Selected based on an essay and letters of recommendation, West Virginia University students Tysa James, Janelle LaBarbera, Cheyenne Torres and Gabrielle Williams are the recipients of the prestigious 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. The awards were announced during the MLK Unity Breakfast.
Through her professional career, personal experiences and community-based activities, Yvonne Shaw, a native of England and current graduate student in the West Virginia University population health master’s program, is working to make an impact in West Virginia by increasing access to health care.
Lauren Dysart grew up in Elkview, but West Virginia University was always familiar to her because she spent many weekends in Morgantown embracing the Mountaineer spirit. While the senior marketing major stays busy balancing academics and other extracurricular activities, she considers her role in helping co-found the Country Line Dancing Club one of her proudest accomplishments at WVU.
Charleston native Andrea Elkins always dreamed of attending college, but traditional admissions requirements, especially standardized testing, presented a barrier for the differently-abled adult, as she describes herself. That was until West Virginia University became the first public higher education institution in the Mountain State to temporarily, then permanently adopt a test-optional admissions policy.
All the world’s a stage, and West Virginia University John Chambers College of Business and Economics entrepreneurship and innovation major Bella Randle is on her way to being a major player.
For Joseph Watkins, working in a lab and pursuing a career in the field of pathology have been goals since high school. The West Virginia University School of Medicine provides a path into the in-demand profession of histotechnology with one of only 11 programs offered in the United States. After graduation, Watkins said he hopes to earn his histotechnologist certification before beginning the WVU Pathologists’ Assistant program.
Mannon Gallegly died Jan. 7 at the age of 101, but not before making a huge impact on the Mountain State. Read about the legacy he left behind, including improvements to tomato crops for generations of farmers and growers. A memorial service for Gallegly will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 18) at Wesley United Methodist Church in Morgantown.
Despite having big plans and a clear vision, college hasn’t always been easy for Faith Marino, a senior in the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. But after she graduates in May, she now has her sights set on law school and pursuing a career in intellectual property law.
Mary Lu Adams has always been someone who embraces challenges, but even she couldn’t have anticipated the obstacles she would face in her pursuit of a new career. Now a graduate student in the West Virginia University College of Applied Human Sciences counseling program, Adams’ journey is marked by resilience, courage and a determination to finish what she started.
This year, West Virginia University Strategic Communications and Marketing teams traveled West Virginia with “Let's go” flags in hand to celebrate the beauty of the state and the people who proudly wave the Flying WV. The ends of trails, the tops of mountains, the streams and the scenes that make this state special — those were the destinations around the state we wanted to highlight with West Virginians in the middle of them.