West Virginia University supporters donated more than $500,000 for students Tuesday (May 5) during #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving and unity created to help meet the unprecedented need caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Gordon Gee sent a letter Thursday (April 23) to the West Virginia University campus community calling on Mountaineers to “stay the course and take pride in knowing that we are adapting in ways we never thought possible.”
The gift from Dr. and Mrs. John Mikita, of Hilton Head, S.C., will support a general radiology room on the hospital’s fourth floor, a diagnostic hub that will also house laboratory, CT, MRI, ultrasound and other imaging resources. The general radiology room will be named for the Mikitas in recognition of their gift.
The purchase, coordinated through the West Virginia University Health System, includes 1,149,000 procedural masks, 163,025 surgical masks, 116,120 N95 respirators, 290,180 disposable gowns, 29,400 pairs of protective eyewear (goggles and glasses), and 40,000 disposable suits.
A fashion designer stops creating clothing and turns her skills into making surgical masks. Cloth that might have been the mask for the Phantom of the Opera, instead is headed to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital to become a mask that protects a health care worker in the fight against COVID-19. This, and more, is how West Virginia University is putting skills and resources from its entire campus to battle the pandemic which has killed thousands worldwide.
West Virginia University will hold a “virtual commencement experience” for graduates in May, then have an in-person celebration in December, the school announced March 25.
West Virginia University and its divisional campuses in Keyser and Beckley will extend alternative delivery of classes through the rest of the semester in response to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Additionally, all employees – except for those needed to keep online operations running and a select few others – must work from home, and residence halls will remain shuttered.
Taped last fall, a group of WVU Extension Service 4-H’ers from Ohio County in West Virginia’s northern panhandle traveled to WVU Jackson’s Mill to film an episode of Barnwood Builders. That episode will air Sunday (March 22) at 9 p.m. (EST) on the DIY Network.
Due to the ongoing developments related to COVID-19, the Big 12 Conference announced March 13 that all conference and nonconference competitions are canceled through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year. As a result, the Mountaineer Ticket Office will be issuing full refunds to all fans who purchased tickets through the Mountaineer Ticket Office for the impacted WVU events.
West Virginia University will temporarily suspend in-person classes the week following spring break then offer online class instruction or other alternative learning options beginning March 30 as it continues to monitor the threat of novel coronavirus. All other online-only classes will continue as originally scheduled.