West Virginia Wesleyan College - Murmurmontis Yearbook (Buckhannon, WV)

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90 YEARS: TYING THE PAST TO THE PRESENT The 1951 edition of the Mur- murmontis read, Sixty one years ago our fathers brought forth in Buckhannon. West Vir- ginia Wesleyan College. Build- ings have been burned and raised; students, faculty and administrators have come and gone, but the oak grove has remained. The trees in the oak grove are the original trees that were on campus when the school was first founded. High in the branches the winds whisper secrets of Wesleyan's family, are their sentinels of time. In this grove devotionals rise to praise the creator, youth discovers courage to face difficult deci- sions and boys press the hands of girls they love. In 1980, the oak grove still exists on the vast lawn in front of the library down the walkway from the Administration Build- ing. Ninety years have passed since West Virginia Wesleyan College first opened its doors to students. In those ninety years many changes have occurred to the college in both educational and physical aspects. Throughout the changes and the years Wesleyan has strived to maintain its original aim: not simply to produce scholars, but to develop character, to pro- mote Christian culture and the truest refinement of thought and conduct. Since the inception of Wesleyan, both this ideal and the oak grove have remained. Thus, a part of Wesleyan remains constant through changes, tying the past to the present. , T. .Ka « 20 90lh Anniversary

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9{Mi ANNIVERSARY

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In 1885, the West Virginia Conference of Methodists proposed to erect a seminary. To that end, a Board of Trustees was elected. Two years later the Board approved the purchase of 43 acres of Buckhannon land for the sum of $5,551.87. On September 3, 1890, seventy-five students attended class at West Virginia Conference Semi- nary. Somehow they were able to survive without tables, library, or classroom apparatus. The cam- pus consisted of the Main Building (above) and one piano. There were three faculty members and the President. What we know as Agnes Howard Hall (left) was erected in 1895 as the Ladie's Hall. Pres- ently the oldest building on campus, Agnes How- ard exists as an example of Wesleyan's small beginning. 90th Anniversary 21