Skip to main content

Once/Always
a Mountaineer

Fall 2024 | Cover Story

It's true - our WVU connection is in our nature. Once a Mountaineer. Always a Mountaineer.

 Once a Mountaineer   Always a Mountaineer

Features

Feature

Once a Mountaineer

We’ve cheered them on to great victories and offered support after disappointing losses, hoping for the day we’d see them receive accolades as sports professionals. Most of all, they exemplify what it means to be a Mountaineer.

Read More : Once a Mountaineer
Feature

Always a Mountaineer

West Virginia University alumni are sprinkled throughout our staff and faculty, representing to the students they encounter that the foundation built here can construct a career that gives back to the University and the state.

Read More : Always a Mountaineer
Feature

Book Value

Jayne Anne Phillips (English, ’74) writes about what she knows best — her home state of West Virginia — but the recent Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner feels that being a writer is complicated. She can explain.

Read More : Book Value

Departments

Go Beyond

A Professional Boost with a Personal Twist

How a WVU alumnus' experience abroad as a student shaped a writing career

Read More: A Professional Boost with a Personal Twist
Dream Big

Why You Do the Work

Stephenie Kennedy-Rea wears many hats at WVU’s Cancer Institute.

Read More: Why You Do the Work
Mountaineer Spirit

Goal Keeper

When the much-anticipated Team MVP was announced, the recipient wasn’t the leading scorer or the All-American defender. The members of the team had voted for senior midfielder Amanda Hill to receive the honor.

Read More: Goal Keeper
Keep Going

The Beat Goes On

Since the creation of the WVU Alumni Band more than five decades ago, Ed Gilger (Recreation, ’65), a percussionist, has marched in nearly every Homecoming Parade. And at 83 years old, he plans to continue, finding rejuvenation in the familiar tunes.

Read More: The Beat Goes On
Go Above

MAKING HISTORY IN THE CIA

Andrew Hartsog (History, ’96) didn’t want to just study history, he wanted “to make history.” And make history, he did.

Read More: MAKING HISTORY IN THE CIA
Go First

Paying it Forward

If there’s one thing that has shaped Dr. Zack Koenig’s life, it was his mother’s prescription for success: surround yourself with the people you want to be like. That advice brought him to West Virginia University.

Read More: Paying it Forward
Breakthroughs

POSITIVE DISRUPTION: Rodney Williams and the community of SoLo

Rodney Williams (Economics / Finance, ’06; IMC, ’08) didn’t know exactly what he was getting into when he started SoLo Funds, but he knew that he saw a problem he not only wanted to fix but had the ability to do it.

Read More: POSITIVE DISRUPTION: Rodney Williams and the community of SoLo
The Last Word

The AT of WWE

One West Virginia University alumna can attest to the authenticity of WWE by tending to the broken bones, torn ligaments, sprains, dislocations and any imaginable injury to the bodies of World Wrestling Entertainment superstars.

Read More: The AT of WWE

Successors

Browse all stories from this department.

kelly collins

Fair game: Kelly Collins

It could be argued that Kelly Tuckwiller Collins (’09, ’11, Reed College of Media) grew up at the State Fair of West Virginia. She has been attending the annual August event since before her first memory.

Read More : Fair game: Kelly Collins
underwood

WVU alum flies into storms for science

For six months of the year, the East Coast of the United States braces for “Hurricane Season.” While local officials and meteorologists signal caution to their viewers that may be in areas of danger, WVU graduate Nick Underwood flies directly into them.

Read More : WVU alum flies into storms for science
luke yingling

Grad Helps Attorneys Make the Right Case

Luke Yingling, Law ’22, is blazing his own trail as the founding president and CEO of Analytica Legalis, a technology company that uses artificial intelligence to help attorneys win in court.

Read More : Grad Helps Attorneys Make the Right Case
childers

Author Sarah Beth Childers

Sarah Beth Childers (MFA English, ’09) knew she’d write about her brother’s death soon after he died by suicide in 2012.

Read More : Author Sarah Beth Childers writes ‘Prodigals: A Sister’s Memoir of Appalachia and Loss’

Photos and Media

Browse all photo essays.

Viewfinder

Nothing says “One WVU” like the Flying WV and it’s everywhere on campus in Morgantown, Keyser, Beckley and beyond. We fly it, we wear it, and when we see others wearing it at home and far away, all it takes is a “Let’s Go!” answered by “Mountaineers!”

WVU
Photo Essay

Mountaineer Nation Day

Mountaineer Nation Day is an annual chance for West Virginia University fans to come together while cheering on the Mountaineers — no matter where they're watching from. Images submitted by West Virginia fans around the country.

Read More: Mountaineer Nation Day

Photo Essay

2023: A Look Back

A visual look back at 2023 through the eyes and lenses of our West Virginia University photography staff.

Read More: 2023: A Look Back

Photo Essay

Coal Rush

The West Virginia Mountaineers lost to the No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones, 28-16, but celebrated West Virginia's role in the coal industry with their inaugural Coal Rush.

Read More: Coal Rush

Stay Connected

Subscribe

Subscribe for updates and notification of new issues.

Moments Notice

The WVU Alumni Association wants to stay up-to-date with what's going on in your life! Share your updates or read about others.

WVU Connect

Expand your network or re-connect with classmates.

Join the WVU Alumni Association

Connect with 210,000 alumni worldwide.

the conversation

WVU contributes to and supports The Conversation, an international news source that promotes better understanding of current affairs and complex issues.

WVU on the Conversation

Partners and Sponsors