West Virginia University Mountaineers

The West Virginia University Mountaineers take theirresponsible for the creation of WVU and numerous
nickname from the mountainous terrain in theother public colleges around the country played a
Morgantown, WV area where the college campus istremendous role in shaping the American landscape.
located. Established in 1867, the school with close toToday the West Virginia University Mountaineers
30,000 students has a proud sports tradition withcompete in the top tier Big East Conference which
both men's and women's teams wearing uniformsfeatures 16 full time schools and one associate school.
that read Mountaineers.The curiosity that is the associate school has to do
The term "mountaineer" became the West Virginiawith the January, 2006 inclusion of Loyola University
University (commonly shortened to WVU) mascot inMaryland (located in Baltimore) women's lacrosse
1890. Every year students compete to portray theteam. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers are the
mascot for sporting events held both at home andbiggest in conference rival for the West Virginia
on the road. While the vetting process that includes aUniversity Mountaineers as both the football and
minimum GPA requirement, essays, interviews, and abasketball programs have a history of intense
try out in front of a live game crowd may soundcompetitions with their neighbors 75 miles to the
extreme to those unfamiliar with the process thenorth.
reward for attaining the esteemed position is aFor many West Virginia University Mountaineer alumni
scholarship and the best seat in the house (thetheir favorite school tradition to look back on fondly
sidelines) for every sporting event. For scores ofis the long held tradition of singing a specific
students the rewards are more than worth theharmonious tune that was first crafted by the late
trouble of subjecting themselves to the tryoutJohn Denver in 1971. Hearing the words of the
process.country music classic "Take Me Home, Country
The history of the West Virginia Mountaineers datesRoads" is enough to send most West Virginia fans
back to the congressional passing of the 1862 Morrilback to the times when they stuck around the
Land Grant Act that paved the way for thestadium after home football games and collectively
multitude of state universities that today play a verysang the West Virginia anthem along with 60,000
large role in America having arguably the most enviedother fans and the victorious football team.
system of higher education in the world. The MorrillRegardless of which memories or traditions stand out
Act gave ownership of certain federal land to statesthe most to each individual West Virginia University
with the understanding that the states receiving theMountaineer almost everyone that has had the good
land would either build colleges on the sites or sell thefortune to spend some time around the school can
land to raise funds to build state run universities inagree that the time spent on campus made an
other locations. The Morrill Act which was directlyimpact on their life.