WVU Army & Air Force ROTC Cadets will lower the U.S. and West Virginia state flags, “retiring the colors,” for the final time in front of Stansbury Hall during a brief and reserved ceremony Friday (March 8) at 1 p.m. Cadets will be in place at 12:45 p.m. for pictures.
The joint ROTC detail will pass the U.S. flag to Brig. Gen. Wilbur Wolf, a 1985 graduate of the program, to acknowledge the historical significance of the building and its two primary tenants for the past several generations. Wolf will turn the colors over to President Gordon Gee for safeguard until they can be properly raised over the new ROTC offices on the Evansdale campus.
Over the upcoming spring break, the two ROTC detachments will cease operations at Stansbury Hall and transition to modern office space in the former Residential Faculty Life condos (the “Riffles”) at 365 Oakland Street behind Brooke Tower on the Evansdale campus. The officer training programs are the last remaining WVU academic programs operating in the structure. Other departments have previously transitioned to different space around campus in preparation for the remediation and demolition of the building, which will eventually be replaced by a new Business & Economics building along the Caperton Trail and the Monongahela River.
Stansbury Hall is a favorite locale for Morgantown citizens and WVU students as the home for one of the University’s most famous grads, Jerry West, who led the school to college basketball prominence in the 1950s. The Chelyan native went on to star as a Hall of Fame player and general manager in the National Basketball Association. A piece of the original Stansbury Hall floor will be preserved for WVU Basketball offices behind the Coliseum.
Students, faculty, staff and the public are invited to observe the ceremony from the opposite side of the street outside of the Beechurst PRT Station or along the Beechurst Bridge. There will be no comments given during the event. ROTC Cadets, cadre and Brig. Gen. Wolf will be available to the media after ceremony.
Military protocol calls for civilians to face the flag, assume a position of attention, remove their hats (males) with their right hand, and place their right hand over their hearts. Service members and veterans, even if not in uniform, may render a salute during the playing of Retreat.