WVU Students Take To Twitter To Restore School's Image After Riots
MORGANTOWN (KDKA/AP) – The riots in Morgantown following WVU's win over Baylor caused plenty of damage. Now, two students are trying to repair the school's image by taking to social media.
WVU marketing students Deonna Gandy and Chris Hickey are the brains behind the #RespectfulMountaineer campaign. After a weekend filled with destructive behavior, these students wanted to let the nation know that WVU is a great place to be.
"He went on Twitter and actually tweeted it and I didn't really thing think he was going to. Then, I did it and a couple people started seeing it," Gandy said. "Before we knew it, it was big."
Within the last two days, the #RespectfulMountaineer hashtag has been used more than 1,500 times and reached more 500,000 people.
"It could make an impact, things trend, people will definitely see it," WVU junior Jennifer McKenna said.
"I'm not sure how useful and effective tweets will be in affecting school culture," WVU junior Nick Sisson said.
"It's different whenever you have someone who is a peer and who can relate to you and who you can identify with, telling you something as opposed to an administrator or a parent," Gandy said.
WVU President Gordon Gee has jumped on the bandwagon with his own Tweet.
I am a #RespectfulMountaineer, because I know this state, its people and our institution can and will rise to their highest potential.
— E. Gordon Gee (@gordongee) October 20, 2014
University officials say the investigation continues.
Eight students have been arrested and 24 people have been cited.
"It's relatively early, but police are still working full steam ahead on identifying people in videos and video cameras around campus," WVU Dean of Students Corey Farris said.
West Virginia University says it has expelled three students for misconduct following the Mountaineers' win over Baylor.
The university said Thursday that the students are among 14 facing criminal charges stemming from disturbances that occurred following the football game on Saturday. The students weren't identified.
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