Marshall University

Marco the Bison, the Marshall University mascot.

The John Marshall Statue in front of the Drinko Library in 2020.

With the exception of the Old Main building, expansion of the facilities and the college itself did not begin until 1907, when the West Virginia Board of Regents changed the title of the presiding officer from "principal" to "president" and allowed the creation of new college-level departments.[9] At that time, enrollment surpassed 1,000 students.[10] The school began offering four-year degrees for the first time in 1920.

In 1937, the college suffered through a devastating flooding by the Ohio River.[12] Numerous structures, such as Northcott Hall and the James E. Morrow Library were extensively flooded. Much of Huntington was also heavily damaged, and as a result, a floodwall was constructed around much of the town to prevent future occurrences.

The West Virginia Board of Education authorized Marshall College in 1938 to offer the master's degree in six programs: chemistry, education, history, political science, psychology, and sociology, as the institution underwent another expansion. In that year the school was accredited as a "university level institution"; however, elevation to university status would remain a contentious political issue for decades to come. Further expansion accelerated after World War II.[13]

On March 2, 1961, West Virginia Legislature elevated Marshall to university status, and the legislation was signed by Governor W. W. Barron.[14] The student newspaper, The Parthenon, prepared two front pages for the day, depending on the outcome of the legislature's vote. Also in 1961, WMUL-FM began operations as the first public radio station in West Virginia. The station, which began in the Science Building at 10 watts of power, now broadcasts from the Communications Building with 1,400 watts.

In 1969, the university's athletic program, facing a number of scandals, fired both its football and basketball coaches and was suspended from the Mid-American Conference and from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The university rebuilt its athletic program back to respectability, and in 1977, the university joined the Southern Conference.

The Memorial Fountain on the Student Center Plaza.

On the evening of November 14, 1970, the Thundering Herd football team, along with coaches and fans, were returning home to Huntington from Kinston, North Carolina. The team had just lost a game 17–14 against the East Carolina University Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. The chartered Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed on approach to the Tri-State Airport after clipping trees just west of the runway and impacting, nose-first, into a hollow. All seventy-five people on board were killed, including 37 players and five coaches. Thirteen members of the team, as well as the members of the freshman football team, who were not eligible to play varsity under NCAA rules at that time, were not passengers.

The following season a new head coach, Jack Lengyel, was hired. The leaders of the "Young Thundering Herd" (to which the team officially changed its name for the 1971 season) were the few players who did not make the trip due to injury or disciplinary action. Additionally, there were 15 sophomores from the previous year's freshman team. The squad was also composed of freshmen players who were allowed to play at the varsity level due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, college football's governing body, waiving a rule prohibiting it. Three years later, it would waive the rule for all schools. Completing the squad were players from other Marshall sports programs. They won only two games in 1971. Their first win was a 15–13 victory against Xavier University in the home opener. Their second win, in their homecoming game, was against the Bowling Green State University Falcons.

A fountain and plaza at the center of the school campus is dedicated to the seventy-five victims. The water does not flow from November 14 until the first day of spring football practice the following year. The tragedy and its aftermath were the subject of several documentaries, including the award-winning Marshall University: Ashes to Glory. The tragedy and the rebuilding efforts were dramatized in the 2006 Warner Brothers feature We Are Marshall, which opened in Huntington a week before its national release date. Many scenes in the movie were filmed on the campus and throughout Huntington.

Marshall University Recreational Center complete with indoor pool, basketball courts, racquetball courts, exercise equipment, hanging indoor track, and artificial rock climbing wall (2009)

The Robert C. Byrd Biotech Center with the Weisberg Applied Engineering Building under construction in the background in 2013

In 1971 the Williamson and Logan campuses of Marshall University were combined by the West Virginia Legislature to form Southern West Virginia Community College (now Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College).[15]

In 1977 the university founded its School of Medicine, the first professional school and the first doctoral program. Over the next 20 years the school would add doctoral programs in many fields. Twenty years later, in 1997, the West Virginia Graduate College became the graduate college of Marshall University. Its campus is in South Charleston, West Virginia. In 1998, the John Deaver Drinko Library opened on campus. The center includes a 24-hour study center and a coffee shop, and has wired and wireless networking throughout the building. John Deaver Drinko graduated from the university in 1942. In 1997, Marshall merged with the University of West Virginia College of Graduate Studies (COGS),[16] with the latter being renamed Marshall University Graduate College.[17] In 2010 the university was authorized to begin offering undergraduate classes in South Charleston and renamed the facility Marshall University - South Charleston Campus.

Marshall's enrollment was 16,500 in 2004. In addition to the main campus in Huntington and the branch campus in South Charleston, West Virginia, the school maintains undergraduate centers in Gilbert, Point Pleasant, and Hurricane, West Virginia. In 1989, Marshall was governed by the University of West Virginia Board of Trustees, but this ended in 2000.

Marco the Bison Statue on Hodges Field

Several new facilities have been recently completed on Huntington campus. These buildings include two new first-year student residence halls, a health and recreation center, an engineering lab facility, softball field, and an artificial turf practice field that is open to the public. The Marshall University Foundation Hall, home of the Erickson Alumni Center, finished construction in 2010. In 2013 Marshall began construction on a new indoor practice facility, a new soccer field and the Applied Engineering complex. In July 2005, Dr Stephen J. Kopp took over as Marshall University's president and Dr Gayle Ormiston served as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

On December 17, 2014, the presidency of Marshall University was vacated after the sudden death of Dr Kopp. The Marshall University Board of Governors met on campus in emergency session on December 18, 2014, to begin the succession process,[18] and announced on December 29, 2014, that Gary G. White, a member of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and former chairman of the Marshall University Board of Governors, would serve as interim president of the university, effective Thursday, January 1, 2015. White resigned from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to take on the role of interim president and was not a candidate for the permanent position.[19] The Marshall University Board of Governors named Mississippi State University Provost Jerome A. "Jerry" Gilbert the 37th president of Marshall University on October 20, 2015.

There are 15 chapters on campus that are members of one of three communities: the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and the Panhellenic Council (PHC). Fraternities and sororities have been established on campus for 96 years. Sigma Sigma Sigma, established at Marshall in 1922, was the first of the national organization.

There are ten residence halls located on the main campus.

Freshmen students live in one of several residence halls dedicated to first-year students. Living Learning Communities provide student accommodation for those with similar interests. Marshall also provides for student living for upperclassmen. Among them is Marshall Commons, with four residence halls: Gibson, Wellman, Haymaker, and Willis. Each is a four-story co-residence hall, made up of four-person single suites, four-person double suites, and eight-person double suites.

Marshall University broke ground on a new graduate student housing complex on the Fairfield Campus of the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in June 2018. The graduate housing project, adjacent to the Erma Ora Byrd Clinical Center, will feature 200 units for apartment-style living and will accommodate pharmacy and medical students, and resident physicians.