Famous Faces on Campus

From the worlds of entertainment,
sports, the arts, and government,
the faces and achievements of visitors
to WVU's Morgantown campus last
fall are familiar to many.

Sports Hall of Famers

It was a special WVU Homecoming for five former athletes and coaches who were inducted into WVU's Sports Hall of Fame. From left to right are: basketball great Wil Robinson; football players Mike Sherwood,Oliver Luck, and Artie Owens; and longtime track and cross-country coach Stan Romanoski. The late Clarence Spears, a football coach, was also inducted in the shrine's seventh class. "I never could have done what I did without support from West Virginia's great fans," said Owens, a running back who holds WVU's career rushing record. "I felt right at home and that had a lot to do with my success. When I came here I didn't lose a family, I gained a family."

Pro Football's Leader

National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue spoke with students after giving a guest lecture at the College of Business and Economics. Tagliabue spoke to business, journalism, sports marketing, and other students about globalization of the NFL and other sports. "We have become entertainment in a way that is so much broader than sports," the commissioner said. He cited the World League of American Football (WLAF), which established European franchises; Fox Television, which is aggressively pursuing a broader market; and the new Disney Sports Complex as evidence of the expanding sports consciousness. The NFL earned $3 billion in revenues last year, Tagliabue said. WLAF president Oliver Luck, a former NFL and Mountaineer quarterback, introduced Tagliabue. Owens-Corning CEO Glen Hiner, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, and WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr., were special guests. "You have the president of a Fortune 500 company hosting the NFL commissioner, the president of the World League of American Football introducing him, and a United States Senator in the audience, all in one classroom at WVU," Hardesty quipped.

Taiwanese Vice Minister

Taiwan's Vice Minister of Economic Affairs, Chii-Ming Yiin, was welcomed to the Morgantown airport by Taiwanese WVU students and others. The Taiwanese dignitary came to West Virginia with U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller and a delegation of Taiwanese business leaders. At WVU on October 15, they attended a research exposition at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy. "[WVU] is a university with state-of-the-art facilities doing many advancements in research projects and promoting high-tech industries," commented the vice minister.

Basketball All-Star

Mountaineer basketball legend Rod "Hot Rod" Hundley spoke during Mountaineer Week about his experiences at WVU, as an NBA All-Star, and as a broadcaster for the NBA's Utah Jazz. Hundley said, "It's a funny feeling to come back here. I don't get to do it very often. You just look around and say, 'Gee whiz, did it really happen? Was I once a student here?' It's funny to walk around and no one knows me. No one recognizes me. When I was a student here, I was a hero. We all associate--regardless of where you went to school--with where we went to college. I still have a West Virginia Alumni sweatshirt that I wear all the time. Your four years in college is about as good as it ever gets."

Supreme Court Justice

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to be seated on the United States Supreme Court, gave the College of Law's annual Edward G. Donley Memorial Lecture on November 19. Her talk focused on the differing roles of federal and state government. WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr., welcomed O'Connor to campus. She said she was happy to visit West Virginia: "Today, with this speech, I will have spoken in all fifty states . . . and I want you to know I saved the best for last." Earlier in the day, O'Connor met privately with the law school's students and faculty. Among her accomplishments, O'Connor is noted for her contributions to court decisions on First Amendment religious freedoms and affirmative action issues.

Cosby Greets WVU Friends

Legendary comedian and actor Bill Cosby performed for a crowd of around 9,000 people at the WVU Coliseum on November 14 as part of Fall Parents Weekend. WVU officials gave Cosby, who last visited the University in the 1970s, a personalized number 97 Mountaineer football jersey and a WVU baseball cap. The sweatshirt Cosby wore during his performance read, "Hello Friend," which was a popular greeting of Cosby's son Ennis, who was killed in Los Angeles in January 1997. Cosby dedicated his show to students and their parents.

Head Muppeteer

JoAnn Siegrist, left, meets with Jane Henson, wife of the late Muppet creator Jim Henson. Siegrist is director of WVU's unique and top-ranked Puppeteer Program in the Division of Theatre at WVU's College of Creative Arts. Henson came to WVU during the fall to experience the University's renowned program. She and several Muppeteer associates gave workshops, talks, and multimedia presentations to hundreds of interested people during her two-day visit.

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