As we get ready for the holiday season, PSC will end the semester with a fall-to-fall enrollment growth of more than 20%. The retention and recruitment efforts of WVU Potomac State College highlight our strategic efforts to expand the PSC brand and student accessibility. Next month, I will celebrate one year of serving as the PSC President, and I couldn’t be happier about our progress.
Monday, September 29
Home of the Catamounts! Have you noticed the new flags being installed around the WVU Potomac State College campus? We installed them while preparing for Homecoming Weekend. We hope that all Catamounts felt pride as they were greeted with this show of school spirit when they came back to campus. Special thanks to Chris Hess and Amanda Williamson for the great flags. We appreciate the City of Keyser’s support in allowing PSC to add some nice swag along the road!
Thursday, October 2
WVU Potomac State College Homecoming Weekend kicked off with a business-after-hours event and a party on the quad introducing PSC Royalty. Karaoke was fun and the s'mores were really good!
Friday, October 3
Friday of Homecoming Weekend was packed with fun activities, including the PC Retiree Social, Alumni Memorial Walk, Men’s Soccer, and an Alumni Evening Social.
Saturday, October 4
The first “Catamount Cookout” was a blast on Saturday and featured Kevin the Goat. I met many PSC alumni and families while everyone enjoyed free food and fun. Special thanks to Pilgrims for donating chicken and setting up a tent. We enjoyed having WVU Davis College, WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics, and WVU Potomac Valley Alumni Chapter support the cookout.
Sunday, October 5
We held our first annual Alex Kile Memorial 5K run. The run celebrated the life of former student-athlete and assistant coach, Alex Kile, who died unexpectedly in April of 2025. A scholarship has been created in her honor, and it will benefit future cross country and track & field athletes, carrying her legacy through their future success. The 5k garnered close to $5,000, with a goal of getting to the $10,000 mark before the academic year.
Tuesday, October 7
Congratulations to nursing sophomores on the Pledge/White Coat Ceremony. The awesome nursing program leadership and faculty celebrated this wonderful milestone with nursing students and their loved ones. We look forward to the positive impact these future nurses will have on our communities.
Wednesday, October 15
I had the opportunity to attend the University Leadership Team meeting in Morgantown. President Benson and I always cap off our monthly one-on-one meeting with a photo for my op-ed. WVU President Michael Benson joined us a few days later in Keyser for the 30th stop in his Welcome Home statewide tour.
Friday, October 17
Potomac State College ended the week hosting President Benson and WVU Medicine leaders on campus. The visit included a luncheon, campus tour, visit with PSC student athletes and collaboration meetings. President Benson even competed in a free-throw competition against PSC student Judd Messerly. Thank you to all the elected officials, Delegates Gary Howell, Rick Hillenbrand, and Lt. Gov. Randy Smith, and our K-12 partners at Mineral County Schools, Troy and Matthew Ravenscroft. Thank you, Mark Boucot and WVU Medicine. We greatly appreciate the partnership and support. WVU leadership Erin Newmeyer, Travis Mollohan, and Heather Richardson have done an amazing job on the “Welcome Home” tour! Let’s Go Catamounts! Let’s Go Mountaineers!
Wednesday, October 22 & Thursday, October 23
I jump-started the morning by welcoming Moorefield High School seniors onto campus. The next day, we also hosted Tucker County students. I truly enjoyed sharing all the great things about WVU Potomac State College and how education can change lives! I definitely noticed some future Catamounts in the groups.
Friday, October 24
Quote of the Week: “We learn from failure, not from success!" - Bram Stroker
Shared by Molly Alvaro, Asst. Professor of Psychology at PSC. Molly shared
this reflection regarding the quote, “my greatest lessons and motivators
in life have been the times when I experienced defeat. Those are the times
that we are forced to stop, breathe, and redirect, then we grow!”
Saturday, October 25
PSC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country swept the NJCAA Region 20 Division II Championships! Congratulations to Head Cross Country Coach Chris Biser! The men’s team victory is the first in school history at the NJCAA Division II level. Coach Biser is now 4 for 4 in the women’s championship since joining the program!
Monday, October 27
Halloween Spirit Week was pitched by a PSC student, and I started off the festivities by organizing classroom and office visits from Black Panther. “Dress to Profess” was one of my favorite days throughout the week. Please check out PSC social media pages to see more photos from the week.
Wednesday, October 29
The nursing program contacted my office to inquire if I would like to participate as a character in the nursing mock tornado & disaster simulation. I gladly accepted the invitation to share the experience with our students. As you can see, my character was a young adolescent child who lost her parents, so I really had to stay in character. After surprising a few students, it was great to see our nursing students’ teamwork, dedication, and commitment to the exercise.
I led a special session in Molly Alvaro’s course at Keyser High School. KHS students blew me away during the “warm fuzzy” activities and how they celebrated their classmates and teachers. WVU Potomac State College offers ACCESS and Level UP (dual credit) to high schools across the state.
Thursday, October 30
Friday at 6:30 am, I traveled 2 hours to Shinnston, WV, to Lincoln High School for the Catamount Chat Tour. Since Lincoln High School is home of the Cougars, we started the program with a very good “Let’s Go Cats” chant!
The men’s soccer team closed out its 2025 season, losing to CCBC Essex in the NJCAA Region 20 Semifinals after a thrilling double overtime win over Garrett in the quarterfinals. The team finished with a 9-4-1 overall record; the program’s most wins in a single season since 2015 and its highest winning percentage since 2013.
Potomac State Athletics hosted its 5th annual Trunk or Treat. Nearly 700 kids and their family members from the local community attended, with 150 Catamounts volunteering to make the event a success. This year, the addition of pony rides at the indoor riding arena and the Catamount Pumpkin Catapult added extra excitement to the night. The catapult was constructed by students in Joan Vogtman’s MAE 241 and 243 classes. Thanks to the teams, clubs, organizations, and local businesses that joined together to serve our community.
Upcoming Events
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Men’s & Women’s Basketball contests are underway, go to www.potomacstatesports.com for their schedules and results.
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December 3, 2025 – 5th Annual Frosty Fest
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December 12, 2025 – Catamounts march in the Keyser Christmas Parade