From this morning’s Wheeling Intelligencer:

Robin Capehart, 65, a Moundsville native and former president of West Liberty University, was named interim president at Bluefield on Thursday. Capehart said his one-year contract with the college was approved unanimously by the institution’s board of governors.

Capehart was President of West Liberty University until March 2015 when he resigned in the face of state ethics violations. (He later reached an agreement with the state.) As the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported at the time:

In January, the commission’s Probable Cause Review Board issued 13 charges against Capehart, including that he put Siebert on the university’s payroll beginning in January 2010, first as a temporary employee producing a TV show for the university’s cable-access TV station, WLTV, at $250 per episode, and subsequently made her part-time business manager for the TV station, at $2,000 a month, and in July 2011 retained her as a consultant for the university, at $4,000 a month.

During much of that time, Siebert was also working for Capehart’s film company. . . .

[Capehart] called the charges “frivolous and thoroughly refuted,” and said he would be releasing affidavits that would exonerate him.

He never did provide any affidavits, and in March, resigned as West Liberty president, under an agreement that allows him to continue to draw his $200,000 salary while serving as a consultant and lobbyist for the university through the end of the year.

Was Bluefield College's Board of Directors aware of Capehart's background? Yes, as the Gazette-Mail reported this morning:

The Rev. Garry Moore, chairman of Bluefield State's Board of Directors, said board members were aware of Capehart's history with the Ethics Commission before they hired him.

"There's some times in the course of public service somebody's not going to like you," Moore said. "Since he has still served the state of West Virginia, we're pretty sure he can pass whatever background check."

Chairman Moore dismisses the charges against Capehart to somebody not liking him and he's "pretty sure that he can pass whatever background check." Amazing.

Update-- the local Bluefield paper fails to mention why Capehart left West Liberty but does provide some interesting Republican connections

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph's story on Capehart's appointment runs almost 700 words but does not mention anything about why he left West Liberty.

Perhaps, even more interesting is who is mentioned in the article. As noted above, Reverend Garry Moore, is chairman of Bluefield's Board of Director. The vice chairman is identified as local businessman, Charlie Cole. Yes, he's the brother of 2016 Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole who is also a member of the Bluefield board. Is it a surprise that they appointed former Republican chairman Robin Capehart as Bluefield president? (I think this is called Republican welfare.)