For the second year, Mountain State University students, staff, faculty, alumni and the community as a whole have been taken on a roller coaster ride of loss, grief, anger, worry, uncertainty and relief as the university prepared to shut its doors.

The community begins 2013 welcoming University of Charlestons Beckley campus and bidding farewell to the nearly 80-year presence of Beckley College, College of West Virginia and Mountain State University.

But the face of higher education in Beckley differs vastly today from just a year ago. At its height, Mountain State University enrolled 8,200 each semester, but only 1,100 students remained across the schools campuses in Fall 2012, the semester following its accreditation withdrawal.

2012 began with swift changes as the MSU Board of Trustees quickly took the helm of the schools sinking nursing program and fired former president Charles H. Polk in January.

Later Polk would be named in many lawsuits that asserted his winner takes all leadership style in part led to the schools demise. Lawsuits also claim Polk withheld accreditation information from students for more than a year.

On Feb. 16, the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Nurses voted to withdraw accreditation from Mountain State Universitys Nursing Program. The board cited a low licensure exam pass rate and the inability for the university to produce student testing documents and clinical assessment tools.

Students and teachers filled the Charleston meeting room to beg the board to allow seniors to graduate in May.

The board heard the students plea and the nursing accreditation withdrawal became effective Aug. 31.

In following up with the Higher Learning Commissions 2011 Show-Cause Order, representatives from the accrediting body visited MSUs campus and hopes ran high as the community painted the town blue to show support for the local school.

Ultimately on July 10, the Higher Learning Commission decided to withdraw the schools accreditation, effective Aug. 27, stating the school had not met the requirements of the commissions Show-Cause Order.

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University of Charleston takes over MSU’s Beckley site