West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, West Virginia University Potomac State College in Keyser, and clinical campuses for the university's medical school at the Charleston Area Medical Center and Eastern Campus in Martinsburg. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all 55 West Virginia counties.
Enrollment for the fall 2025 semester was 23,532 for the main campus, while enrollment across all three campuses was 26,046. The Morgantown campus offers more than 350 bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs throughout 13 colleges and schools, including the West Virginia's only law and dental schools. Faculty and alumni include 27 Truman Scholars, 53 Goldwater Scholars, 116 Gilman Scholars, 82 Fulbright Scholars, 29 Boren Scholars, and 25 Rhodes Scholars, along with 41 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
History
Establishment
Under the terms of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, the West Virginia Legislature created the "Agricultural College of West Virginia" on February 7, 1867, and the school officially opened on September 2 of the same year. On December 4, 1868, lawmakers renamed the college West Virginia University to represent a broader range of higher education. It's built on the grounds of three former academies, the Monongalia Academy of 1814, the Morgantown Female Academy of 1831, and Woodburn Female Seminary of 1858. Upon its founding, the local newspaper claimed that "a place more eligible for the quiet and successful pursuit of science and literature is nowhere to be found".
The first campus building was constructed in 1870 as University Hall and was renamed Martin Hall in 1889 in honor of West Virginia University's first president, the Rev. Alexander Martin of Scotland. After a fire destroyed the Woodburn Seminary building in 1873, the centerpiece of what is now Woodburn Hall was completed in 1876, under the name New Hall. The name was changed to University Building in 1878 when the College of Law was founded as the first professional school in the state of West Virginia. The precursor to Woodburn Circle was finished in 1893 when Chitwood Hall (then Science Hall) was constructed on the bluff's north side. In 1909 a north wing was added to University Building, and the facility was renamed Woodburn Hall. Throughout the next decade, Woodburn Hall underwent several renovations and additions, including the construction of the south wing and east tower (in 1930) housing the Seth Thomas clock. The three Woodburn Circle buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 1899, the Vance Farm was acquired for the West Virginia University Experiment Station. The Reymann Memorial Farm was given to West Virginia University in 1917 by the family of Anton Reymann of Wheeling in memory of Lawrence A. Reymann. The farm consisting of 990 acres located in Wardensville in Hardy County, comes until the Davis College of Agriculture.
WVU was required to have a Cadet Corps under the terms of the Morrill Act of 1862, which allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges. The United States Department of War—a predecessor of the U.S. Department of Defense—offered military equipment to the university at no charge, forming the basis of the school's Military Tactics department. The heavy military influence led to opposition of female enrollment that lasted through the first decade of the university. The trend changed in 1889 when ten women were allowed to enroll and seek degrees at the university. In June 1891, Harriet Lyon became the first (white) woman to receive a degree from West Virginia University, finishing first in the class ahead of all male students. Lyon's academic success supported the acceptance of women in the university as students and educators.
During the university's early years, daily chapel services and roll call for all students were mandatory, limiting time for student recreation. Following the removal of these obligations, students became active in extracurricular activities and established many of the school's first athletic and student organizations. The first edition of the student newspaper known as the Athenaeum, now The Daily Athenaeum, was published in 1887, and the West Virginia Law Review became the fourth-oldest law review in the United States when it was founded in 1894. In 1897, E. Eva Hubbard (1858–1947) became the first head of WVU's new Department of Art. Of Hubbard's students was renowned Modernist Blanche Lazzell. Phi Kappa Psi was the first fraternity on campus, founded May 23, 1890, while Kappa Delta, the first sorority at WVU, was established in 1899. The first football team was formed in 1891, and the first basketball team appeared in 1903.
Early 20th century
The university's outlook at the turn of the 20th century was optimistic as the school constructed the first library in present-day Stewart Hall in 1902.
The campus welcomed U.S. President William Howard Taft to the campus for WVU President Thomas Hodges's inauguration in 1911. Taft delivered the address "World Wide Speech" from the front porch of Purinton House on November 2, 1911. However, the university's efforts to attract more qualified educators, increase enrollment, and expand the campus was hindered during a period that saw two World Wars and the Great Depression. With a heavy military influence in the university, many students left college to join the army during World War I, and the local ROTC was organized in 1916. Women's involvement in the war efforts at home led to the creation of Women's Hall dormitory, now Stalnaker Hall, in 1918.
Despite its wartime struggles, the university established programs in biology, medicine, journalism, pharmacy, and the first mining program in the nation. In 1918, Oglebay Hall was built to house the expanded agriculture and forestry programs. Additionally, the first dedicated sports facilities were constructed including "The Ark" for basketball in 1918 and the original Mountaineer Field in 1925. Stansbury Hall was built in 1928 and included a new basketball arena named "The Fieldhouse" that held 6,000 spectators. Elizabeth Moore Hall, the woman's physical education building, was also completed in 1928. Men's Hall, the first dormitory built for men on campus, was built in 1935 and was funded in part by the Works Progress Administration. The Mountaineer mascot (based on the mountain man) was adopted during the late 1920s, with an unofficial process to select the Mountaineer through 1936. An official selection process began naming the mascot annually in 1937, with Boyd "Slim" Arnold becoming the first Mountaineer to wear the buckskin uniform.
On March 16, 1922, West Virginia University was issued the state's first radio broadcasting license, for station WHD."New stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1922, page 3. The person primarily responsible for its establishment was Dr. Chauncey W. Waggoner, the head of the physics department."West Vitginia University", Education's Own Stations, S. E. Frost, 1937, pages 454-455. In late April, the projected schedule was announced as evenings, daily from 4 to 6 and 7 to 7:30 p.m., except for Sundays, when the schedule would be 10:45 to noon."To Broadcast Farm News", Shepherdstown Register, April 20, 1922, page 9. The station was mainly used for experimental purposes, and made few entertainment and informational broadcasts. The university soon determined that the cost of running a broadcasting station exceeded its benefits, so WHD's license was allowed to expire, and it was deleted on November 19, 1923."Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1923, page 8. In the early 1930s, a local commercial station, WMMN, established a studio in Morgantown, and assigned a daily 20 minute time slot to the university for its School of the Air programs.
Campus expansion
As male students left for World War II in 1941–42, women became more prominent in the university and surpassed the number of men on campus for the first time in 1943. Soldiers returning from the war qualified for the G.I. Bill and helped increase enrollment to over 8,000 students for the first time but the university's facilities were becoming inadequate to accommodate the surging student population. Preparation for the baby boomer generation and plans for curriculum expansion led to the purchase of land for the Evansdale and Medical campuses. The growth of downtown Morgantown limited the space available on the original campus; the new site was nearly two miles north on what had been farmland. Beginning in the late 1950s the university experienced the most rapid period of growth in its history. In 1957, WVU opened a Medical Center on the new campus and founded the first school of dentistry in West Virginia. The basketball program reached a new level of success when the university admitted future 14‑time NBA All-Star and Hall of Fame player Jerry West, who led the team to the national championship game in 1959. As enrollment approached 14,000 in the 1960s, the university continued expansion plans by building the Evansdale Residential Complex to house approximately 1,800 students, the Mountainlair student union, and several engineering and the creative arts facility on the Evansdale campus. In 1970, the WVU Coliseum, a basketball facility with a capacity of 14,000, opened near the new campus. As the facilities expanded, the university researched ways to move its growing student population across the split campuses and to solve its worsening traffic congestion. The resulting Personal Rapid Transit system opened in 1973 as the world's first automated rapid transit system.
Post-expansion and 21st century
The student population continued to grow in the late 1970s, reaching 22,000. With no room for growth on the downtown campus, the football stadium was closed, and the new Mountaineer Field was opened near the Medical campus on September 6, 1980. Mountaineer Field would later be named Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. After an $8 million donation to the university, Ruby Memorial Hospital opened on the Medical campus in 1988, providing the state's first level-one trauma center. Early the next year, the undefeated Mountaineer football team, led by Major Harris, made it to the national championship game before losing to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
During the 1990s the university developed several recreational activities for students, including FallFest and WVU "Up All Night". While the programs were created to provide safe entertainment for students and to combat WVU's inclusion as one of the nation's top party schools, they also garnered national attention as solutions for reducing alcohol consumption and partying on college campuses across the country.Party Response In 2001, a $34 million, recreation facility opened on the Evansdale campus, providing students with exercise facilities, recreational activities, and personal training programs.
WVU reached a new level of athletic success to start the new millennium. The football team featured a 3‑0 BCS bowl record, ten consecutive bowl game appearances, a #1 ranking in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, three consecutive 11‑win seasons amassing a 33–5 record, 41 consecutive weeks in the top 25, and 6 conference championships. The men's basketball team won the 2007 NIT Championship and the 2010 Big East championship, while appearing four times in the sweet sixteen, twice in the elite-eight, and once in the final-four of the NCAA tournament. The athletic successes brought the university a new level of national exposure, and enrollment has since increased to nearly 30,000 students.