Story Pitches

The WVU LaunchLab Network hosts students and alum from West Virginia University’s Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources to participate in some of the world’s most prestigious and largest pitch competitions as they compete for funding opportunities to advance their business ventures, ICONIC EDU, which offers learning kits to bring modern technology into the classroom free of charge. James Carnes, Kyle Gillis, Lynnora Grant and Alan Brockman have been traveling to competitions across the country, having participated in the largest student startup competition at the Rice University Business Plan Qualifier back in February.

The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life has announced a series new initiative aimed at diversity and cultural awareness, academic achievement, personal growth and alumni engagement as part of new community standards known as Reaching the Summit. Reaching the Summit was adopted in 2018 to serve as a strategic plan to better align each Greek organization with the University’s values.

A West Virginia University heirloom seed expert is working to increase access to Appalachia’s heirloom seeds through a new seed preservation library. Mehmet Oztan, a service assistant professor of geography, has created the Morgantown Seed Preservation Library in conjunction with the Morgantown Public Library, WVU Libraries and WVU Food Justice Lab.

Taking inspiration from Robert Frost’s, “Fire and Ice,” and Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” Nick Summerlin, a freshman engineering student at West Virginia University, blends his passion for poetry and photography with his future profession to create a different view of the world.

In a state that sees just 56 percent of its general population go to college, Health Sciences & Technology Academy at West Virginia University students reach the 99 percent mark and a 90 percent graduation rate. For the last 25 years, Ann Chester has led HSTA, a one-of-its-kind program which provides free secondary education opportunities to West Virginia high school students who otherwise would not have the option, or the means, to attend college.

The Office of Graduate Education and Life will host a slate of events during the week of March 25th to celebrate National Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week. The celebration begins Monday at four locations—the Mountainlair, the College of Law, Health Sciences Center and Engineering Sciences Building—with a cake cutting ceremony. Other highlights include self-care workshops, Family Movie Night, and a social event on Saturday evening to close out the week.

The West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities is joining forces with the Brain Injury Association of America and the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators to educate the public about the incidence of brain injury and the needs of people with brain injuries and their families during the month of March as National Brain Injury Awareness Month.

Graduate students at West Virginia University enrolled in a public advocacy course have spent the semester traveling between Morgantown and Charleston, half of them advocating for legislation that would increase access to medical marijuana and industrial and agricultural hemp, and the other half lobbying for the implementation of a state bank which would increase access to loans for small businesses and farmers.

West Virginia University Athletics will celebrate diversity and inclusion at the second annual “iBelong” game, which will welcome people who may have felt excluded from sporting events for a variety of reasons. The “iBelong” game will be held at the women’s basketball game vs. Oklahoma at the WVU Coliseum Saturday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. Participants will receive an “I Belong” t-shirt and free admission to the game for themselves and their families and friends. Gates will open at 2:30 p.m. featuring booths with activities, informational sheets and giveaways.

West Virginia University’s Formula SAE Mountaineer Racing Team, which provides opportunities for students to gain broader insight into the engineering profession, will enhance its mission through a $30,000 award from the DENSO North America Foundation. The grant money will be used to develop an engine powertrain dynamometer testing facility used to test, tune, and enhance the team’s racing engines and transmissions.