The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia contends Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion is overly broad and will have a chilling effect on speech.

ACLU-WV is calling on Morrisey to rescind the executive order that he issued last week, his first week in office, contending that keeping it would open the state to costly litigation over its constitutionality.

An underpinning of ACLU-WV’s position is that the executive order could impede classroom discussions of societal issues like race, sex and class. The national free speech organization FIRE has made the same point.

“Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday, and it’s important to remember that this order could silence classroom instruction about the life and views of the holiday’s namesake,” ACLU-WV Executive Director Eli Baumwell said.

As written, the order could also prohibit professors from discussing or presenting arguments both for and against a wide range of topics, from the role of women in military combat to race reparations, said ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks.

“This hastily written executive order represents a potential violation of educators’ free speech rights enshrined in the Constitution and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Sparks said.

“Not only do we believe this order to be unconstitutional, we also can’t overstate the degree to which it is meant to create a state government hostile to people from marginalized communities.”

One of several orders the new governor issued last week is titled “ordering the cessation of DEI.” The acronym stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s a set of policies in business, government and academia aimed at creating a more inclusive and equitable environment.

Social conservatives have taken aim at the policies as a kind of reverse discrimination. That’s the position that Morrisey has taken.

“We’re expressly sending a letter to all of our cabinet officials and agency heads and indicating there should be a review of any potential DEI that may exist within state government,” Morrisey said last week. 

“We want to have a review of recruiting, of retention, of programs, of policies or any issue which might express an inappropriate preference for race, for sex, for national origin, some of these classes that have been used and manipulated in the past.”

Ninety-two percent of West Virginia’s population is White and almost 4% of residents are Black, according to the U.S. Census.

David Fryson, a former vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at West Virginia University, said the new governor has gotten the matter wrong.

Fryson, appearing on MetroNews’ “Talkline,” said the concept is about providing equitable opportunities for success.

“Equity just means that we give people what they need in order to be successful, and this idea of inclusion means that we are all involved,” said Fryson, who most recently has served as interim vice president for inclusive excellence at Quinnipiac University in Hamden Connecticut.

“Now it is interesting and important to me, in the least diverse state in the nation that the initial focus of this administration is to go after diversity, equity and inclusion programs. I think it’s a travesty.”

Fryson said the movement toward diversity, equity and inclusion policies began in the 1990s after a turn away from affirmative action programs.

“And so DEI was a fallback position to say, ‘Hey, look, we we know that we’re getting to the point where the law is not necessarily going to provide quotas, the law is not going to provide affirmative acts. So DEI is a way that within the bounds of the law that we can allow people to be a part of our society.’

“So you think about it, diversity is not going anywhere. We will continue to be a diverse nation and really even be a diverse state. And diversity truly can be a strength if we manage it, if we are open to one another.”

Michael Coats has taken a unique path to where he currently finds himself.

The transfer cornerback emerged as one of the top options in the market after a season at Nevada where he was a first-team all-Mountain West selection in 2024 after recording 41 tackles, 17 passes defended, and 4 interceptions while charting elite coverage grades.

But he almost didn’t play college football at all.

The Mississippi native started playing the game in Little League, but as he got older gravitated more towards basketball and baseball. He quit playing sports altogether in tenth grade and after graduation spent a season working at an arcade for a year. That’s when he came across a flyer for walk-on tryouts at East Central C.C.

Coats often played 7-on-7 with his friends and decided that he didn’t have anything to lose so he decided to attend the tryout and earned a spot as a walk-on with the team.

“I never played cornerback in my life, but I always watched football, and I always loved watching the cornerbacks and receivers go at it. That position was just natural because in basketball I was a good defensive player so it’s really the same mechanics when you translate it over,” he said.

The rest is history.

Coats arrived in fall camp and earned a starting spot on the team and has essentially started since. After appearing in 21 games at East Central, he transferred to Nevada where he recorded 13 tackles and an interception in his first season before breaking out in his second.

The game started to slow down for him and Coats credits the coaching he received during his time with the Wolfpack as a big reason why he made a significant jump.

“Now the game is starting to slow down just by naturally playing all the time. You can be told something, but you’ve just got to naturally learn it,” he said.

While he was originally contemplating his future in regard to the NFL Draft, the ruling on junior college players gave him the chance to spend another season in college. That’s when he elected to enter his name into the transfer portal and heard from a long list of schools including West Virginia, Mississippi, Texas Tech, Baylor, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, and Houston. It was a different experience for the reserved Coats.

“I’m a different type of guy I don’t like the attention,” he said.

Coats took an official visit to West Virginia and was highly impressed with the entire package. From the facilities, to the atmosphere, to the town, and the message from the coaching staff it checked all his boxes in what he wanted to find in a college football program.

After meeting with head coach Rich Rodriguez, defensive coordinator Zac Alley and cornerbacks coach Rod West, Coats had decided that he wanted to spend next season in Morgantown.

“It felt comfortable to me,” he said.

Coats believes that he is a good fit for the West Virginia defense as the coaching staff liked his ability to play press-man coverage and his versatility to move around the defense. West Virginia saw an athlete who was quick and twitchy with elite ball production and Coats saw an opportunity.

The terminology in the defense wasn’t all that different from what he did at Nevada, and he was impressed with the disguised coverages that Alley utilizes.

Coats is already enrolled at West Virginia but plans to report today in order to get the next chapter of his story started in Morgantown. He is excited to get to know his new teammates and prove himself once again at the power four level in the Big 12 Conference.

“I love the challenge. I’m going in with a new slate and everything I did in the past doesn’t really matter anymore so I’m excited for that part of the challenge and show that I’m still that guy,” he said.

PHOTOS

STILLWATER — The Cowboys’ 30-point streak needed a hero, and luckily the Pokes have one at heavyweight.

Wyatt Hendrickson trotted to the mat with “Copperhead Road” ringing throughout Gallagher-Iba Arena. He pinned his opponent in less than a minute, did a backflip and secured Oklahoma State’s 30-12 win against West Virginia.

The Cowboys are 9-0 this season and have scored at least 30 points in all of those wins. The last time OSU started a season with at least nine 30-point performances was the 1987-88 season — the season John Smith won his second NCAA title as a wrestler. The Cowboys started with 10 in a row that season, so OSU has the opportunity to match that against a tough Northern Iowa team on Friday.

“A lot of what we just talked about in the locker room was being appreciative of these opportunities that we have,” OSU coach David Taylor said. “Every day I wake up and grateful to be coaching this program. And every day these guys come in the room, and they just gotta appreciate the opportunity to go out and compete in Gallagher, and pushing attendance, and having a product that people are excited to go and watch. …

“We want to represent a product and a style, the way wrestling should be done in its purest way. You got seven minutes to score. You score the entire time. If you’re not turning them, you’re cutting them and your tie ups and you’re getting another takedown. That’s what we do every day, and our guys are representing that when we go out there. And it’s leading to more team points, which is awesome.”

It wasn’t the best of days for the start of OSU’s lineup. The Mountaineers held a 12-11 lead through six matches, but the Pokes proved that in order to take them out in a dual, you’re going to need a massive lead going into those final four weights.

Dean Hamiti Jr. got the ball rolling with a 19-3 technical fall victory against Brody Conley at 174 pounds. Hamiti is super smooth. When the match first started, he momentarily grabbed Conley’s ankle without the two touching anywhere else. It didn’t end in a takedown, but drew a big “Ooooo” from the 8,257 in attendance. Hamiti scored a quintet of takedowns in the win.

Dustin Plott kept the pace, beating Dennis Robin with a 20-4 technical fall in just two periods. That second period alone saw Plott score four takedowns. Combined, Hamiti and Plott recorded 11 takedowns. The Mountaineers scored six takedowns the entire afternoon.

At 197, Luke Surber wrestled a tightly contested match against Ian Bush. Surber was down 3-2 entering the third, a period where he took Bush down and rode him. A riding-time point in the waning seconds earned Surber the victory. So, after trailing 12-11, the Pokes were up 24-12 leading into Hendrickson’s pin.

“In terms of the dual, it was a scrap,” Taylor said. “We found ourselves in some tough matches tonight. It was good for our team to experience that. We’ve got some tough upcoming matches. This is a tough sport. There are no easy days, no off days. I think if you’re gonna wrestle for a program like Oklahoma State, you’re gonna get the best of everybody. You’re gonna get the best of everybody. West Virginia, they were prepared tonight, and they scraped really hard.”

From a rankings standpoint, the match of the night was at 165 pounds, featuring No. 6 Cameron Amine vs. No. 3 Peyton Hall. The two met in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational where Hall got the better of Amine. That happened again Sunday, which the Mountaineer beating the Cowboy 5-1.

To start the dual, Troy Spratley suffered his second consecutive loss when Jett Strickenberger pinned him in the first period. The 125-pound weight class is one that’s tough to be consistent in, but Spratley had climbed up to No. 2 in the national standings before losing to NC State’s Vince Robinson last week. Spratley was at No. 4 entering this match. Despite the back-to-back Ls, Spratley is still 12-3 on the season.

Cael Hughes got the call at 133 pounds, as his battle with Reece Witcraft goes on. Hughes pinned No. 7 Kai Orine in the NC State dual, but he found himself in a scrap with Tommy Maddox, who entered Sunday’s dual at just 1-5 this season. The match went into sudden victory after Maddox scored on a third-period takedown. Hughes looked tired, but he came through in the clutch, scoring a takedown in sudden victory to get the Cowboys on the board.

That led into an eventful first period for Tagen Jamison at 141 pounds. Jamison’s headgear broke early in the match. He went to the corner and tried a few different pairs on before reemerging while someone ran to the locker room to get his backup. He ended up wearing three different pairs of headgear in the first period alone. His opponent, Jordan Titus, was also getting a little handsy. Jamison took a shot to the head before the official blew the whistle to put a stop to things just for Titus to give Jamison a two-hand shove to the chest. That all happened in the first period.

Jamison kept his composure, though, and ended up beating Titus with a 14-4 major decision.

“I’m pretty composed as a person, so it’s not hard,” Jamison said. “But everybody has something in them that they want to shove right back, but you just gotta stay smart and control the match. I feel like that’s what I did.”

Results

Post-Dual News Conference