Gov. Patrick Morrisey (center) – accompanied by Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock (left) and Senator Laura Wakim Chapman R-Ohio (right) at the Chester Volunteer Fire Department in Chester, West Virginia – ceremonially sign House Bill 3297, which establishes the Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship at West Virginia, on Thursday, June 26, 2025 Virginia University establishes. (Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey)
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has not yet named a director of West Virginia University’s fresh Washington Center, an academic program mandated for the campus by Republican lawmakers. There is a need to teach “classic Western history and culture.”
The fresh state law In commissioning the center, Morrisey was given the task of appointing its director in consultation with the WVU Senate and Board of Governors. TAccording to the law, the director he appoints must appoint a seven-member academic council for the center by November 8th. Only one university employee can be a member of the council.
Morrisey’s office did not respond to questions for this story. The Republican governor before said that the Legislation was among his priorities to combat the woke agenda.
“Here in West Virginia we will educate, not indoctrinate.” He said in a June press release about the bill. “Students should be taught how to think, not what to think. The Washington Center will achieve this goal while providing students with lessons in America’s founding and a focus on classical education.”
The legislation did not provide for any further required dates for the center to become operational.
“WVU and the governor’s office are in the process of finalizing the appointment of the Washington Center’s director. We expect to make an announcement soon and then have the center operational,” said Shauna Johnson, WVU’s executive director of strategic communications, in an email.
Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Brooke, who sponsored the Washington Center legislation, declined to comment, saying he would leave a formal announcement to the governor’s office.
His bill, House Bill 3297passed by the Republican-led Legislature in April, although some Democratic lawmakers – and WVU alumni – expressed concerns through a political appointee who oversees the academics.
The bill called for WVU to operate the Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship, which would focus on teaching constitutional studies and “great debates about Western civilization.” According to the governor’s office, it will also provide “fact-based instructions on the founding of America.”
“The center is designed to provide students with the skills, habits, and attitudes necessary to reach their own informed conclusions on issues of social and political importance,” the measure states.
According to the bill, the director “shall be an expert in the Western tradition, the American founding, and American constitutional thought and shall have publicly demonstrated, through speeches, publications, or presentations, his commitment to the purposes, objectives, and policies of the Center.”
The term of office of the director is five years and can be extended. He or she reports to the WVU president and other university leaders.
The director is tasked with overseeing the Washington Center, including managing and recruiting staff and overseeing its curriculum and program budget.
While the bill originally did not provide funding for the center’s director and faculty, the final budget bill included $1.5 million that WVU could employ for the center.
In addition to a director, the bill stipulates that the university must have five additional lecturers at the center, which is a consequence of WVU Elimination of around 300 teachers and staff positions for financial reasons.
The Washington Center may utilize existing faculty and courses to meet the bill’s civics instruction requirements.
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