WVUToday on the Radio

Shauna Johnson: This is West Virginia University.

Speaker 4: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Shauna Johnson: Now in use, the new Pride Practice Facility, the home of the Mountaineer Marching Band, located next to the med fields on the health sciences area of campus. Drum major Michaela McNair, a junior psychology and biology major from Chesapeake, Virginia is a fan.

Michaela McNair: It really does feel different. You're not on hot asphalt anymore. You are performing and practicing as you would actually perform during the real thing. So it makes you more capable, I want to say. Completely performing at your max level because you're so used to this type of field and it really does benefit the band.

Shauna Johnson: The new practice field includes turf with markings that match Mountaineer Field at Milan Pushkar Stadium. The tower has been relocated and when it gets dark, for the first time band members can rehearse under lights.

Scott Tobias: It's been a huge game changer for us. The morale is high. Energy is high. The students are extremely excited.

Shauna Johnson: Scott Tobias is the director of bands in the College of Creative Arts and Media School of Music.

Scott Tobias: The band members have always known how much they are beloved around the state, the region, the fans, the supporters have always shown that. This field and this facility is a tangible showing of that, and I think that's exactly what they needed to go along with what they already knew was true.

Shauna Johnson: Up next, phase two of the project, which includes construction of a climate controlled building, with a covered pavilion to follow in phase three. So far, members of the university community have given upwards of $1.6 million to the project.

Speaker 4: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.

Scott Tobias: I've had the pleasure of working in other states at other universities over the last three decades, and I can say that I've never seen anywhere the level of support or love for a band program that I've seen in this state. That is something that we can say thank you over and over again, but I don't know if that truly ever is enough to express how grateful we are for what they've done for us and continue to do for us.

Shauna Johnson: McNair echoes those thanks.

Michaela McNair: It kind of makes it very surreal and it makes you open your eyes at how grateful you have to be to be able to experience something of this magnitude. So it just really keeps me pushing to keep doing my ultimate best for this band.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: This is West Virginia University. That rallying cry is at the heart of the university's brand.

Tony Dobies: It is just so uniquely us that you feel it every day whenever you wake up, put on your gold and blue. You feel that atmosphere. That is what being a Mountaineer is like, and that's what our branch represents.

Shauna Johnson: Tony Dobies serves as assistant vice president for marketing and branch strategy within strategic communications and marketing. To refresh the WVU brand he's been working with his team and in collaboration with other campus partners to tap into the university's personality.

Tony Dobies: WVU is a combination of so many things, and that's what really makes us special. We have an in-state impact at the university within the state of West Virginia that most states could never even think of happening. We have some really intriguing research that's happening at this university that isn't happening anywhere else either, whether it's neuroscience, whether it's forensics, whether it's with robotics, we are doing big things here, and at the same time, what makes us uniquely Mountaineers is that we have some warmth and we have fun while we're doing all of those things, and that's what makes us different.

Shauna Johnson: He says, "When people see the flying WVU, when they hear let's go, when they don their golden blue, more than anything, they should be proud."

Tony Dobies: I want them to see how they think about WVU every day. It should feel so natural to them, whether they have been a student here or they've been a fan at football games. What they see and feel from our brand moving forward should just be uniquely WVU. And it's an exciting time here at the university with the new president, with this new brand refresh, with new football coach and all the things that are happening here. This place is moving in the right direction and we're really excited about it.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: This is West Virginia University.

Mike: Hi, I am Mike.

Shauna Johnson: Mike is Michael T. Benson, the university's 27th president and a faculty member in the Department of History. On the job since July, he's getting to know West Virginia and West Virginia's University through the people who found the place they belong here.

Mike: Time and again, it just brings it home even more powerfully that this is a place that really matters and makes a difference in the lives of people. It could be through our 55 extension offices. It could be through our WU medicine system. It could be through the affinity that people have for our sports programs. This university is the most important organization in the state of West Virginia. We're the largest employer. We have the largest reach. We have the boldest, grandest responsibility and vision.

Shauna Johnson: Tapping into his three decades of academic and administrative experience in higher education, including four previous presidencies. Benson says he'll lead by example.

Mike: By being accessible, by just being me, being open, I'm not going to take myself too seriously, but the work I do is very, very serious and I'm going to enjoy it. I love being around students. I love being at the university where I'm surrounded by subject matter experts, so well-versed and educated in their respective fields, their disciplines, but I really want to enjoy it and have fun and promote a vibrant, forward-facing, aggressive, bold vision for the future.

Shauna Johnson: That vision will build on a well-known rallying cry for Mountaineer Nation.

Mike: I love saying, "Let's go." I absolutely love it. It's a cheer, but it suggests so much more. As my mom said, "Shoulders back, chin up." Let's go.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at Wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. We're celebrating the class of 2025, the newest members of the Mountaineer Alumni family.

Mackenzie Early: My name is Mackenzie Early. I am from Martinsburg, West Virginia, and I am graduating with a degree in psychology and a degree in criminology. My sophomore and junior year of my classes, I was about to give up because I was like, I can't pass these classes. I thought about everything and I was like, how would my family feel with this if I would leave? What would happen to me in the future? I studied, I was able to finally pass the classes that I needed to get and to finish my degrees. You're very welcomed here, and it's kind of like a family.

Emily Wechner: My name is Emily Wechner. I am majoring in sports and adventure media with an emphasis and adventure, and I'm from Parkersburg, West Virginia. One of the biggest things that I will remember is meeting my husband here and going through school together and just having each other side by side, just to go through it together. I just love being a Mountaineer. I'm a Mountaineer at heart and I will always carry that with me.

Shauna Johnson: Keegan Mallory is a game design and interactive media major from Cape and Bridge.

Keegan Mallory: I plan to stay with the studio, MonRiverGames here at the university. It's a wonderful platform for me to keep continuing game development and any facet of marketing and design and anything you could ask for. So I'm going to stay and work with them and see if I can get an internship or a job at a big studio, or a little one, and move out west or to New York, or wherever it takes me.

Riley Norman: My name is Riley Norman and I'm from Lewisburg, West Virginia. I'm currently a senior and my major is management information systems. I had no idea what I wanted to do as a freshman. I kind of had an idea just because I really liked technology and all the things that you can do with that, but I had no idea about the potential job paths that West Virginia University would bring me. Everyone is just so kind and welcoming, and I've always felt like that I had a place here, so it's comforting to come this far from home, but still feel at home.

Katie Short: My name is Katie Short. I'm an advertising and public relations major from Cowan, West Virginia. I want to make people's voices heard. I think throughout all of the classes I've had, that's been one thing that's really underlined in my education, that the purpose of this is to uplift the voices that are not heard and bring light to the issues that people don't usually pay attention to. So wherever I'm at, I hope I'm doing that. Having the time to dedicate your life to just education, this phase of my life is a privilege, and something I hope I can continue on later, I can pursue again. There are so many incredible people here, you just have to look for them, and I loved my time and everybody I met.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go, follow our stories at Wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. After leading higher education institutions for more than 44 years, including WVU two separate times, the coming months will be the last in the role of university president for the legendary, Gordon Gee.

Gordon Gee: I always loved West Virginia, that's the reason I returned. It's just a very special place.

Shauna Johnson: Gee came home to West Virginia's University in 2014, the place where he was first named president in 1981.

Gordon Gee: I've always felt very comfortable in my own shoes. I've always felt comfortable doing what I'm doing. I love what I do. I've never felt exhausted or I've never felt put upon. We've had enormous opportunities, enormous challenges, and sometimes a little hand-to-hand combat, but it's been a very energizing 45 years for me.

Shauna Johnson: It's that energy he says that makes him want to keep going.

Gordon Gee: I don't think anyone ever feels like they're quite ready to go. It's time, though. I was joking with someone the other day that all of a sudden I'm experiencing something I've never experienced before, and that is that I'm growing old. I don't feel that way, but I think that the timing is perfect for me. We've got a great new president coming in. University is in a very strong financial, social, cultural position, I believe, particularly given all of the things that are going on in the world, we are kind of a calming in a sea of turmoil right now.

Shauna Johnson: Gee counts the university's massive expansions in education and health care, along with its growing role as an economic engine for all of West Virginia among his greatest accomplishments. Above all, though, he says the university is its people, its faculty, staff, alumni, and students.

Gordon Gee: One of the characteristics of the West Virginia student body is the fact they love the place. There's just a real connection between the culture of the institution and the culture of our students, and both, I think, coincide to make it such a much better place.

Shauna Johnson: As he prepares to congratulate graduates during his final commencement ceremonies, the self-described happy warrior says he wants his legacy as president to be a university that encourages people to pursue their passions and their purpose.

Gordon Gee: Right to the end I'll be fighting to make certain that we continue to advance the institution.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. To create a more environmentally friendly future, WVU is committing to a comprehensive set of more than 20 sustainability goals outlining a roadmap for significant campus environmental improvements. Traci Knabenshue is the university's Sustainability Director.

Traci Knabenshue: The goals are looking at a 10-year timeline, so from now through fiscal year 2035, and it says, we're heading to a place where we are conserving more energy and looking closely at how energy that we are buying and consuming is being produced, making sure that we keep sustainability top of mind as we are doing the things that we need to do as a university.

Shauna Johnson: The goals designed to be aspirational and achievable follow a full analysis of best practices at peer institutions and reflect extensive campus collaboration and feedback.

Traci Knabenshue: We have; reducing waste, protecting land and water, and lowering emissions. We have about 23 goals in those three categories. Every year with these goals, we'll be tracking a key measurement for each one of them. So anytime you want to see how we're doing meeting a certain goal, you can go and find that information.

Shauna Johnson: Knabenshue sees these sustainability goals as an opportunity.

Traci Knabenshue: It's an opportunity for our faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members, to know where we're heading with sustainability, to rally around specific priorities. It's also a way that we can give tangibility to some of the sustainability areas that are a little harder to see.

Shauna Johnson: The established goals for the Morgantown campus are being used to aid development of campus specific goals at WVU Potomac State College and WVU Institute of Technology.

Traci Knabenshue: We're doing pretty well in a lot of areas, but we know we have a lot more that we can do. So that's what these goals are about, is incorporating those three pillars of environmental performance, what's good for faculty, staff, and students when they're here on campus, and then our financial bottom line to move the needle more.

Shauna Johnson: Find more information about the university's sustainability goals at sustainability.wvu.edu.

Traci Knabenshue: We're the flagship institution in West Virginia, so it's important for us to live what we are teaching and imparting to our students.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. One of this year's five inductees into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni is Laura J. Wood, a 1977 graduate of the WVU School of Nursing. Now executive Vice President of Patient Care Operations, System Chief Nurse Executive and Sporing Carpenter Chair for Nursing at Boston Children's Hospital, she serves as an example of the best of West Virginia's University.

Laura J. Wood: I share about the people of West Virginia, I share about the work ethic, I share about the values, it shaped who I was. And it was different, I had lived in several places around the country and when I came here, I felt like I saw the best of humanity.

Speaker 1: Wood's progressive healthcare leadership contributions span three renowned academic health systems, including Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Ties though still bind her to WVU, especially through friends she made as a student.

Laura J. Wood: We really formed close bonds. We helped each other academically, but being a nursing student is really a challenge in terms of evolving yourself personally and emotionally. You see death often for the first time. You see very poignant situations, people and families in really strained and difficult situations. And so we've formed incredible bonds being in these novel situations with one another. And many of these are lifelong friendships now that go back more than 50 years.

Speaker 1: Her advice for today's nursing students.

Laura J. Wood: Just keep swimming. That's one of my mantras that I say to myself. Because being a nurse is not easy, the conditions are not always easy. Lots of staffing challenges have existed since I started as a nurse. But just healthcare in general is very demanding, both physically and emotionally. I think you have to have endurance in you, but the rewards are huge. I've had so many opportunities and my life was changed by being around other people who were mission-centric and who cared about people and having an impact in their health and in their lives.

Speaker 1: Wood was recognized earlier this year with other Academy of Distinguished Alumni members, Linda Arnold, Luke Frazier, Sharon Burmeister Lord, and Diana Murphy. So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. University Alumni and Friends will come together March 26th for the 8th WVU Day of Giving, the annual 24-hour fundraising effort organized by the WVU Foundation. Will Green is the Foundation's Senior Vice President of Development and Chief Development Officer.

Will Green: When I think of WVU Day of Giving, I think less about the importance to WVU itself or WVU medicine, and more about what it means for our ability to help others. For our ability to create access to a college education for students in West Virginia, embark on groundbreaking research and provide great clinical care to our patients.

Shauna Johnson: All areas of the university will benefit from gifts during Day of Giving, including student programs, infrastructure, athletics, and more.

Will Green: Scholarships are always in great need. A big part of our mission as a state university and the state university and land-grant University of West Virginia is to provide access to a college education for all students in West Virginia. Providing dollars that help students do that, that provide access to that college education is really important, and that can be by giving to unrestricted scholarship funds, scholarship funds in a certain area, or supporting the new WVU guarantee that was announced by the university back in January.

Shauna Johnson: More than 36,000 gifts have been made on WVU Day of Giving since its launch in 2017, raising more than $96 million.

Will Green: It's really about what these dollars allow us to do for others, to help others, to help first generation college students who may or may not otherwise have an access to a college education to provide great clinical care to patients who otherwise may not be able to access that and research groundbreaking research in a number of areas that are really going to help people around the world.

Shauna Johnson: Find more information about hourly and all-day challenges during Day of Giving on March 26, and give a gift online at dayofgiving.wvu.edu.

Will Green: There's a lot of ways that people can get involved with Day of Giving. It is fun. There are a number of challenges that people can really help to rally for areas and causes that mean something to them.

Shauna Johnson: Let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. Meet the 71st Mountaineer mascot.

Cade Kincaid: My name is Cade Kincaid. I'm a junior accounting major, and I'm from Fayetteville, West Virginia.

Shauna Johnson: A lifelong Mountaineer fan, Kincaid is now donning the Buckskins to represent the university and the entire state.

Cade Kincaid: From four to 20 I was a Mountaineer fan. In the past two years, it really dawned upon me that if I were to take this role, that I could really make a change and really influence some people and influence our state in a good way.

Shauna Johnson: A member of the Honors College, Kincaid serves as a peer mentor and ambassador for the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.

Cade Kincaid: The thing I like best about WVU is how inclusive it is. It's really been a great opportunity to me. I came from a really small high school. I came here with one other student that I graduated with, and I didn't know what to expect. They've done nothing but welcome me and help me succeed. I've had a great time while I'm here. And then at the same time, I've really developed as a person, and I feel like it's all due to this university.

Shauna Johnson: Kincaid's parents are WVU graduates, so is his sister. He counts cheering on the Mountaineers against Pitt as the student of the week, alongside his dad as his favorite Mountaineer memory so far.

Cade Kincaid: This university means a whole lot to me and my family as well as this whole state. Just being a part of it and then being able to share that with my dad is pretty awesome.

Shauna Johnson: Now his dad, his friends and family, and gold and blue fans everywhere will be cheering for him as he helps bring on the Mountaineers.

Cade Kincaid: Mountaineers are people that climb for fun or for sport, and I think that figuratively, we climb mountains every day at WVU. We try to become better every single day. And once we get to that peak of that mountain, we're not going to stop. We're just going to keep going until we make this university and state as good as we want it to be.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University Mountaineers go first. Now open to students on the downtown area of campus as part of the Foundational STEM Collaborative, the STEM Learning Center offering drop-in and appointment-based academic assistance study space and more for all majors.

Stephanie Young: The goal is to make sure that WVU students can be as successful as possible in STEM, whether that's a STEM major or a STEM course. We are here to support students, especially in their first two years.

Shauna Johnson: Stephanie Young, a teaching professor in the Department of Biology, is the director of what is a hub for all foundational university STEM courses required by more than 47 science focused undergraduate degree programs.

Stephanie Young: Part of the Foundational STEM Collaborative is devoted to working with our students, but we also are making a community of our STEM professors within Eberly College so that we can support one another, learn from one another, and do what we need to do to collaborate to make the student experience better.

Shauna Johnson: In its second semester, the STEM Learning Center's team works collaboratively with students and faculty members selecting learning consultants from each Eberly college department and responding to specific course needs.

Stephanie Young: We are here to serve all students in our introductory STEM classes, not just those. Within Eberly College, we welcome all students to join us for learning consultations, for workshops, and for any other types of social events that we offer. We are here to help.

Shauna Johnson: Here to help in Young's words, the whole student.

Stephanie Young: I have always loved working with students. I, in the biology department, work mainly with freshmen, and I appreciate that half of my job is to teach biology, and half of my job is to teach students how to college. So in this position, I have the opportunity to not only work with students in my biology classes, but students across the university.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. Being recognized for exceptional research activity, West Virginia University has once again been reaffirmed as an R-1 University, the highest possible research ranking from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fred King is the university's vice president for research.

Fred King: The Carnegie classification looks at the overall research productivity of higher education institutions. And so for WVU what it means is that we're being classified as one of the leading research institutions in the United States.

Shauna Johnson: One of the leading institutions, producing research, providing hands-on learning, and propelling graduate and undergraduate students into meaningful careers to solve real-world problems.

Fred King: Because we're the state's Premier Land-Grant University, we have all the disciplines here really. So that means that students can work up at health sciences, they could do fundamental neuroscience work, they can work over in astrophysics utilizing the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. They have a range of opportunities to use modern equipment to work with leaders in the field that you just can't duplicate at other kinds of institutions beyond the R-1.

Shauna Johnson: As the only R-1 university in the mountain state, WVU is an economic driver, contributing nearly $5 billion to the region's economy each year while serving students along with West Virginia, the country, and the world.

Fred King: Research is part and parcel of what we do, both in terms of education and in terms of service. Those are our missions as a land-grant, research, service, teaching. And I think at the end of the day, everyone at West Virginia University understands that everything we do is about the student, and how we can best prepare the student, so once they leave the university, they have a very successful life, and are afforded opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have been afforded.

Shauna Johnson: So let's, go follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. Support for international university students is available through the HomeStart Closet; an initiative that provides care packages full of items needed to live in residence halls or rental spaces to students arriving in Morgantown from all around the world.

Skylar Braithwaite: Any international student who's a current student at WVU would qualify.

Shauna Johnson: Campus and Community Life Assistant Director, Skylar Braithwaite, says most international students travel in with only the items they can fit in a couple of suitcases.

Skylar Braithwaite: The closet fills that gap to make sure that they have the items they need in order to be successful and be able to focus on their academics.

Shauna Johnson: To operate, the International HomeStart Closet relies on donations from local partners, community members, and alumni, including graduates who used the HomeStart closet as students.

Skylar Braithwaite: We want to make sure that they specifically have access to the resources that they need, because they shouldn't be focusing on, "Okay, I don't have bedding. I don't have plates and cups to eat off of." And then not be able to be successful in their courses because of that.

Shauna Johnson: The most popular items?

Skylar Braithwaite: Definitely bedding; pillows, pillowcases, sheets. Twin XL is the big one. That is all what the residence halls use. Comforters, blankets. Second after bedding is toiletry items; towels, washcloths. And then we can also supply kitchen supplies.

Shauna Johnson: Find out more at campuslife.wvu.edu.

Skylar Braithwaite: Making sure that the international students feel WVU is there for them and understands that there is a resource specifically for them and make sure that they feel supported by the university, I think that's important.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. A new year is bringing new benefits to members of the WVU Alumni Association with discounted membership rates now available for the Student Rec Center.

Andy Darling: We've pretty much got the whole gamut for indoor recreation and fitness.

Shauna Johnson: Andy Darling is the Director of Campus Recreation.

Andy Darling: Part of our mission is to serve the campus community. By definition, that's students first and foremost. They're the biggest portion of that population. It serves them indirectly as well to have a healthy and engaged employee population, as well as those that are really passionate about WVU, and our alumni really fit that bill.

Shauna Johnson: Located on the Evansdale area of campus, the Student Rec Center has been serving the university community for nearly 25 years.

Andy Darling: For many students, I think of it as their third place. If they're not in class or they're not in their apartment or their residence hall, this is the place where they find their outlets for recreation and social connection. For many of them, they find us.

Shauna Johnson: Now, those indoor fitness opportunities are being extended to members of the WVU Alumni Association, their partners, and dependents with specially priced options covering different timeframes. Details are available online at campusrecreation.wvu.edu.

Andy Darling: We pretty much have it all. So whether it's our 17,000 feet of weight and fitness space, or indoor track, or the indoor pools with our lap pools and our 20-person spa, 50-foot tall indoor climbing wall, we've got really a lot of opportunities for folks regardless of whether they're looking for a place to recreate, general activity, or if they're looking for a place to exercise and work out.

Shauna Johnson: All while being actively involved in the university community. So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.