BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — The Bluefield State College Board of Governors has selected the next president of the institution.
On Wednesday, the board selected Robin C. Capehart as BSC’s next leader following a search by the Board’s Presidential Search Committee, per release. Capehart had been serving as the school’s interim president for the past seven months.
Rev. Garry Moore, the chairman of the college’s Board of Governors had previously said there were two finalists for the position, Capehart and Patricia Ramsey.
Ramsey is the provost and vice president of academic affairs for Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University.
Capehart served as the president of West Liberty University in Ohio County from 2007 to 2015, a time when the institution changed its name from a state college to university.
A release from BSC said that during Capehart’s time at West Liberty, the school experienced growth in enrollment over 15.5 percent including a 26.5 percent increase in adult learners. Annual fundraising totals increased at WLU during his tenure from $862,000 in 2007 to over $5 million per year for 2013-2015, according to BSC.
Capehart left WLU amid allegations of ethics violations. He admitted to one of the 13 ethic charges he faced in front of the state Ethics Commission in 2015. The other 12 charges, which stemmed from the use of public resources at the school for a movie production company that he owned, were dropped.
Moore said in a release that during Capehart’s time as interim president, he has secured funding and commitments of support to permit the start of construction for the first on-campus housing at BSC in more than 50 years.
Moore could not be reached for further comment on Wednesday.