[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E395-E396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF MARSHALL UNIVERSITY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 2011

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, while Marshall University is the oldest 
public institution of higher education in West Virginia, tracing its 
founding to 1837, it took nearly 125 years of sustained growth before 
the normal school established on a knoll in rural Cabell County would 
truly come of age.
  Compared to the news that seems to grab attention nowadays, it is 
probably difficult for today's students to understand the significance 
of the granting of university status to the former Marshall College. 
But 50 years ago, the designation as a state university meant far more 
than just a name.
  Video footage and still photographs shot on Marshall's campus the day 
the news broke that the West Virginia Legislature had passed the 
university bill depict a student body that celebrated as if the 
football team had won a national championship. A special edition of The 
Parthenon hailed, ``We are now Marshall `U'!'' Crowds gathered as 
``College'' was symbolically chipped off one of Marshall's state 
highway historical markers. Students taped over the word ``college'' on 
the team sweatshirts they proudly wore. Cheering and running across 
campus, they acted as if a war had just ended. And, in essence, that is 
exactly what had happened. March 2, 1961, marked the end of a multi-
year battle for Marshall's official recognition as an advanced higher 
learning institution in the state of West Virginia.
  In his book, ``Marshall University: An Institution Comes of Age, 
1837-1980,'' Marshall historian Dr. Charles H. Moffatt noted that in 
1961, university status would make Marshall the first university 
located in the vast stretches of central Appalachia between Lexington, 
Kentucky, and Lexington, Virginia, and between

[[Page E396]]

Athens, Ohio, and Knoxville, Tennessee. At the time, many states had 
only one state university, as was the case here, with West Virginia 
University in Morgantown being the sole university among a handful of 
higher education institutions in the Mountain State.
  Dr. Stewart H. Smith, president of Marshall from 1946 to 1968 and for 
whom Smith Hall is named, fought many years for his beloved college to 
earn university status by engaging legislators, backed by strong local 
support, and working on a public front to change attitudes about a 
second university in West Virginia. Many thought the state should 
support only one large university, fearing another would drain 
resources from West Virginia University.
  Smith argued that Marshall had earned university status because of 
the number of academic programs and advanced degrees offered, as well 
as the growth in enrollment. Smith, local legislators and area leaders 
said the change in status would not only help Marshall recruit more 
students and retain better faculty, it also would result in more 
federal funding and private donations, and help to bring more 
businesses to the state.
  By 1960, following the establishment of Marshall's College of Applied 
Sciences, a request was made to the state Board of Education to accord 
the institution university status. The board approved the request in 
October 1960, and the battle for a change in State Code to make it 
official began.
  Smith had strong support from Huntington-area legislators, and he 
joined them in carrying the fight to lawmakers from across the state 
and to the governor's office. He unified the Huntington campus and, 
along with the elected officials and other Marshall supporters, they 
persevered. The so-called Marshall bill passed the West Virginia Senate 
on February 16, 1961, and cleared the House of Delegates shortly after. 
Governor W.W. Barron signed the bill and dedicated a brand-new 
Gullickson Hall at the same time during a ceremony on Marshall's 
Huntington campus on March 2, 1961.
  As he put his pen to the paper, Governor Barron said, ``It is my 
privilege and pleasure to place my signature on legislation to change 
the name of this splendid educational institution from Marshall College 
to Marshall University. It is my sincere wish that Marshall's future 
will be resplendent with new pride and progress . . . which I am 
convinced will aid all of West Virginia.''
  The university and city celebrated. It was a turning point in the 
university's history and set the stage for what has indeed been a new 
generation of pride and progress as Marshall has grown to serve more 
West Virginians than ever.
  Dramatic changes have occurred in the 50 years since. Enrollment has 
more than tripled and the campus infrastructure has been completely 
transformed. The Marshall community experienced unimaginable 
devastation with the plane crash in 1970 and witnessed an incredible 
rebirth through the 1990s, a story that was retold with a star-studded 
motion picture in 2006.
  Marshall now offers 159 majors and 105 degrees through its 12 
colleges. The university boasts the nation's finest graduate program in 
forensic science, and a top-ranked School of Medicine and 
transportation research institute. Marshall has developed a reputation 
for bioscience research and has in recent years established new 
programs in engineering, physical therapy and health informatics. 
Marshall also is launching a new School of Pharmacy, expected to field 
its first class of students in fall 2012.
  The state's investment in Marshall has more than paid off, tripling 
in the past few years under current President Stephen J. Kopp's 
leadership. The most recent economic impact study, completed in 2010, 
conservatively estimates that Marshall returns $20 for every state 
dollar invested in the university, and helps to create more than 6,000 
jobs.
  Kopp has overseen more than $200 million in new capital projects and 
major building renovation. Since 2005, Marshall has launched 10 new 
high-demand degree majors or programs and doubled its research grant 
funding.
  Marshall's impact will grow even more, as the university expects 
record enrollment in fall 2011 and more than $50 million in planned 
infrastructure improvements and new buildings over the next few years.
  This growth would not have been possible without the vision and 
leadership more than 50 years ago from Dr. Smith and local legislators 
who recognized the need for Marshall to become a university. And, while 
there has been tremendous positive change since 1961, Marshall's 
mission will always be to serve the people of West Virginia and the 
entire region.
  A hundred years ago, Professor Walter Raleigh addressed the meaning 
of the university. He said, ``We owe an enormous debt to those who went 
before us; we can pay it, or a part of it, only to those who come after 
us. We must pass on our inheritance; and if we really can make here and 
there, as no doubt we can, some additions and improvements, to 
compensate the irrecoverable depredations of time and mortality, we are 
happy indeed. Anyhow, here is work enough for a University, and motive 
enough to urge us on to the work.''
  A hundred, indeed, hundreds of years hence, Marshall University will 
continue passing on our inheritance as long as we give it the support 
and encouragement it so nobly deserves.

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