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It begins with a simple question: Why is the promised practice facility for the West Virginia University marching band being moved to a privately-owned recreation center miles away from the WVU campus?

A visual introduction to an exclusive Vernissage Magazine Investigation

They Say That a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

More than four thousand people contributed a total of $1.25 million to build WVU’s Pride of West Virginia Marching Band a dedicated, state-of-the-art practice facility on the WVU campus. The financial goal for construction was reached in 2021. A groundbreaking ceremony was held. But construction never began. Then, in late October of 2023, WVU officials announced that the band’s practice facility would not be built on campus, as promised. Instead, The Pride’s donated funds will be used to build a field for the band to practice on at a privately-owned recreational complex called Mylan Park.

The following week, seeking to quell controversy over the announcement, the university posted a FAQ which read, in part: “As the University continued to plan for a new practice facility, several issues evolved with the on-campus site.” The FAQ noted ‘drainage issues ‘and ‘space concerns’ at Hawley Field, WVU’s former campus baseball stadium where the practice facility was supposed to be built. The WVU Foundation, the university nonprofit legally responsible for proper administration of contributions, has indicated it will use The Pride’s $1.25 million in donor funds to build a field at Mylan Park.

The articles that follow are an investigation into what donors to the Pride Practice Facility call a “bait-and-switch” operation, using their generosity to benefit a private, politically-connected entity. The following images illustrate their concerns.

Note: All of the photographs in this article were taken on the same day, between 1:30 and 2:30 pm, March 11, 2024.

THE PRIDE PRACTICE FACILITY THAT WAS PRESENTED TO DONORS IN SOLICITATIONS

BELOW: This is the Pride Practice Facility donors were promised in WVU Foundation solicitations. It features an artificial turf replica of WVU’s football field, a covered pavilion for music rehearsal during inclement weather, and a climate-controlled instrument and uniform storage building with restrooms. The first phase of construction -which university internal records show was fully-funded in 2021 – was to have included the artificial turf field, stadium lights for evening practice, and a tower from which the band director would conduct practice:

THE PRIDE PRACTICE FACILITY LOCATION SPECIFICALLY PROMISED TO MEMBERS OF THE PRIDE AND TO DONORS

BELOW: This is Hawley Field, the location where the Pride Practice Facility was supposed to be built. This is the location promised to members of The Pride, and to donors in WVU Foundation solicitations. University records show that Hawley Field – WVU’s former baseball stadium – was given to the marching band by the WVU Athletic Department for facility construction. This site is on WVU’s Evansdale Campus, adjacent to the men’s soccer stadium, the WVU Coliseum, and across the street from the College of Creative Arts, where the School of Music and WVU Band Office are located. This site is fewer than 200-yards from where The Pride currently practices. On the afternoon of March 11, 2024, Hawley Field was dry:

THE LOCATION AT PRIVATELY-OWNED MYLAN PARK WHERE THE WVU FOUNDATION WILL USE DONOR FUNDS

BELOW: This is the location at Mylan Park where WVU and the WVU Foundation intend to use donor funds to build an artificial turf football field for marching band practice and park rental. This site is five miles from campus, down a winding, two-lane road that highway studies declared “inadequate” over ten years ago. More than 300 students will have to carpool to this location for autumn afternoon practice, returning to campus in late evening darkness. On the afternoon of March 11, 2024, this site was wet and muddy, a large part of it covered by standing water:

A COMPARISON OF FACILITES

BELOW: The promised on-campus Pride Practice Facility included a covered pavilion for music rehearsal in inclement weather. To build that pavilion, the band would have to raise more money from donors. Mylan Park has offered to let The Pride use a picnic pavilion adjacent to the new field site, if it’s not being rented. On the left is the pavilion as originally portrayed to Pride members and to donors. On the right is the Mylan Park picnic pavilion:

Below: This is the ground between the Mylan Park field location and the Mylan Park picnic shelter ‘rehearsal pavilion’:

A PANORAMIC COMPARISON OF THE TWO SITES

Below: Comparison panoramic views of the two sites. As noted, both of these photographs were taken between 1:30 and 2:30 in the afternoon on the same day, March 11, 2024.

Top Panorama: The on-campus Hawley Field location promised to The Pride and to donors in WVU and WVU Foundation solicitations. Hawley Field was given to The Pride by the WVU Athletic Department specifically for construction of the intended state-of-the-art Pride Practice Facility.

Bottom Panorama: The Mylan Park field location. WVU and the WVU Foundation intend to use the funds donors contributed for the Pride Practice Facility to build an artificial turf field on this site. That field will be made available for recreational rental by Mylan Park. Mylan Park Foundation officials have refused to answer the question of whether The Pride -whose private contributions are being used to build the Mylan Park field- will receive any portion of that rental income.

WHAT THIS SERIES IS ABOUT

The series that follows, The Pride and Prevarication, is the result of more than four months of investigation by Vernissage Magazine. These reports are based on publicly available records at the university, county, state, and federal levels, as well as emails and other communications obtained by Vernissage through the use of the Freedom of Information Act.

Over the course of this series of articles, Vernissage will examine the issues and individuals involved in this questionable diversion of public donor funds that appears to largely benefit a private entity, which has long desired an artificial turf football field.

In the next Vernissage Magazine article:

Our story begins in August of 2023, with a secret meeting of county commissioners, WVU administrators, and Mylan Park Foundation directors… and a back room deal for a long-coveted football field, paid for by donors who thought they were contributing to the on-campus, state-of-the-art practice facility that the Pride of West Virginia was promised.

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE: In Pictures – The Pride and Prevarication – What this Series is About

Why Vernissage Magazine chose to investigate

Preview to an Exclusive Vernissage Magazine Investigation

It is a glorious fall Saturday.

Breathe the crisp, clean air. Walk across hillsides of walnut and hickory that wave luminous gold leaves against brilliant blue sky, as if to beckon the gathering throng of fans.

The fans, too, are adorned in gold and blue, lured by the siren call of tradition. The stadium atmosphere shivers in anticipation.

Listen: the distant drums grow nearer. A hush falls over the crowd.

Suddenly, as if shot from a musket, hundreds of musicians burst onto the field, racing 220 beats per minute; more than three steps every second. Abruptly, they halt. Fifteen-score instruments sound in fanfare.

Sixty-thousand fans roar in unison. Their emotion is palpable.

“I cry when they come out,” says Sandra Huck. “So much pride!”

“It always puts a lump in my throat,” adds Rita Christopher-Close.

Fall Saturdays may revolve around football, but at West Virginia University the marching band is revered.

“Best university band in all of America,” says Del Phillips.

The Pride of West Virginia.

A sports announcer called them that during the 1975 Peach Bowl. The name stuck. Nearly fifty years later, The Pride firmly remains a symbol of everything West Virginians believe their state exemplifies: nose-to-the-grindstone, blue-collar ethic, and dedication.

Consider this: The Pride of West Virginia has been marching since 1901.

The John Phillips Sousa Foundation presented The Pride with its highest honor, an award the Los Angeles Times calls, ‘The Heisman Trophy of the collegiate band world.’ It recognizes The Pride for decades of excellence, to the point that WVU’s marching band has ‘made outstanding contributions to the American way of life,’ by setting an example for other bands around the country.

Today, Pride alumni direct the marching bands of other major universities, including Auburn, South Carolina, and Cincinnati. The director of the University of Alabama marching band started out as a Pride saxophonist.

WVU fan Patti Rose firmly believes The Pride of West Virginia is, “Absolutely, without a doubt, the best college band in the nation.”

But The Pride’s practice facilities don’t stack up.

Many university bands have on-campus complexes with dedicated practice fields, and rehearsal and storage areas.

The Pride of West Virginia has had to practice on the basketball arena parking lot.

So, friends of The Pride, including the WVU Alumni Band, decided that if the university wouldn’t pay to build The Pride a dedicated practice space, they would raise the money for one.

“The whole point is the band deserves a good facility on campus,” says alumni Brian Roberts.

Plans for the Pride Practice Facility included an artificial-turf replica of the stadium football field with stadium lights for autumn evening practices, a tower for the band director to oversee drills, climate-controlled storage building, and a covered music rehearsal pavilion. This state-of-the-art facility would put The Pride on equal-footing with other big university bands.

One of the Pride Practice Facility architectural renderings used by the WVU Foundation to solicit over $1.25 million from donors

Fundraising began about four years ago. The WVU Foundation – the university non-profit charged with collecting and safeguarding donations – created a special fund designated solely for the Pride’s promised on-campus Practice Facility, and started soliciting contributions.

WVU’s Athletic Department chipped in, giving The Pride the site of Hawley Field, the former university baseball stadium, on which to build the practice complex. It’s located on the Evansdale Campus, just a couple hundred yards from the band’s current parking lot practice site.

An architectural firm was hired to develop a site plan and facility renderings

In just four years, the band raised over $1.25 million, all of it from private donors.

By March of 2021, enough money had been raised for WVU to issue a request for construction bids. In October of that year, WVU held a ceremonial groundbreaking on the Evansdale Campus.

And then… nothing.

Until late October, 2023… when it was announced that The Pride would not get its on-campus practice facility after all. The band’s donated funds would be used to build a football field for them to practice on at a privately-owned recreation center five miles away from campus The Pride will practice on it… but it will also be rented out for the benefit of the park.

Donors called it a bait-and switch. Unethical. Quite possibly illegal. But the University and the WVU Foundation – despite being legally obligated to safeguard contributions – are determined to follow through with the scheme to divert donor funds to benefit a private entity.

Above left: The on-campus site where donors were promised the facility would be built. Above right: The location where the WVU Foundation will use their contributions.

Now, 123 years of tradition and a beloved Mountain State icon is endangered.

Nothing about moving The Pride of West Virginia off-campus made sense. What few explanations university administrators provided just didn’t seem to add up.

That’s when Vernissage Magazine decided to look into the issue. The result is a continuing series of articles, which we have titled, The Pride and Prevarication.

The articles that will follow in the coming weeks are the product of more than four months of investigation. Information presented is based on public records on file at the university, local, state, and federal levels; open social media posts and chatroom communications; commercial media and organization press releases; audio, video, and other digitally-recorded material; internal West Virginia University documents; and email communications of WVU employees obtained by Vernissage Magazine through the use of the Freedom of Information Act.

In the Next Vernissage Magazine Article:

- If a picture is worth a thousand words, these photographs speak volumes. A look at what donors were promised when they contributed to build The Pride a state-of-the-art practice facility, and where their money is going.

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE: Preview – Fanfare for the Uncommon Band

Author: johndmcpherson

In Pictures: What This Series is About

It begins with a simple question: Why is the promised practice facility for the West Virginia University marching band being moved to a privately-owned recreation center miles away from the WVU campus?