Day 18: A Moment with the WVU Class of 1883

On July 10, the Office of the Provost at WVU announced the results of its “Academic Program Portfolio Review” process. You can read about it, including a list of programs placed under “formal review,” here.

I won’t comment on that, but in this time I want to share a moment from WVU’s past - one that lives on in my dining room.

My house was built in 1915 by George C. Baker, a Morgantown attorney. Baker is still known locally as the namesake of WVU Law’s annual oral advocacy competition, the Baker Cup.

On June 14, 1883, Baker was 21 years old and one of 11 members of the WVU Class of 1883. It was WVU’s 13th graduating class. Baker would go on to earn his law degree at WVU in 1886.

This graduation announcement was preserved and passed down by generations of the Baker family and subsequent owners of the house. I sometimes wonder who underlined Baker’s name - maybe Baker himself. His graduation must have been a source of pride: His father died in 1863, the year after Baker was born, and his mother survived by teaching Mon County students for a few cents apiece before she remarried. Baker’s survival and success must have been far from assured.

But that day in June, 140 years ago, was a day for celebration.