Morrisey signs bill creating WVU center for ‘Civics, Culture, and Statesmanship’

CHESTER, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey was in the Northern Panhandle on Thursday, where he signed into law a bill that establishes a new center at West Virginia University which he says is focused on teaching students “HOW to think, and not WHAT to think.”

According to a release put out Thursday, the newly signed bill, House Bill 3297, officially establishes the “Washington Center for Civics, Culture, and Statesmanship” at West Virginia University.

Gov. Morrisey said that the center aims to do the following things at WVU:

• Place an increased focus on American constitutional studies
• Mold students into responsible leaders and informed citizens
• Present fact-based instruction on America’s founding and the achievements of Western Civilization

The release also said that the center aims to “educate university students in political philosophy, constitutional governance, economic thought, western history and culture, and the principles that inform republican self-government.”

House Bill 3297 passed the West Virginia Legislature this past April. As of Thursday, the specifics of how the university plans to implement this center are unclear.

A director of the center has also yet to be named, but any candidates are required to be a “expert on the western tradition, the American founding, and American constitutional thought, and shall have publicly demonstrated, through speeches, publications, or presentations, a commitment to the purposes, goals, and policies of the center,” according to the bill.