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Appalachia, and the entire world, really, was shaken by the passing of Dolly Parton. Dolly — everyone called her Dolly — was a Tennessee native, country and pop music singer, and philanthropist who invested heavily in people – especially here in Appalachia. And in children’s literacy through her Imagination Library, which provides free books to young kids. To a lot of people, she was Appalachia. To mark her passing, Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Ted Olson, a country music historian at East Tennessee State University’s Department for Appalachian Studies.
The Marshall Board of Governors hosted an event Wednesday afternoon introducing Jerome Gilbert as the next President.
Credit Clark Davis / WV Public Broadcasting
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WV Public Broadcasting
New Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert presented with green jacket by Interim President Gary White and Board of Governors Chairman Michael Sellards.
The Marshall and Huntington Community’s welcome Jerome Gilbert and his wife Lee to Huntington. Speakers at the ceremony included board Chairman Michael Sellards and Marshall interim President Gary White. Gilbert said he’s ready for the challenge to lead the university into the next year and has some different ideas for the university already.
“I’m interested in building on the strengths of the past and it’s been a strong liberal arts university over the years and combine that liberal arts with the STEM areas and medicine,” Gilbert said. “It really presents a very broad based education that prepares students for jobs in this century.”
Gilbert was hired last month as Marshall’s 37th president. He had held various positions at Mississippi State since 1988, including that of provost and executive vice president since March 2010. The Higher Education Policy Commission has approved a two-year contract for Gilbert in which he will be paid $430,000 annually. Gilbert said he understands that right away he’ll be dealing with the budget cuts at the state level, but he has ideas about how to approach the lack of funds in different ways.
“On the flip side of budget cuts I’m also looking at increasing enrollment as a way to increase revenue and I’m going to be very actively involved in looking at ways to recruit additional students from West Virginia and also from the surrounding states, so that’ll be on my agenda as well, looking at new ways to recruit students to Marshall,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert will start the position of Marshall University President in January.
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Schuyler Mitchell, assistant news director at nonprofit newsroom Mother Jones, found that at least $1 million in opioid settlement funds have been used to purchase ALPR surveillance systems across the country.
They love West Virginia. They want to make their future here, but jobs, housing and opportunity can make that choice harder than it sounds. In the first of two Us & Them episodes, Trey Kay talks with young West Virginians trying to decide whether they can put down their own roots in a place they call home.
Absentee voting is a major topic in the news with the 2026 general election just over the horizon, but it wasn’t much of an issue in West Virginia’s May primary.
