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The Daily Athenaeum
WVU’s Independent Student Newspaper
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THURSDAY DECEMBER 6, 2018
WVU Republicans make trip to US Capitol to honor Bush BY JOE SEVERINO NEWS EDITOR A group of WVU College Republicans took a midnight ride to the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday morning to see the nation’s 41st president lie in state. The casket containing the remains of former President George H.W. Bush was on display in the Capitol Rotunda beginning on Monday afternoon, and the former president continued to lie in state until 7 a.m. Wednesday. After WVU canceled classes Wednesday in honor of Bush, some organization members decided to leave Morgantown a little before 1 a.m. to pay their respects to the former president. Riley Keaton, president of the WVU College Republicans, said the group made the trip to honor Bush’s public service. “From a very, very, very young age, George H.W. Bush was a patriot,” Keaton said. In addition to Bush’s presidency, Keaton highlighted Bush’s service as the 11th director of the CIA, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1971 to 1973, his stint as chairman of the Republican National Committee and his service in the Navy during World War II. Bush enlisted on his 18th birthday, and a year later he became one of the youngest pilots in the Navy. In September 1944, Bush’s plane was hit while on a mission, and he was forced to parachute out of the burning plane and into the Pacific Ocean. He was rescued afterward by a U.S. submarine. Keaton said since a lot of current students are probably unfamiliar with Bush’s presidency, memorable events from his life can be forgotten. “People our age don’t really know that he was shot down over the Pacific in World War II,” he said. At the Capitol, Keaton said the scene was memorable. Even at about 4 a.m., when the group arrived at the casket, the Rotunda was filled with hundreds of people.
“When he looked at America, he saw 1,000 points of light, of families and churches and communities and businesses, the kind of civil society conservatism that got the United States where it is today,” -Riley Keaton, president of WVU College Republicans
PHOTO VIA RILEY KEATON
WVU College Republicans, from left to right, Joey Georgy, Taylor Giles, Nathan Burdette, Riley Keaton, Jessica Dobrinsky, Kennedy Roberts and Derek Rader, in Washington D.C. Keaton said just walking in and out of the Rotunda was an amazing experience. “You enter the room next to the statue of Ronald Reagan, and you exit the room next to the statue of Abraham Lincoln, and in between is where you pay respect to the kind of giant person that [Bush was],” he said. “Seeing someone like that lie in state reminds you what makes a person significant more than the body we live in,” he added. “It makes you think a little bit more deeply about the soul and about what makes someone who they are.” One of Bush’s most memorable speeches, where he likened America’s volunteerism and charitable
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spirit to 1,000 points of light, still resonates with the organization. “When he looked at America, he saw 1,000 points of light, of families and churches and communities and businesses, the kind of civil society conservatism that got the United States where it is today,” Keaton said. The group returned to Morgantown around 10 a.m. Wednesday, Keaton said. On Wednesday, a national day of mourning for the 41st president, Keaton wanted to recognize how Bush carried himself throughout his life and the legacy he leaves behind. “All of it while being not braggadocious, not too much of a personality,” he said.
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The DA’s most influential: See pages 3, 4, 5 and 6 for full coverage of this year’s most influential Mountaineers.
Charles Hayes The man who inspires through dance BY RACHEL JOHNSON ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR Anyone who has been to a WVU football game this season has seen Charles Hayes, better known as ‘the dancing guy’. It never fails. Every game the dance cam pans to his section. He always manages to hype up the stadium, no matter the score. Hayes’ first WVU game was the Texas Tech game last year. He had friends who were season ticket holders. They invited him and his wife to the game. WVU was down in the third quarter when the Geico dance cam panned to section 128 where Hayes was sitting. Hayes knew what it took to get on the dance cam, and with the encouragement of his wife and others in the section, he began to dance. “If I can support the Mountaineers with a little boost of dance I will gladly do it every single time,” Hayes said. Hayes went to every home game this year, as well as the WVU vs. Tennessee game in Charlotte. Hayes said camera time is not his main goal. “My main goal is to support the Mountaineers,” he said. Next season, he wants the student section to be sold out every game to back up the team. Hayes was born in Florida and lived in Maryland. He graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, where he received a degree in education. Hayes teaches special education at a middle school in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He grew up with a learning disability and wanted to help others reach their full potential. It was in seventh grade that he was encouraged to become a teacher. He said he tries to incorporate music and dancing in his classroom. “Dancing is one of those things where I feel the beat and
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY CHARLES HAYES
Charles Hayes with his wife, Haley at a football game. I get going,” Hayes said. “I love it that way.” Hayes’ fame reaches outside of Milan Puskar Stadium. He has gained many followers on his social media accounts. Hayes said it’s cool that he has more followers, and he tries to promote positivity. His Instagram and Twitter handles are _oneone6_ after his favorite Bible verse, Romans 1:16. Hayes also tries to use his platform to promote MountaineerThon, a dance marathon that raises money for the children’s hospital at WVU. After learning about the MountaineerThon, Hayes decided to go a step further and started a dance marathon at the middle school he works at. In their first year, they raised more than $2,000. It is clear that through his positive spirit and fun dance moves Hayes has been influential to WVU.