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West Virginia University’s popular “Student Athletes Speak Out” program is getting new support because of a chance note from an alumnus that said, “Carolyn-endow scholarship.” The Dr. Carolyn Atkins Scholarship will provide funds to SASO, which is teaching student athletes the importance of public speaking and sharing personal stories of personal motivation to West Virginia middle schoolers and the Mountaineer community.

According to three West Virginia University experts who research different aspects of climate change, the need for mitigation in hurricane-prone areas is growing, as ocean temperatures rise and hurricanes increase in frequency and intensity. And one of those experts says we have “centuries” of climate change ahead, even if we start preventive measures immediately.

As the U.S. Senate takes up another bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, a West Virginia University health policy expert says states will lose more than $80 billion annually in 2026, a precursor to a combined loss of $300 billion the next year, as the Medicaid expansion is rolled back. Insurance market protections for people with pre-existing conditions and a strict per capita cap on Medicaid payments are also part of the package, according to WVU’s Simon Haeder.

Long-time attorney and law professor Frank Cleckley passed away on August 14. He was the first African-American faculty member at WVU College of Law, and the first full time African-American professor at WVU, and the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. A memorial service for Cleckley will be held Sunday (Sept. 24) at 2 p.m. in the Lyell Clay Concert Theatre at the WVU Creative Arts Center.

As part of West Virginia University’s 150th Birthday celebration and in honor of the University’s status as a land grant institution, artist Hunt Slonem, known for his portrait tributes to President Abraham Lincoln, will visit WVU Thursday through Saturday (Sept. 14-16). Slonem’s work is on display at both Blaney House, home of WVU President Gordon Gee, and at the Art Museum of WVU.

The WVU Student Society of Landscape Architects will participate in PARK(ing) Day, an annual, open-source global event during which landscape architects and other designers transform metered parking spaces into temporary mini-parks, or “parklets,” to promote the importance of urban green spaces. The WVU community and public are invited to stop by and see their unique work.

West Virginia University President Gordon Gee will deliver a State of the University address emphasizing WVU’s commitment to economic security, education and healthcare through a continued focus on innovation and research, local business support, talent expansion and alumni outreach. Gee will also update campus initiatives as well as student, faculty and staff achievements.

As the most powerful storm to ever hit the Atlantic -- Hurricane Irma -- heads toward Florida, emergency management officials are relying on historical data in an attempt to predict the extent of the flooding the state might face. A West Virginia University civil and environmental engineering expert has developed a dynamic model that can predict flooding from rainfall providing a more accurate picture of what could happen across a region.

WVU President Gordon Gee will introduce speakers former U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller and American University President and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Clay Marsh, vice president and executive dean of WVU Health Sciences Center, will open the event with a welcome. Speakers and panelists will discuss progress and challenges related to children’s access to quality, affordable health care around the 20th anniversary of CHIP and the reauthorization of the measure which could occur this month. Discussions will also consider the future of health policy and the delivery of care during a year of potential major policy shifts.

Even as diversity on college campuses becomes more important, life for immigrants who came to the U.S. as children with their undocumented parents became more precarious Tuesday as President Donald Trump announced that he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, according to West Virginia University experts.