The West Virginia University Mountaineers take their nickname from the mountainous terrain in the Morgantown, WV area, where the university campus is located. Established in 1867, the school of nearly 30,000 students has a proud sports tradition with men’s and women’s teams wearing uniforms that say Mountaineers.

The term “mountaineer” became the mascot of West Virginia University (commonly abbreviated to WVU) in 1890. Each year, students compete to portray the mascot in sporting events held both at home and on campus. highway. While the vetting process that includes a minimum GPA requirement, essays, interviews, and a test in front of a live gaming crowd may sound extreme to those unfamiliar with the process, the reward for reaching the esteemed position it’s a scholarship and the best seat in the house (the sidelines) for every sporting event. For dozens of students, the rewards are more than worth the hassle of undergoing the testing process.

The history of the West Virginia Mountaineers dates back to Congress’s passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which paved the way for the multitude of state universities that play such an important role in the United States today. who have possibly the most envied higher education system in the world. world. The Morrill Act gave ownership of certain federal lands to states with the understanding that states receiving the land would build universities on the sites or sell the land to raise funds to build state universities elsewhere. The Morrill Act, which was directly responsible for the creation of WVU and many other public universities across the country, played a tremendous role in shaping the American landscape.

Today, the West Virginia University Mountaineers compete in the top-tier Big East Conference, which has 16 full-time schools and one partner school. The curiosity of the associated school has to do with the inclusion in January 2006 of the women’s lacrosse team of Loyola University of Maryland (located in Baltimore). The University of Pittsburgh Panthers are the West Virginia University Mountaineers’ biggest conference rivals, as the football and basketball programs have a history of intense competition with their neighbors 75 miles to the north.

For many West Virginia University Mountaineer alumni, their favorite school tradition to fondly remember is the longstanding tradition of singing a specific harmonious tune that was first created by the late John Denver in 1971. Listen to the words of the classic country music “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is enough to send most West Virginia fans back to the days when they would hang out at the stadium after home football games and collectively sing the West Virginia anthem along with 60,000 other fans and the victorious football team.

Regardless of which memories or traditions stand out the most for each West Virginia University Mountaineer, almost everyone who has been fortunate enough to spend some time at the school can agree that their time on campus had an impact. in their life.