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On golden anniversary, meet the graduate who gave WVU its ‘Simple Gifts’

It’s not just any song played by the West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band at Milan Puskar Stadium. “Simple Gifts” is a cue that game day is officially underway, a clarion call that pulls the attention of Mountaineer Nation directly to “The Pride of West Virginia” with an arrangement crafted more than five decades ago by alum David McCullough.

WVU student researcher finds a future in the familiar

For West Virginia University undergraduate researcher Kasia Jaczynska, who grew up in Morgantown, “WVU has always felt like home.” Now a senior, she came to the University fascinated by chemistry and the access that discipline gave her to the invisible world of molecules and atoms.

WVU senior’s hands-on experience and family influence guide her path in sport management

Lauren Fitzgerald, a senior from Fanwood, New Jersey, grew up surrounded by sports through her father’s career and her brother’s interest in the field. From her experience with the New Jersey Jackals to her internship with West Virginia University Athletics in Operations and Facilities, she has turned her family’s influence into a foundation for her own career path.

WVU Tech alum running against time

Before he became a national champion or a doctoral candidate, Casey Orndorff was just a high school kid trying to keep up. When he walked onto the campus of West Virginia University Institute of Technology, he had big dreams for his future which now include making the 2028 Summer Paralympics team.

Stronger than a locomotive, mentorship powers WVU student’s krypton research

West Virginia University senior Sam Stalnaker arrived on campus with limited physics knowledge. But thanks to strong mentors and faculty relationships, he’s become a trusted member of the undergraduate physics and astronomy research team and is on his way to reaching his full potential.

Battling stigma, WVU student markets the value of compassion in overdose treatment

After a scholarship enabled Siti Suwanda to leave Indonesia to pursue a degree abroad, she landed in Morgantown thanks, in part, to her fandom for Wonder Woman. The West Virginia University logo reminded her of that superhero’s famous emblem, she said, convincing her to apply to the doctoral program in marketing at the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics.