Fairmont State University is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...

History

Fairmont State University’s roots reach back to the formation of public education in the state of West Virginia. The first private

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

in West Virginia was established to train teachers in Fairmont in 1865 by John N. Boyd, the school’s first principal. It was known as the West Virginia Normal School at Fairmont. On February 27, 1867, it was purchased by the State from the Regency of the West Virginia Normal School (formed as a joint stock company in 1866) and became a branch of the State Normal School of Marshall College. Construction began on a brick building on the northwest corner of Adams and Quincy streets later that year. From 1867 to 1892 the school was known variously as Fairmont Normal School, the Fairmont Branch of the West Virginia Normal School, the Branch of the West Virginia Normal School at Fairmont, a branch of the West Virginia State Normal School of Marshall College, but most commonly as Fairmont State Normal School (FSNS). By 1892 the designation of "branch" had fallen into disuse by FSNS. In 1893, the school moved into a new building at Second Street and Fairmont Avenue and, in 1917, to its current location in the building now known as Hardway Hall, in honor of former president Wendell G. Hardway, which sits on a hill overlooking Locust Avenue. Hardway Hall, originally known as Fairmont Normal School Administration Building, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1994. In 1923, Fairmont State Normal School first offered a four-year bachelor's degree program in education, making the school a college. It was renamed Fairmont State Teachers College in 1931 and Fairmont State College in 1943. On April 7, 2004, Governor

Bob Wise Robert Ellsworth Wise Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 33rd Governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, Wise also served in the United States House of Representatives from ...

signed legislation changing its name to Fairmont State University. Today, with an enrollment of 3,800, Fairmont State offers more than 80 baccalaureate degrees in business, computer science, education, engineering and technology, fine arts, liberal arts, national security and intelligence, political science, mathematics, and nursing and allied health administration with graduate programs in architecture, education, teaching, business, and criminal justice.

Community and technical college

In 1974, a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

component was founded. This became independently accredited as Fairmont State Community and Technical College in 2003. In 2006, Fairmont State was given direction by the State of West Virginia to split with the community and technical college, which then became known as

Pierpont Community and Technical College Pierpont Community & Technical College (Pierpont) is a Public college, public community college in Fairmont, West Virginia. Founded in 1974, it has the second largest enrollment of the community and technical colleges that make up the West Virg ...

. While both institutions still operate on the Fairmont campus, since 2008, they are recognized as independent institutions and offer completely separate degree programs; Pierpont focuses more on technical associate's programs, while Fairmont State's main focus is on baccalaureate degrees and masters programs. After a March 2021 Memorandum of Understanding, the two schools will become independent of one another whereby Pierpont has transitioned off of the Fairmont campus.

Athletics

Fairmont State's athletic teams, known as the ''Falcons'' (alternately as ''Fighting Falcons'', or ''Lady Falcons'' for women's teams), compete in the

Mountain East Conference The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 12 schools, mo ...

(MEC) in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division II and field teams in 17 sports including football, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's golf, acrobatics and tumbling, baseball, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's cross country. The Fighting falcons football team finished the 2016 season with a 10–2 record, clinching an NCAA playoff berth. In 2017, they finished the season 8–3 and 2nd in the MEC. In 2017, the men's basketball team was ranked #3 in the final NABC Coaches Poll. In post-season play, the Falcons captured the NCAA Atlantic Region title and earned the top-seed in the NCAA Elite Eight tournament eventually losing to Northwest Missouri State in the tournament final on March 25, 2017 by a score of 71–61.

Traditions

The Victory Bell In 1940, the Letterman's Association (now the Fairmont State Athletic Association) presented the college with a "Victory Bell" from a Monongahela oil barge. Nicknamed "Old Boaz" – in honor of Boaz Fleming, the founding father of Fairmont – students would ring the bell after athletic team victories. During World War II, the Victory Bell was declared silent and was not rung again until

Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

(V-E Day) on May 8, 1945. It was rung for that victory and for the Americans still fighting in the South Pacific. The exact date unknown (likely the late 1960s), the tradition shifted from ringing to painting the bell by various fraternities, sororities, and other campus organizations – its clapper and handle removed. Originally located adjacent to Hardway Hall, the bell now stands in front of the Education Building.

Honor societies

Alpha Phi Sigma Alpha Phi Sigma () (Phi is pronounced "fi") is the only Criminal Justice Honor Society accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies. Traditionally a national organization serving United States universities, recent expansion into Canad ...

(Criminal Justice) *

Alpha Psi Omega Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society () is an American recognition fraternity for participants in collegiate theatre. History The ''Alpha Cast'' (Alpha Psi Omega's term for "chapter") was founded at Fairmont State College (now Fair ...

(Dramatics) founded at the college in 1925 by professor Paul F. Opp. *

Beta Beta Beta Beta Beta Beta ( or TriBeta), is a collegiate honor society and academic fraternity for students of the biological sciences. It was founded in 1922 at Oklahoma City University by Dr. Frank G. Brooks and a group of his students. As of 2012, it has ...

(Biology) *

Delta Sigma Rho Delta Sigma Rho- Tau Kappa Alpha () is a collegiate honor society devoted to the promotion of public speaking (forensics). History Both Delta Sigma Rho and Tau Kappa Alpha were founded as honorary forensic societies. Delta Sigma Rho Delta Sigm ...

(Forensics) *

Epsilon Pi Tau Epsilon Pi Tau ( or EPT) is an international honor society for professions in technology. They recognize academics of students, preparation for practitioners and outstanding professionals. Membership in Epsilon Pi Tau may be at one of three level ...

(Technology) *Family & Consumer Science Honor Society *

Kappa Delta Pi Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, () is an honor society for education. It was founded in 1911 and was one of the first discipline-specific honor societies. Its membership is limited to the top 20 percent of those entering ...

(Education) *

Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi), is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricul ...

(Band) *

Kappa Pi Kappa Pi () International Art Honor Society, founded in 1911 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, is an International Collegiate Art Honorary Fraternity. It is open to any student who has talent for or supports visual art. Kappa ...

(Art) *Nursing Honorary *

Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...

(History) *

Phi Theta Kappa Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society ( or PTK) is the international honor society of students attending open-access institutions and seeking associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, or other college credentials. Its headquarters is in Jackson, Mississippi ...

Pi Gamma Mu Pi Gamma Mu or (from Πολιτικές Γνώσεως Μάθεται) is the oldest and preeminent honor society in the social sciences. It is also the only interdisciplinary social science honor society. It serves the various social science di ...

(Social Science) *

Pi Sigma Alpha Pi Sigma Alpha ( or PSA), the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of political and social sciences in the United States. Its purpose is to recognize and promote high academic ...

(Political Science) *

Psi Chi Psi Chi () is a college student honor society in psychology with international outreach founded in 1929 at the University of Kansas in the United States. Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States, with more than 1,150 cha ...

(Psychology) *

Sigma Alpha Iota Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its m ...

(Music) *

Sigma Tau Delta Sigma Tau Delta () is an international excelled English honor society for students of English at four-year colleges and universities who are within the top 30% of their class and have a 3.5 GPA or higher. It presently has over 850 chapters in ...

(English) *

Society for Collegiate Journalists The Society for Collegiate Journalists (SCJ) is an American honor society for student journalists. It was formed on June 1, 1975 as a merger between the two journalism honor societies Pi Delta Epsilon (ΠΔΕ) and Alpha Phi Gamma (ΑΦΓ). Many ...

Social organizations

*Inter-Panhellenic Council *Inter-Fraternity Council *Non-Panhellenic Council *Women’s Panhellenic Council *Dutch Simmons Appreciation Club *Student Graphics Organization *

Alpha Eta Rho Alpha Eta Rho () is a coed international professional college aviation fraternity that serves as a contact between the aviation industry and educational institutions. The fraternity strives to foster, promote, and mentor today's college students ...

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

Alpha Sigma Tau Alpha Sigma Tau (known as or Alpha Tau) is a national sorority founded on November 4, 1899, at Eastern Michigan University (formerly Michigan State Normal College). A member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the sorority has 83 active colleg ...

*Delta Xi Omicron (local) *

Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 170 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 200 alumnae chapters in Cana ...

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...

Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority. Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization encompassing 26 national sororities or women's fraterni ...

*Sigma Pi *Sigma Omega Beta (local) *

Phi Sigma Phi Phi Sigma Phi,() is a national fraternity in the United States founded on July 30, 1988 in South Bend, Indiana by chapters formerly of Phi Sigma Epsilon that declined to participate in that fraternity's merger into Phi Sigma Kappa. There are curr ...

*Tau Beta Iota (local) *

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an internat ...

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...

(chartered April 13, 2018) *Student Accountant Society *Model United Nations *Model Arab League * Young Democrats *College Republicans

The National Security Lab

The Open Source Intelligence Exchange (OSIX) organization was created in 2012 and serves as Fairmont State's applied research lab under the National Security and Intelligence program. OSIX uses open source and social media intelligence to determine real-world active threats, including for such events as the 2010 Presidential visit to West Virginia by then-President Obama. Professor David Abruzzino, who came to Fairmont State after retiring from work with the CIA, was the OSIX program director and faculty mentor from 2010 until 2017. Dr. Todd Clark, who formerly worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), is the current director of OSIX. Students who work in the OSIX lab utilize open source and social media intelligence tools to monitor potential and active threats, and have worked with agencies like the CIA, FBI, Department of Defense, and Department of State, as well as local and state departments and agencies in West Virginia.

Notable alumni

Perry Baker Perry Baker (born June 29, 1986) is an American rugby sevens player for the United States national rugby sevens team. With over 230 tries, Baker currently ranks first among Americans and third among all players in career tries scored in the Worl ...

, current U.S. international rugby sevens player and two-time World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year * Wendell R. Beitzel, member of

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

George C. Edwards George Clayton Edwards (born April 9, 1948) is an American politician who previously served as a member of the Maryland Senate from District 1. Background Edwards was elected as the State Senator for Maryland District 1 in 2006, which covers G ...

, member of

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

Leroy Loggins Leroy Loggins (born 20 December 1957) is an Australian-American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1981 until 2001. College career Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Loggins attended ...

, American professional basketball player in Australia *

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Mini ...

, radio reporter whose voice is heard in the footage of the

Hindenburg Disaster The ''Hindenburg'' disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. The German passenger airship LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' caught fire and was destroyed during its attemp ...

Ira E. Robinson Ira Ellsworth Robinson (September 16, 1869, near Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia – October 28, 1951, Philippi, West Virginia) was a politician, judge, and the first chairman of the Federal Radio Commission (1928-32). Biography Robinson ...

, West Virginia politician and judge, first chairman of the

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...

* Bill Stewart, former head football coach at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

Luke Gallows Andrew William Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Luke Gallows. Hankinson began his career in 2005 and participated i ...

American pro wrestler for WWE

Notable faculty

Ruth Ann Musick Ruth Ann Musick (September 17, 1897 – July 2, 1974) was an American writer and folklorist specializing in West Virginia. She was the sister of artist Archie Musick and niece of writer John R. Musick. Biography Youth and education Born in Kirks ...

, noted folklorist and author

References

External links

*
Fairmont State Athletics website
{{Coord, 39.485798, -80.163019, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-WV, display=title Education in Marion County, West Virginia Public universities and colleges in West Virginia Educational institutions established in 1865 Buildings and structures in Marion County, West Virginia Tourist attractions in Marion County, West Virginia 1865 establishments in West Virginia