Provost

A champion video game player under the direction of an esports coach of the year is competing for West Virginia University months ahead of the full launch of a new esports minor and Mountaineer esports team. By Fall 2022, students will have the option of pursuing a 15 credit minor in esports, video games played in highly-organized and competitive environments, in person or online across the three campuses — Morgantown, Beckley and Keyser.

Creating space and time for students to discover their life paths, West Virginia University will open the nation’s first Purpose Institute on a college campus, President Gordon Gee announced at his annual State of the University address Monday (Oct. 18) at the College of Law’s Fitzsimmons Event Hall.

Celebrating the impact of collaboration and teamwork, West Virginia University Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Meshea L. Poore encouraged all Mountaineers to be intentional about continuing the important work of making WVU a safe, diverse and welcoming community for all during her annual State of Diversity address on Oct. 12.

In an increasingly digital world, computer science skills are becoming essential in every profession. That’s the message behind a new after-school program for middle-schoolers led by the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

Throughout her 40-plus year career in public education, Donna Hoylman Peduto, executive director of the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative, has found purpose and passion in helping all West Virginia students secure the educational footing to succeed in school and in life.

The latest Clery Act report from West Virginia University for the pandemic year of 2020 showed decreases in reported sexual assaults, domestic violence cases and alcohol-related crimes during a time when the campus population in Morgantown was limited because of COVID-19.

This year’s West Virginia University Campus Read selection, “The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border” by Francisco Cantú, prods readers to consider timely, complex views on migration, law enforcement, politics and more, as Mountaineers continue to take on big issues and ask tough questions.

Establishing a Faculty Justice Network, creating a comprehensive Inclusive Campus website and increasing fundraising aimed at soliciting resources for traditionally underrepresented students are among the new projects at West Virginia University that earned the 2021 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for the sixth consecutive year.

Members of the West Virginia University Board of Governors indicated their support of the administration’s handling thus far of issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic after hearing an update on campus data and protocols from Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop during Friday’s (Sept. 17) meeting.

Through WVU FirstGen, an initiative housed in the Office of Student Success, West Virginia University is doubling down on its commitment to support the more than 4,000 self-identified first-generation undergraduates on Morgantown’s campus.