From future engineers and educators to researchers, artists and health care leaders, the newest graduates of West Virginia University are ready to carry the Mountaineer spirit into communities across the state and beyond. Meet members of the Class of 2026 whose stories reflect the determination, resilience and purpose that define the WVU experience.
Corinne Hazel, a soon-to-be environmental microbiology graduate from the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, reflects on her time at WVU as she gears up for a big move across the pond to start her doctoral degree in plant sciences at the University of Cambridge in England.
For West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources graduating senior Zach Taylor, his decision to pursue a dual major in computer and electrical engineering was a risky choice considering his red-green color deficiency diagnosis. He excelled anyway.
For Fairmont native Shannon McAtee, helping shape some of the most meaningful moments at West Virginia University is all in a day’s work. As senior coordinator in the WVU University Events office, McAtee helps plan and execute many of the University’s most visible gatherings — from presidential events and donor dinners to the carefully choreographed celebrations of Commencement.
West Virginia University Institute of Technology graduate Alexis Sexton is ready to take on the engineering world, a graduate program and an assistantship at Virginia Tech thanks to connections she’s built during her time in Beckley.
From the Utah Valley to the mountains of West Virginia, Hayley Trotter is a non-traditional undergraduate student at West Virginia University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies in the Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She's also a mom working to be a living example for her children that education is an important part of life, no matter what stage you decide to pursue it.
West Virginia University Foundation Scholar Laya Chennuru will graduate May 17 with dual bachelor’s degrees in neuroscience and psychology, leaving campus as a “Mountaineer for life.” She said her time in Morgantown was rich with opportunities to learn, to serve others, to lead and to make countless memories.
Graduating May 17, members of the West Virginia University Literacy Fellows cohort are earning their master’s degrees in literacy education at the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences and completing a new approach to professional learning. Many have called the experience “transformational” for how their students are learning to read and write.
Paige Bradley, a senior graduating from the West Virginia University School of Nursing during Commencement on May 15, said a combination of things drew her to nursing including a heart for serving others, deep faith, and her “Nana” who was her best friend growing up and who she helped care for when she was sick.
Carl Smith is a man who believes in starting what he finishes. He never finished college. It’s the one project he never completed. And it didn’t sit well with the now-83-year-old. After 65 years, all that will change as he earns his degree and attends the 2026 Commencement ceremony at West Virginia University Potomac State College.