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WLU dedicates Campbell Hall

WEST LIBERTY – While guests admired the neoclassical exterior of West Liberty University’s Campbell Hall of Health Sciences during a dedication ceremony Monday, the real celebration was for the educational future of students learning inside its walls.

“For the proud heritage of this institution, the opportunity that lies within this building and the life of service unselfishly provided by the building’s namesake all share one thing in common: The ability to transform the lives of countless numbers of individuals,” said WLU President Robin C. Capehart.

The $23 million, 72,000 square-foot building, named in honor of WLU President Emeritus Clyde Campbell, houses six academic departments, including chemistry, dental hygiene, medical laboratory sciences, nursing, speech pathology/audiology and physician assistant studies.

Campbell graduated from West Liberty in 1953 and later served as a chemistry professor and then president of the university from 1984-1995. During the ceremony, he emphasized how humbled he was by the occasion and by the opportunity to continue being a part of the university’s life into the future.

“That’s the bottom line: to provide the facilities for students to learn,” said Campbell, whose family attended the dedication.

Senior dental hygiene major Tiffany Forbes described working in the state-of-the-art facility as a privilege. Dental hygiene students have access to digital x-rays and digital charting in the new learning environment.

Guests on Monday had the opportunity to tour Campbell Hall’s classrooms, laboratories and clinical spaces as students were available to answer questions. Capehart said the dedication’s timing is fitting as the institution recently celebrated its fifth anniversary of becoming a university.

Capehart thanked former Chancellor of Higher Education Brian Noland, West Virginia Chancellor of Higher Education Paul Hill, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, who was West Virginia’s governor at the time the project began, and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, among others, for their support in making the new facility a reality. At the ceremony, Mary Jo Guidi delivered remarks from Manchin, D-W.Va., while state Sen. Rocky Fitzsimmons, D-Wheeling, shared remarks from Tomblin.

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