MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — West Virginia University President Michael T. Benson continued his exploration of his new home with extensive visits to Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.
“I’ve been through the eastern panhandle, but this is the first time I’ve been here and actually looked around a bit,” Benson said during a conversation with MetroNews affiliate WEPM Radio in Martinsburg.
Benson visited the Proctor and Gamble facility in Martinsburg, a West Virginia University Agriculture extension farm in the region, and WVU Medicine Berkeley during the visit. He was also excited about getting to see the tree where abolitionist John Brown was hanged in Jefferson County.
“As a historian all these things really kind of light my fire,” he said.
Benson said he was impressed with P&G’s operations and added it’s an important component of the region.
“I’ve really come to appreciate how important manufacturing is to this part of the state, but also how many folks commute into Washington D.C. and Maryland so we’re certainly hopeful they’ll form a connection to WVU Medicine and some of the other things we do,” Benson said.
Benson planned to pause his visits to each county of the state for a brief period, but planned to complete the task by the end of the academic year. He hoped to make a big push to directly recruit high school students to consider a WVU campus for their post secondary learning. He said the eastern panhandle is lucrative ground for such activity.
“The schools out here are really good and we want to increase our market share of those West Virginia students who want to stay in the state, but we want to make sure we inform them of all the opportunities that are available at one of our campus in Keyser, Beckley, or Morgantown,” said Benson.
“Students who go into professional programs, whether it’s medical, dental, pharmacy, or nursing, we want to make sure we keep them here. This is a part of the state that is creating jobs and creating growth and it bears remembering this is a part of the state where those jobs will be available,” he said.