The secret story of the popular Western Washington University president forced out by a Communist-hating newspaper editor

PERHAPS IT IS the location. Up in the “Fourth Corner” of a state that itself occupies two national margins, news from Whatcom County needs to rank fairly high on the shock meter to attract attention. Accordingly, headlines emanating from Bellingham and its typically even-quieter mainstay, Western Washington University, are few, far between — and often jarring.