This article is about the university in Fairmont, West Virginia. For the school formerly named Fairmount College in Wichita, Kansas, see Wichita State University.
Fairmont State University
Former name
West Virginia Normal School at Fairmont (1865–1867) Fairmont State Normal School (1867–1931) Fairmont State Teachers College (1931–1944) Fairmont State College (1944–2004)
Fairmont State University’s roots reach back to the formation of public education in the state of West Virginia. The first private normal school 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.
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 signed legislation changing its name to Fairmont State University.[7]
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 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. For some time both institutions still operated on the Fairmont campus, but 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 master's programs.
After a March 2021 Memorandum of Understanding, the two schools became independent of one another whereby Pierpont transitioned off of the Fairmont campus into a new building near the NASA complex in South Fairmont,
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 (MEC) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (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.[8]
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 (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 is 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.
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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 national and international women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Panhellenic refers to the group's members being autonomous social Greek-letter societies of college women and alumnae.
Sigma Alpha Iota (ΣΑΙ) is an international 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 members and the general public. Sigma Alpha Iota operates its own national philanthropy, Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc. Sigma Alpha Iota is a member of the National Interfraternity Music Council and the Professional Fraternity Association.
The Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) is an American association of national, collegiate, professional fraternities and sororities that was formed in 1978. Since PFA groups are discipline-specific, members join while pursuing graduate degrees as well as undergraduate degrees. PFA groups seek to develop their members professionally in addition to the social development commonly associated with Panhellenic fraternities. Membership requirements of the PFA are broad enough to include groups that do not recruit new members from a single professional discipline. The PFA has welcomed service and honor fraternities as members; however, Greek letter honor societies more commonly belong to the Association of College Honor Societies.
Washington & Jefferson College is host to 8 Greek organizations and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. With 43% of women and 40% of men of the student body participating in "greek life," fraternities and sororities play a significant role in student life at W&J. The Princeton Review named Washington & Jefferson College 12th on their 2010 list of "Major Frat and Sorority Scene" in the United States. As of 2024, the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life recognized 4 fraternities, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Tau Delta, and Phi Kappa Psi, and 4 sororities, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi. The fraternities are governed by a local Interfraternal Council and the sororities are governed by a local Panhellenic Council, while the Greek Judiciary manages broad policy violations at the chapter-level. All Greek organizations occupy College-owned houses on Chestnut Street on campus. All members of fraternities and sororities must pay the $100 "Greek Membership Fee," a levy designed to fund leadership seminars and other educational events for Greeks.
Fraternities and sororities at the University of Virginia include the collegiate organizations on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. First founded in the 1850s with the establishment of several fraternities, the system has since expanded to include sororities, professional organizations, service fraternities, honor fraternities, and cultural organizations. Fraternities and sororities have been significant to the history of the University of Virginia, including the founding of two national fraternities Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ) and Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ).
Beta Sigma Omicron (ΒΣΟ) is a defunct American collegiate sorority. It was founded on December 12, 1888, at the University of Missouri and merged with Zeta Tau Alpha on August 7, 1964.
The National APIDA Panhellenic Association (NAPA) is an umbrella council for twenty Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American fraternities and sororities in universities in the United States.
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