125th Anniversary of Woodburn Hall—February 23, 2001
Remarks by David C. Hardesty Jr., President, West Virginia University
Homecoming at WVU is rarely considered complete without a visit to Woodburn Circle. And, when I enter Woodburn Hall, I have that special feeling that most graduates experience when they truly “come home” to their alma mater. I had so many classes here; I made so many friends here; I dreamed so many dreams here; and I learned so much here. In many ways, for me Woodburn Hall is not only a symbol of the University, but a symbol of all that gives richness to university life. Since its construction just a few years after the founding of the University, Woodburn Hall has been identified with what is good about WVU.
WVU was founded in 1867, the same year as Illinois, Howard, and Minnesota. It opened with 122 students and 274 books. At the time of the founding, the state was controlled by the Republican Party. But in August 1875, about the time Woodburn Hall was built, a new Board of Regents met in Martinsburg. The new group fired the first president, Alexander Martin. According to one Board member is was “pure coincidence” that all of the professors who were re-elected to the faculty were Democrats, while all of those invited to retire were Republicans. Thus, Woodburn Hall opened with a “wild” beginning, in the midst of controversy
But, by 1900, times were better. The College of Civil Mining and Engineering was started here to support the industrialization that was occurring in our nation. Also by the turn of the century, a physicians? training program began with the establishment with the WVU School of Medicine, which offered two years of medical school. The research program gave rise to many pranks concerning cadavers and fostered innovative methods to frighten unsuspecting students out of their wits.
Women were not left behind, as they were admitted to every department in the University (except the military) by 1897.
The early years of the University must have been thrilling. By 1901, Granville Davisson Hall wrote in a book, called The Rending of Virginia, that WVU had achieved “flagship” status. Distinguished scholars, like Oliver Perry Chitwood, formed the faculty (1907).
Also about the turn of the century, the north wing of Woodburn Hall was completed in time to get ready for the war years that followed. ROTC was formed in 1916 to aid in the war effort, and has been present on campus ever since. Roughly 2,700 students served in the “war to end all wars.” Sixty years later, I attended ROTC classes on the top floor of Woodburn Hall.
Shortly after the turn of the century, Woodburn Hall was joined by Purinton House (the president?s home) and the library was moved to a new building, now called Stewart Hall. It is perhaps the most elaborate and durable building ever built on campus. WVU even built an observatory situated above the top of North High Street. This permitted WVU?s faculty to observe the sky and the students to observe the townsfolk.
Residential living required extra curricular activities, and by 1900, WVU had been playing Pitt in football for five years. The class cheer was:
Boom-a-la, boom-a-la,
Rah-rah-reck
Nineteen hundred?s Right On Deck!
The students of the early 20th century walked out of Woodburn in 1919 to watch WVU footballers play perennial rivals Rutgers, Maryland, and Pitt in football. We still play them today. My uncle, Clay B. “Mud” Hite, was on that team with the great “Rat” Rogers, our first all-American. My aunt used to say that “If it had not been for ?Mud? blocking for ?Rat,? he would not have been an all-American.” By 1925 enrollment at WVU had grown to 2,300 persons and the “new” Mountaineer Field was built. Over 17,000 fans attended the inaugural game, which was a 14-0 victory over Penn State. Go Mountaineers!
As West Virginia University grew, so did the campus. The Chemistry Building was built in 1925 to ease the pain of Woodburn’s crowded classrooms. It could accommodate 2,000 students at a time.
The location of the University has always been problematic to some. When the state was founded, the bigger cities got the capital, the prisons, and the mental institutions. The university was relegated to Morgantown, which was essentially a small village. Talk persisted well into the 1920s of moving WVU to southern West Virginia. But the State Capitol burned and people up here started talk about moving the capital north. That put an end to that discussion, and Woodburn Hall remained at the heart of the University, now 50 years old.
By the 1930s, Americans were experiencing the Great Depression. But the magnificent Wise Library was opened to serve Woodburn?s students, among others. It?s interesting to note that the WVU book collection outgrew Stewart Hall in just under 30 years. I wonder how long the new library addition now under construction will last?
As we headed into World War II, WVU was again a center for the training of soldiers (one of the first few institutions selected as a training site during World War II). Our patriotism has always been part of Woodburn Hall?s heritage and evident to the leaders of the armed forces of the United States, who helped to place the mast of the USS West Virginia, just across the way.
The 1950s were a period of dramatic change and growth at the University, overseen by one of its most dynamic leaders, President Irvin Stewart. (I was fortunate to have him for a graduate-level class here in Woodburn Hall.) Susan used to go to teas at Purinton House when she was a child, often helping to “pour” punch wearing her white gloves. During the ?50s Woodburn Hall again sowed new seeds. Brooks, Armstrong, Hodges, and Eiesland Halls were built along with others.
In November 1950, a student organization called “Mountain” established the Mountain statue festival fund to commission a dignified symbol of a mountaineer. It is striking to me that it took 20 years to raise $15,000 for the statue which now stands near here outside the Mountainlair and it one of the official emblems of the University.
By the way, about the same time, in 1958, the School of Engineering joined the space race after Sputnik. I remember my next-door neighbor?s garage door opening when Sputnik went over and how concerned all the academic leaders in the country were that we had fallen behind. This feeling was partly responsible for the election of John Kennedy.
Math and science were increasingly emphasized. By the 1970s, West Virginia had launched the computer era on campus and in 1975 it formed the Network for Educational Computing. Eventually, a new science, called computer science, grew out of the statistics department here at WVU.
Susan and I were here from 1963 to 1967. The 1960s also saw the student rights, civil rights, Vietnam War, and a number of other protests and demonstrations, some of which occurred on the lawn outside this hall. I can remember debating with the likes of Professors Wes Bagby and John Williams over the merits of American policies. Students were interested in service, but also in testing authority. It was a wonderful time to be on the college campus. And Woodburn Hall is where I had most of my classes while a WVU student.
To get the students from Woodburn Hall to the new Evansdale campus, in 1975 the University opened the PRT. It was one of the largest single federal expenditures on a university project ever. The first phase alone was $128 million dollars.
For more than 50 years, members of the alumni body and students gathered on the lawn of Woodburn Hall before going down to the old stadium for a football game. In fact, West Virginia was increasing its prominence in all sports. It was during the 1950s and ?60s that basketball reached new heights, with the likes of Gale Catlett, Rod Thorn, Jerry West, and others playing on our campus. And by 1975, West Virginia beat North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl, led by Rhodes Scholar quarterback Danny Williams, after which our coach promptly moved to Florida State, where he remains today.
And, oh, the students of Woodburn Hall! The debaters, the researchers, the scholars, the student body officers, and so many others. They went on, and will always go on, to become the leaders of our state and nation. I doubt if there is a hall in the United States which can claim more Rhodes, Truman, USA Today, and Goldwater scholars per square foot.
All in all, Woodburn?s long line of distinguished faculty members and its rich heritage inspire us all. It?s not the church, but the faith that matters. It?s not the stadium, but the team spirit that is important. And it?s not Woodburn Hall, but what it represents that inspires us all as we sit here today.
I was inaugurated as WVU?s 21st president in front of Woodburn Hall, and I have to admit that every time I come into this building I conjure up in my own mind how far I have come since first walking through its hallways as a student. I?m truly humbled to be the president of an institution where so many have traveled as far, and many further.
In 2000, five years after coming to WVU, Susan and I decided that we would commission one of West Virginia?s talented artists, Sally Rowe, to make a quilt for us. It hangs here today. Taking months to construct, it comprises 2,000 pieces of cloth that form an impressionistic image of Woodburn Circle. The quilt is titled “Woodburn Circle 2000.” That we chose this gift for each other in the millennium year says more than I could possible put into words about our feelings about Woodburn Hall: We love the place! And like so many of you, we love this place because we love the University and cherish its transforming qualities. This is truly a university where greatness is taught, and where greatness is learned, thanks in large measure to the people and programs of Woodburn Hall.