judgment in awarding an M.B.A. to Heather Bresch, the daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, even though she did not have enough academic credits.
Ms. Bresch is a longtime friend and former business associate of the university president, Mike Garrison.
There are just things you cannot do as a university president.