WVU Stories

12/20/2025

Cue Country Roads is Charles Wesley Godwin’s love letter to West Virginia University, a tribute to the iconic postgame ritual we know by heart.

The Morgantown native enrolled at WVU in 2010 as a finance major and dreamed of playing football for the old gold and blue. He picked up a guitar as a hobby. That hobby quickly became a calling.

Now, his anthem echoes through the same stadiums where he once hoped to take the field, as he tours the world alongside a crew featuring fellow Mountaineers.

Charles Wesley Godwin’s journey shows that sometimes the road to dreams winds a little, like those county roads he sings about.

Follow his story and see how those roads led him right back to WVU on WVU Stories

There is something ethereal about the moment you hear it. A clean, simple-chord progression carrying a gentle, country twang. “Almost heaven …” Arms lift. Mountaineers-for-life beam with pride. Strangers link shoulders. Players sway in unison. In Morgantown, victory doesn’t end with a whistl...

12/19/2025

Over 20% of undergraduate students at WVU identify as first-generation college students.

"For a lot of students coming in as first-generation, it's intimidating. It's scary. I want to show people that it's possible and it's especially doable at WVU because there's a lot of support," says Alexis Cipoletti.

Cipoletti arrived at WVU unsure if she belonged. Now, she's graduating with a degree in exercise physiology and heading straight into the physician assistant graduate program.

Read more about how West Virginia University supports first-gen Mountaineers build a foundation and follow their dreams on WVU Stories 💛💙

Alexis Cipoletti’s fears of attending college as a first-generation student from a rural West Virginia community evaporated when she toured West Virginia University as a high school student. Now ready to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in exercise physi

12/17/2025

Fifty years after a 13-10 Peach Bowl victory, the Bowden-era Mountaineers reunited this fall.

Some teammates returned to campus for the first time since they walked off the field. Others were remembered through stories, photos and shared laughter. Together, they told a story larger than a single game, of a team forever etched into WVU lore

WVU historian John Antonik reflects on a team and the memories. Read his full story and explore more about Antonik’s book, Almost Heaven, on WVU Stories.

Members of the Bobby Bowden-era WVU Mountaineer football teams reunited some 50 years after the 1975 Peach Bowl victory.

12/16/2025

Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes at major soccer matches? ⚽

While fans fill stadiums to watch Team USA, WVU sports management alum John Terry is watching days of prior work unfold. As Vice President of Events at U.S. Soccer, he and his team handle everything in the arena from equipment to ticketing and even fireworks.

"In a perfect world, by the time the game rolls around, we're really bored because we've done everything in the preparation," says Terry.

Read more about how this Mountaineer keeps the ball rolling for U.S. Soccer on WVU Stories.

West Virginia University alum John Terry started with a sport management degree and now works as the vice president of events for U.S. Soccer.

12/15/2025

Students at the WVU Forensic and Investigative Science Department are revisiting cold case files with new hope, advanced technology and fresh eyes.

These Mountaineers are bringing compassion and determination to unsolved cases, delving into decades-old evidence, honoring lost lives, and seeking to deliver justice where it has never been found. Their work is beyond academic simulation, becoming a piece of something larger by giving silent victims a voice.

Read the full story to see how WVU students are making an effort to bring justice and closure to unheard lives

The WVU Unsolved Case Project fills a void for law enforcement agencies stretched thin and seeking answers to cases that turned stone cold years ago. For a handf

12/15/2025

12/15/2025

Happy first night of Hanukkah, Mountaineers! 🕎💛💙

12/13/2025

The iconic lights have returned to Woodburn Hall, bringing the warmth and magic of the holiday season to West Virginia University.

Families, students, and alumni alike can experience the joy and snap photos under the glowing landmark. The lighting ceremony on Dec. 2 was a celebration of community and the comeback of a beloved tradition.

Step onto campus and see it for yourself ✨

Read the full story and explore how this beloved tradition was brought back

The WVU Woodburn Hall lighting ceremony was first held in 1987. The effect of having white lights outline the windows, clock tower, and 3rd story roof lines was instantly magical.

12/12/2025

More than 9,000 children receive medical care at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital each year. Many face serious health challenges in unfamiliar surroundings while their families carry worry, fear and uncertainty.

Bears and Blankets meets them with comfort. Starting with the WVU Alumni Lone Star Chapter of the WVU Alumni Association, Inc., a simple act of care has grown into a coast-to-coast Mountaineer movement, determined to make those stays a little warmer.

It may seem small, but a bear to squeeze or a blanket to hold becomes a reminder that they’re supported, seen and surrounded by a community that believes in brighter days ahead. 🧸

Find out how to give a Bear or Blanket and read more on WVU Stories:

The memory never left him.At barely 12, Jared Dearth sat in a hospital room on the children’s floor of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital clutching a stuffed monkey he’d chosen from a selection a hospital staff member brought by his room. He didn’t know then, but he would carry that little stuffed an...

12/11/2025

Behind every sold-out show for Charles Wesley Godwin, there’s a team that makes the magic possible. The West Virginia native now travels with a tight-knit group that takes the Mountaineer spirit worldwide, but they can't forget their roots.

Ross Justice (front-of-house engineer and production manager) is a Morgantown native, WVU alumnus and instructor, and Godwin's longtime friend.

Chris Kuskey (monitor engineer) is a WVU Music Business and Industry graduate who started his career at Morgantown's Metropolitan Theatre.

Nate Catanzarite (bass player) who joined the band full-time, playing on Godwin's "Seneca" album, earned his master's degree from WVU

“Family is the word I’d use,” Justice said. “We’re Mountaineers — here to prove what we can do.”

Read more about Charles Wesley Godwin and the team behind the musichttps://stories.wvu.edu/cue-country-roads?utm_source=facebook-magazine&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=cue-country-roads&utm_id=storytelling&utm_content=gen1367

There is something ethereal about the moment you hear it. A clean, simple-chord progression carrying a gentle, country twang. “Almost heaven …” Arms lift. Mountaineers-for-life beam with pride. Strangers link shoulders. Players sway in unison. In Morgantown, victory doesn’t end with a whistl...

12/10/2025

Meet Aldo Romero, the WVU quantum physicist who starts each day in our world and ends it in awe of the material universe.

Romero approaches every challenge like a puzzle waiting to be solved. From a small Colombian town to leading high-performance computing facilities, he spends his days studying “weird materials” and electron interactions, work that furthers breakthroughs in quantum computing and AI.

He’s helping forensic scientists simulate gunshots, assisting researchers with data processing, finding inspiration in his kids’ homework or fostering an 80-plus-member AI discussion group (with a newsletter); all these efforts are powered by a simple belief: “Science is friendship.”

For him, every day at work feels a bit like kindergarten, in the best way. Read more about Aldo and his work ➡️

If you’re Aldo Romero, then it’s a beautiful day.Romero is a quantum physicist at West Virginia University who uses math to look at the world at the atomic scale and has never stopped marveling at the wonders he sees there.He may wake up in the everyday, humdrum universe, even eat breakfast here...

12/09/2025

When Bernie Smith lost his daughter, Andrea, to leukemia, he feared the world had gone silent. Rehearsals, performances, game days and hospital stays, the band carried her through every treatment and every setback.

Over time, Bernie learned that love doesn’t fade. It marches forward.

Through the Andrea Smith Memorial Scholarship, her spirit endures in every student and alum of the Pride of West Virginia. Each year, Bernie shares Andrea’s story and watches it resonate through generation after generation.

The band gave Andrea Smith purpose. Now, Bernie gives back so her memory can continue to uplift others.

Nearing 80, Bernie Smith has become a longtime fixture with the West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band. But his connection to the “Pride of West Virginia” runs deeper than most—it's a story that spans two generations of Mountaineers.The Marlinton, West Virginia, native first came t...