Charleston Gazette-mail Sues West Virginia University Over Closed-door Meetings

The Charleston Gazette-mail recently reported that it had sued West Virginia University (WVU), alleging that the school’s Board of Governors violated state open meetings law.

Over 120 days, the board gathered in executive session in five meetings, discussing COVID-19, social justice and other topics. Executive sessions are closed to the public, but as a public university, WVU’S governing board is subject to the state’s open meetings law, which holds that public agencies generally must meet publicly. The law specifies topics such as litigation or personnel matters that may be discussed privately. The newspaper’s lawsuit alleges that the Board of Governors violated open meetings law during all five of these meetings. It claims that the subjects the board discussed are not exempt from open meetings law and must be discussed in public. The Gazette-mail is asking the court to declare that the executive sessions violated the law and order the board to open its meetings to the public when it discusses WVU’S response to COVID-19 and other campus issues.