Marshall University Interim President Gary White speaks with members of the media on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at Marshall University in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Gary White has made countless trips between his native Logan, West Virginia, and Marshall University during his adult life.
One of the first was in 1968, when the 18-year-old Logan High School graduate packed up his Chrysler Plymouth and set off to campus for his first semester of classes.
The most recent trip was much different for the coal mining executive, who moved back onto campus this month to take the helm of the university as its interim president.
For one thing, simply getting to the university was different in 2015 than it was in 1968.
“There’s more parking,” White joked. “I remember when I was chairman of the board When the parking building across from the Henderson Center was built. I stood on that breezeway, and I remember saying that was a particularly important day for me since, when I was a student at Marshall, I parked in Ceredo.”
White’s spirits were equally high and humble during an interview with news organizations Wednesday in the president’s office on the second floor of Old Main on campus.
He talked about growing up in Logan County, his family, his career and his goals for the university for the next six to nine months while he fills the office that was left empty following the death of Dr. Stephen J. Kopp…