KAESER, Virginia — From his roots in the dirt roads of Mississippi to his current office with mountain views, Chris Gilmer, the new president of WVU Potomac State University, embraces the values of the community in which he grew up. said to have been influenced and inspired by all the while.
Gilmer came to Potomac seven weeks ago from West Virginia University in Parkersburg, where he was president for four years. Prior to that, nearly all of his career was in his home state of Mississippi, Gilmer said.
One-third of the students currently enrolled at Potomac State University are first-generation college students, and Gilmer resonates with him as the first person in his family to go to college himself. increase.
“Even for those who have a culture of higher education in their families, it may go back a generation,” Gilmer said. “These students have a long history of higher education in their families. We have to support them in a different way than students, they can do anything but they are still figuring it out for themselves.Our job is to give them all the different tools they need to succeed. to provide.”
Gilmer, he said, grew up “on the dirt roads in rural Mississippi on a small farm that his grandparents owned,” attended college, and had their full blessing and support.
“My grandfather dropped out of school in first grade,” Gilmer said. “He struggled with reading and writing. He used to say to us, ‘Once you have it, once you have it, no one can take it away from you.'”
As a teenager, the day after Gilmer sold the herd of cattle he had raised since childhood, his grandfather took him to the local junior college. So, said Gilmer, leading him down the path he had taken ever since.
“He said to Dr. Wright, I will never forget these words, ‘This is my son. Almost all the money I got in the world, is that enough?
“That was enough to pay for my first junior college tuition,” Gilmer said. “Since then, I’ve paid for it up front.”
Gilmer says he wouldn’t be here without the support of his family and community, and he hopes to foster a supportive and encouraging environment for Kaiser students as well.
“There’s nothing special about me,” Gilmer said. “I worked really hard and a lot of people made a lot of sacrifices to keep me here. This guy combines two things and when he looks at his kids he’s like, ‘You You can be anything you want to be.” Any goal can be achieved. Because they kind of understand that some of the roads they’re walking are the roads I’ve been walking too. “
Gilmer said education was “sacred” to his family, but he also hopes to encourage young people to pursue the career path that best suits them.
“I think some people should get a PhD if they want, and some people should get a certificate or an associate’s degree if they like,” Gilmer said. “It’s up to them to decide. Society shouldn’t decide where they stop, but they should go where they want to go and as far as they can go to be a contributing member of society.”
Rather than coming to campus with a list of ideas for change, Gilmer says he forms opinions about what to focus on through conversations with community members and local leaders. Strengthening the school’s agricultural programs, along with expanding online class offerings to give veterans more educational opportunities, is one of the things he wants to focus on during his tenure.
Gilmer says Potomac State University has a lot of growth potential and wants to foster that for both the university and its students.
“You can earn a WVU-quality degree without leaving home in a small family community where you are safe, people know your name, and invest in you as an individual,” Gilmer said. So defined, it all comes down to a sense of community.”
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