Back in February, former WVU Interim President C. Peter Magrath authored an article for “The Chronicle of Higher Education” in which he explained the challenges of functioning as the interim following a scandal. For perspective, he included a dandy of an example:

“Indeed, at some point all university presidents, and most assuredly those in that position for the first time, will face “the test.” That is a push from a powerful force or person urging the president to take an action that is not only controversial — presidents face that regularly — but something that is unethical or, more bluntly, evil.

My “test” came soon in my brief tenure, not surprisingly in the often treacherous area of intercollegiate athletics. Thanks to my previous experiences as a president and my strong posiiton as an interim, the university weathered the challenge. I had been pushed to allow a major athletics facility to move forward before all the financial support was in place and to agree that its use would not be fully under university control. I refused.”

Unethical? Evil! You can only imagine the reaction when it first met these eyes. And you can only imagine the frustration involved with unwrapping that riddle.

Beyond just being a good guy, Magrath is an extraordinarily ethical person. He wasn’t going to dish. His article was not intended to be about a specific case. It was intended to explain how that sort of thing will always happen to an interim leader and, indeed, it happened to him. No more, no less.

He denied two interview requests made months apart, and while I like to say I live off the record, Magrath liked just as much to say he’s never been there.

Gotta respect that, even if it did make this a little trickier.

Eventually, though, the cryptic comments were unlocked. People were talking — hesitantly — and worrying — openly — about this. What this was, though, was pretty interesting. Turns out WVU had a internal controversy born in the final days of outgoing-yet-eager former President Mike Garrison that wasn’t settled for quite some time.

Confidential conversations with athletic department officials suggested the financing of the practice facility and especially the control of its use were sources of uneasiness.

Those worries more recently have been confirmed by former WVU President Mike Garrison and current Board of Governors Chair Carolyn Long.

Documents obtained from WVU through the Freedom of Information Act revealed an outside donor had come up with a plan to finance a significant portion of the facility while claiming authority over how it was to be used.

Many were concerned about going ahead with construction even though the project wasn’t entirely, and perhaps even satisfactorily, financed. Then came a plan to provide a lot of the needed money. First came $4 million from the historically generous Hazel Ruby McQuain Trust Foundation. Then came more.

The Trust also agreed to provide its $4 million as long as WVU committed “the entirety of the settlement monies paid by its former coaches, John Beilein and Rich Rodriquez (sic) and the University of Michigan, to the construction of the Basketball Practice Facility (5.5 million dollars).”

WVU settled a buyout dispute with Beilein for $1.5 million and with Rodriguez for $4 million. WVU received $2.5 million from UM and agreed to accept three annual payments of $500,000 from Rodriguez.

Additionally, the Trust said its $4 million “is to be matched by $4 million in future fund raising,” the source of which was not specified, but was to be considered as available for construction.

“They said they were going to raise that much on the outside, and I think they had donors in the coal industry,” Garrison said. “I was fine with that.”

Suddenly, $13.5 million was available for the project.

There was very hushed protest that the buyout money was claimed solely by athletics, but it didn’t last very long. When processed, many grew to accept that as a logical destination. What didn’t sit right with some were the conditions attached to the Trust’s gift.

One was the right for the Trust to name the facility and the men’s and women’s basketball courts — not after itself, but to have control over naming. Another — and far more dangerous — was the Trust having control over how the facility was to be used.

In the July letter from the Trust to Garrison the Trust stated the facility would be used “solely for basketball purposes … and for no other purposes without the written consent of the Trustees of the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust.”

Concern grew over what precedent might be set. Allowing a major donor to claim control of a facility could conceivably affect future fundraising.

“We have buildings named after people who have said they’d like to give so much money and maybe we can work something out,” Long said. “There have not been agreements made where power was taken away from the University.”

Two people called it “toothpaste out of the tube,” a choice of words that led me to believe this was talked about a lot among WVU people. Months later a paragraph spelling out control was replaced by another saying the facility was intended for men’s and women’s basketball, but could also be used for emergencies and for things like graduation. BOG Chair Carolyn Long and WVU President Jim Clements both said the athletic department now will run the facility when it opens.

“We didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings,” Long said. “We have to first of all do what best for WVU and I feel like the Board did just that.”