BUCKHANNON – West Virginia Wesleyan College’s newest president thanked the community and other Wesleyan officials for their dedication to the college during a celebratory dinner Wednesday evening.

WVWC invited friends of the college to an Inauguration Community Dinner on Sept. 27, preceding Dr. James Moore’s inauguration on Friday, Sept. 29.

“I think what’s most important for me to do tonight is to convey to you the importance the community plays in the work that we do at West Virginia Wesleyan, because what good is a college without the community in which it exists?” Moore said. “Our college was founded in 1890. It was founded as a seminary for the then Methodist Episcopal Church, which would become the United Methodist Church.”

Moore said the church saw the need to start the school when WVU appointed a non-Methodist president.

“I’ve been thinking a lot, the last couple of days, about what our region would look like without West Virginia Wesleyan, and what I’ve recognized is that it would certainly look different,” Moore said. “But you could ask that same question in another direction: What would this college look like without the city that it lives in? Without the county that it lives in? Without the state that it lives in? Without the Appalachian region that we’re also proud to call home? My pledge to you as members of the community, as our neighbors and friends, is that we recognize the decisions we make have an impact on decisions that you must make, our successes are your successes and our challenges or your challenges, so we at the college recognize that we really are in this together.”

Moore emphasized the importance of working with the entire Buckhannon-Upshur community.

“There are great lessons out there, and communities and colleges that have close ties that have enjoyed great success,” Moore said. “And there are lessons in some of the failures that are out there, from communities and colleges that have not come together. We are so happy to be in Buckhannon, we are so happy to be in West Virginia. I always say my favorite part of the name of West Virginia Wesleyan College are those first two words, West Virginia.”

Moore said he was born in West Virginia and is proud to still call it home.

“I’ve never felt more at home than I have at West Virginia Wesleyan College, so we are here to continue to be your neighbors, your partners and your friends,” Moore said. “You are always welcome on our campus. We’re grateful for you and thank you very much for being here, I appreciate it.”