By Dr. E. Gordon Gee, president, West Virginia University
As my final Commencement as West Virginia University president approaches, I am reflecting on my journey as our graduates do. As ever, my thoughts often lead me down our state’s country roads.
Each summer as president, I have spent time traveling our state’s highways and byways. My statewide tours have been an annual tradition since I visited all 55 counties in 2014 and I will continue that tradition through the final days of my presidency.
Last year, the tour coincided with a marketing campaign based upon our longtime slogan: “Let’s go.” The tour enabled us to plant our gold and blue flag throughout the state — and I mean that literally. We distributed hundreds of “Let’s go” flags to legislators, community leaders, friends and alumni across the state.
I will never forget moments such as the one we witnessed in Union with a population of 427. Local WVU Extension agents took the flag and immediately hoisted it up the pole in front of their office to fly alongside the American flag.
Statewide tours have been a hallmark of my presidency, and they illustrate my strongest belief about higher education today — you must meet people where they are.
Many of the small towns we visit are hard to reach. But, when I arrive, when I see the young and old faces around me radiating curiosity and pride, I relearn the power of showing up and listening.
I have spent 45 years observing American higher education from nearly every vantage point. I have led both public and private universities, from one of the nation’s largest land-grant institutions, The Ohio State University, to Brown University, the smallest institution in the Ivy League.
Change has been constant, but over the past five years, a cascade of economic and societal forces has begun reshaping higher education as never before.
One of those forces is demographic — the so-called “demographic cliff,” a sharp decline in the college-aged population. West Virginia, which has long had a declining and aging population, lost a higher percentage of residents than any other state in the 2020 U.S. Census.
Past declines in the college-aged population were largely offset by the rising percentage of high school graduates who pursued higher education. Little room remains for further growth in college attendance; in fact, recent trends show more people questioning the value of the four-year degree.
Today, only one-third of the U.S. public expresses “a lot” of confidence in higher education. And almost half of U.S. parents do not believe their children need a four-year college education.
Gen Z students who do attend college are not pursuing the same degree options that their predecessors did even 10 years ago. And that makes sense since workplace needs are changing rapidly.
One thing about higher education has become obvious throughout my tenure: America’s college and universities must change.
That is why I have emphasized putting students first and focusing on the areas that matter most to them. Doing so honors our heritage as a land-grant university.
Land-grant education grew from the radical new idea of opening higher education to the masses and using university-created knowledge to improve citizens’ lives. Institutions such as West Virginia University focused first on agriculture and engineering, the hot job markets for 19th century rural youth.
Land-grant universities — and all institutions — must evolve with the needs of those they serve.
At West Virginia University, that means serving our communities through teaching and learning, research and discovery, and engagement and outreach, while taking bold steps to ensure their relevance, value and importance.
University leaders must also communicate higher education’s importance.
Research shows that bachelor’s degree holders enjoy a lifetime of higher earnings, job security, upward mobility and personal growth. In fact, over a lifetime, medium earnings are $1.2 million higher for bachelor’s degree holders. On a societal level, education changes lives, improves communities, feeds the world, sustains art and culture, and cures diseases.
At a time when societal resources are so limited, needs are so great, expectations are so high, and threats are so significant, higher education cannot afford to stand still. And West Virginia University has not.
In 2016, I identified three pillars on which to build our progress: Education, health and prosperity. Five years later, drawing upon the pandemic’s lessons, I announced the adoption of a fourth pillar: Purpose.
And our faculty, staff and students embraced those pillars and strengthened them beyond my highest expectations.
Like the people I met on county tours, we are waving our flag proudly and firmly staking the claim that we are West Virginia’s flagship institution.
As each 2025 graduate contemplates their own purpose, I know that mine has been to make things better for West Virginians and to build a University with the strength and power to succeed long after I am gone.
