THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
4 | YEAR IN REVIEW
Tuesday December 9, 2014
LOOKING BACK ON 2014
By Jacob Bojesson Editor-in-Chief
The year of 2014 at West Virginia University got off to a strong start filled with momentum and ended in tragedies and controversies. The University has actively been pushing to change its image with an ever growing campus and innovative projects for the future, but it also made national headlines for all the wrong reasons. Here are some of the significant events that took place on campus in 2014.
Clements resigns & Gee takes over Nov. 11, 2013
Snow Days Jan. 22
On Monday Nov. 11, 2013 the University announced the departure of WVU’s 23rd President James P. Clements who had accepted an offer to become president at Clemson University in South Carolina. Clements’ departure left WVU with an unknown future as the spring semester was approaching. On Monday Dec. 5, the University announced the appointment of E. Gordon Gee as interim president for the upcoming spring semester. The then 69-year old Utah native had previously served as WVU president in the early ‘80s and was coming off a bad break up with the Ohio State University where he resigned in June, 2013 after making controversial comments against Catholics. Despite admitting that he was in the mindset of retiring, Gee made an instant mark at WVU with a social and outgoing character. If his break up with OSU was bad, his honeymoon with WVU seems to be never ending. He came, he put on a bowtie, he conquered.
The quietest St. Patrick’s Day ever
The winter of 2014 saw record breaking numbers in the Morgantown area. On Wednesday Jan. 22, the University decided to shut down after heavy snowfall. Snow days at WVU are rare and the last time the University had been shut down entirely was in Dec. 2009. A second snow day was added on Monday Feb. 3.
Saint Patrick’s Day weekend is known to be one of the largest party holidays in Morgantown where crime logs peak. The 2014 celebrations saw a significant decrease in all areas of crime. University Police only issued 10 citations and made two DUI arrests during a quiet Saint Patrick’s Day in Morgantown. The numbers can be compared to 2012 when 33 arrests were made and 256 citations were issued.
Michael Garcia of Fairmont, W. Va., was named the 2014-15 Mountaineer Mascot. Garcia was handed the musket from Jonathan Kimble who served two years as Mascot and was the first to wear the buckskin during WVU’s Big 12 era.
Passing of the musket April 11
WVU added 4,300 students to its list of alumni during the 2014 commencement weekend.
Headlined by Kendrick Lamar, Fall Fest 2014 also featured Magic! and Dierks Bentley under grey clouds on the Mountainlair Plaza to kick off the 2014-15 academic year. WVU welcomed just under 5,000 new freshmen for the fall semester. For one of them, Devante Waites, the semester didn’t even begin. Waites was fatally stabbed outside Bent Willey’s nightclub on Thursday Aug. 14.
Nyden takes office
April 5 Student Body President Chris Nyden and Vice President Jake Evans were inaugurated into office, while Ryan Campione and Ben Seebaugh said their goodbyes. Nyden said in his inauguration speech that he wanted to be a voice for students and that he would fight for college affordability. Campione looked back at a successful year in which he was able to complete 70 percent of his master list of 83 projects. Nyden and Evans ran The Trusted Ticket and won a close victory over Farah Famouri and Kartik Motwani of the Launch Party.
Fall begins Aug. 18
May Commencement May 9-11
During his State of the University address, President Gee spoke about what he believes is a bright future for the University. One of the many projects he’s been working on during his first year in Stewart Hall is the expansion of the University to 40,000 students system wide.
WVU beats No. 4 Baylor & Riots ensue
Gee’s State of the University Address
Oct. 18
The expectations for the 2014 WVU Football season were anything but high. Coming off a 4-8 season in 2013, the season opener against then No. 2 Alabama was expected to be long and painful. After scaring the team that would eventually end up as the No. 1 seed in the new playoffs the excitement around the Mountaineers was back. When the undefeated No. 4 Baylor Bears rolled into Morgantown they expected an easy W. The Mountaineers were able to shock the nation with a 41-27 victory. For Baylor, the loss ended up ruining its playoff hopes. For WVU, the victory ended in riots. The night following the upset saw hundreds of students take the streets of Morgantown. At least 37 fires were reported and 14 students were arrested for crimes related to the riots. The University acted immediately by releasing a statement saying students that were found guilty of participating in the riots would be expelled from the University. On Thursday Oct. 26, the University expelled three of the 14 students that were arrested after researching footage and social media accounts. Deonna Gandy and Chris Hickey created the Respectful Mountaineer campaign as an attempt to show the nation how real Mountaineers behave.
Oct. 6
Coming into the college football season, the WVU-TCU week 10 matchup seemed highly unlikely to be the ESPN College GameDay of the week. When the announcement was made that Chris Fowler and his crew would steer their bus to Morgantown, the excitement around campus began to grow. What started as four students’ idea to camp out for the GameDay broadcast turned into what can only be described as a movement of good school spirit, as hundreds of tents filled the Mountainlair Plaza during the week leading up to the game. The game itself ended in a heartbreaker for the ages, but the week shed positive light on WVU when it needed it the most.
College GameDay comes to Morgantown & Tent City is born Oct. 26
WVU freshman Nolan Burch was rushed to the hospital after a “catastrophic medical emergency” on Nov. 12. Burch was pledging the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and was found without a pulse or respiration when law enforcement found him in the fraternity’s house, and he passed away two days later at the age of 18. The Kappa Sigma Fraternity was already suspended at the time of the incident which led to further controversy. Just a week before Burch’s death, the Sigma Chi Fraternity was suspended after 16 intoxicated pledges were charged and three were arrested for underage possession and consumption. Burch’s death proved to be one incident too many and the University put the entire Greek system on a moratorium suspending all Greek activities indefinitely.
Greek Life moratorium Nov. 14