It’s not unusual for a student to receive a vehicle when he or she starts college. For generations, handing over the keys for reliable transportation has been a time-honored tradition. At WVU Potomac State College on Sunday, April 26, that tradition was set in reverse, however, when a student and his family donated a reliable mode of transportation to his school.
PSC men’s baseball sophomore, Ryan Conrad, and his parents surprised the coaching staff and teammates just before the game by gifting the athletic department with a new Kawasaki Mule SX 4x4 XC vehicle. Whiteside Chevrolet of St. Clairsville, Ohio, officially donated the side-by-side. Josh and Trisha Conrad are employed by the dealership. He is in sales, and she is the office administrator.
Ryan Conrad and his parents with donated side-by-side
“Ryan had been telling us all year about how the old vehicle wasn’t doing so well,” Trisha said. “He called it the old girl. He would say, ‘I don’t think the old girl is going to make it through another season.”
She said her son then lamented that the athletic department needed a new vehicle that could traverse from building to building and field to field and still be gentle enough not to upset the playing turf.
“My kid is big on Facebook Marketplace, and so he was sending me all kinds of listings for side-by-sides from Marketplace,” Trisha Conrad said. “And I said ‘Ryan, when you buy one of these used, you don’t know the problems it has had, so I talked to my supervisors at work, told them what this donation would mean to the team, the college, and my son, and they made it happen.”
The Conrads were on hand for the presentation on Sunday. It was the first time the family had seen the vehicle as well.
“I think it’s pretty cool that the color blue is the same color blue as the school colors,” Conrad said.
“WVU Potomac State College gratefully recognizes this donation, generously provided by Whiteside Chevrolet and the WVU Potomac State College Baseball Teams, Classes of 2026 and 2027,” said Megan Webb, Director of Development of Potomac State College, who arranged the surprise unveiling gift to the team. “This has been a hard secret to keep.”