September 28, 2020
RE: Student Listening Session
Dear President Gee and President Gilbert,
Thank you for your leadership during the ongoing pandemic. As university presidents,
tens of thousands of students, employees, and citizens rely on your decisions. We appreciate the
tough choices you have made recently and support your decisions.
In the wake of recent questions raised, we want to begin a positive dialogue between
elected officials and your students and student athletes. Now more than ever, during a time of
racial and political tension in the midst of a public health crisis, we feel it is incumbent on us to
listen to our youth. They are our future and will lead us into it.
As your strong supporters, we want to offer a concrete next step—a student listening
session. We think this moment requires us not to point fingers, call names and create further
division in our state, but instead to listen to one another with compassion in an attempt to find a
positive way forward. If you feel that your students and student-athletes would benefit from
talking with us, as their state senators, about how we can promote equality and improve life for
all West Virginians, we are happy to schedule such an opportunity in the near future.
Sincerely,

Stephen Baldwin

Richard Lindsay

Mike Woelfel

Corey Palumbo

William Ihlenfeld II

Mike Romano

Ron Stollings

Bob Beach