Fairmont State University

History

Fairmont State was founded as a private institution in 1865 in the basement of the Methodist Protestant Church at 418 Quincy Street. It was known as the West Virginia Normal School at Fairmont and was dedicated to educating teachers. On February 27, 1867, it was purchased by the state from the Regency of the West Virginia Normal School which had been formed in 1866. With this purchase, this private normal school became a branch of the State Normal School at Marshall College.

From 1867 to 1892 the school was known variously as Fairmont Normal School, the Fairmont Branch of the West Virginia Normal School, the Branch of the West Virginia Normal School at Fairmont, a branch of the West Virginia State Normal School at Marshall College, but most commonly as Fairmont State Normal School. By 1892 the designation of "branch" had fallen into disuse by FSNS. In 1893, the school moved into a new building on Second Street and, in 1917, to its current location in the building (now called Hardway Hall in honor of former president Wendell G. Hardway) which sits on a hill overlooking Locust Avenue. Hardway Hall (originally known as The Fairmont Normal School Administration Building) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

In 1923, Fairmont State Normal School first offered a four-year bachelor’s degree program in education, making the school a college. It was renamed Fairmont State Teachers College in 1931 and Fairmont State College in 1943. On April 7, 2004, Governor Bob Wise signed legislation changing its name to Fairmont State University.

Today, FSU offers more than 80 baccalaureate degrees in business, education, engineering and technology, fine arts, liberal arts, and nursing and allied health administration with graduate programs in architecture, education, teaching, business, and criminal justice.

Community and Technical College

In 1974, a community college component was founded. This became independently accredited as the Fairmont State Community and Technical College in 2003. In 2006 Fairmont State was given direction by the state to split with the community and technical college, which then became known as Pierpont Community and Technical College. While both institutions still operate on the Fairmont campus, they are recognized as independent institutions and offer completely separate degree programs; Pierpont focuses more on two-year technical associate's programs, while Fairmont State's main focus is on four-year baccalaureate degrees and master's programs.

Athletics

Fairmont State's athletic teams, known as the Falcons (alternately as Fighting Falcons, or Lady Falcons for women's teams), compete in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II and field teams in 16 sports including football, men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's golf, acrobatics and tumbling, baseball, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's cross country.

In the 2016 football season, The Fairmont State Football team is undefeated for the first time since 1967. They are nationally ranked in D2 Football, 23rd in the AFCA poll and 25th in the D2 Football poll as of October 17, 2016.

Honor societies

Social organizations

Notable alumni

Notable faculty