News + Press
News + Press
News + Press
For Immediate Release July 13, 2026
National Embarrassment: Morrisey, Hanshaw and McGeehan Waste $3 Million on Political Pet Project That Has Attracted Just One Student
CHARLESTON, WV — West Virginia has once again made national headlines for all the wrong reasons.
News outlets across the country are reporting that the Republican-created Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship at West Virginia University, a program mandated by Governor Patrick Morrisey, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, and Republican legislative leaders to combat so-called “woke indoctrination”—has attracted exactly one student despite receiving $3 million in taxpayer funding. The story has been featured by national publications including People magazine, The Independent, The New Republic, and other media outlets, making West Virginia and its flagship university the subject of national ridicule.
“Republicans used to call themselves the party of small government. Today, they are obsessed with controlling what happens in your bedroom, your hospital room, your living room, and now your classroom,” said West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin. “They invented a straw man about so-called ‘woke indoctrination’ at WVU and responded by spending millions of taxpayer dollars creating their own government-mandated counter-indoctrination program. After all that money and political interference, they attracted exactly one student. Governor Morrisey, Speaker Hanshaw, and Majority Leader Patrick McGeehan should be embarrassed, not only for wasting taxpayer dollars, but for turning West Virginia and our flagship university into a national punchline. West Virginians want leaders focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, and lowering costs, not politicians trying to dictate what professors teach and what students should think.”
The irony is impossible to ignore. Republicans claimed they were fighting “government indoctrination,” yet responded by having politicians dictate what a public university should teach and by forcing taxpayers to fund a government-created ideological center.
As one West Virginia University political science professor observed, the Washington Center has become “exactly what it complains that higher education has become” because “it was created in Charleston, and it was imposed on the university, so it’s a big government mandate.”
Delegate Anitra Hamilton (Monongalia) said, “While students and families struggle with the rising cost of higher education, Republican leadership chose to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on a political experiment instead of investing in scholarships, faculty, research, workforce development, or programs that students actually want.”
Delegate John Williams (Monongalia) added, “The failure of the Washington Center demonstrates the danger of politicians substituting political ideology for sound public policy.”
“West Virginians expect their tax dollars to be spent solving real problems—not funding expensive political talking points,” Williams added. “Students came to WVU to pursue an education, not to become props in a partisan culture war. This $3 million boondoggle has embarrassed our state, embarrassed our flagship university, and demonstrated once again that Republican leaders are more interested in scoring political points than delivering results for the people of West Virginia.”
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