page_title: West Virginia University
section_title: Fanbase
hierarchical_section_title: West Virginia University / Athletics / Fanbase
caption_attribution_description: English: WVU Student Section at the 2008 home game against Villanova.
context_page_description: West Virginia University is a public, land-grant, research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser, and a second clinical campus for the university's medical and dental schools at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all of West Virginia's 55 counties.
  Enrollment for the Fall 2018 semester was 26,839 for the main campus, while enrollment across all three non-clinical campuses was 29,933. The Morgantown campus offers 350+ bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs throughout 14 colleges and schools.
  Twenty-five Rhodes Scholars are WVU alumni, including former WVU president David C. Hardesty, Jr. The university has also produced 45 Goldwater Scholars, 24 Truman Scholars, and five members of USA Today's "All‑USA College Academic First Team." Additionally, WVU has had three George C. Marshall Scholars, five Morris K.
context_section_description: In a state that lacks professional sports franchises, West Virginians passionately support West Virginia University and its athletics teams. Men's basketball head coach Bob Huggins, a former Mountaineer basketball player who was born in Morgantown, stated that the "strong bond between the university and the people of West Virginia" is a relationship that is difficult for non-natives to understand.
  Some WVU fans, primarily in the student sections, better known as the "Mountaineer Maniacs" have developed a reputation for unruly behavior, being compared to "soccer hooligans"
  by GQ magazine. At some events, there have been cases of objects thrown onto the field or at opposing teams. There were also issues with small-scale fires, most notably of couches, being set after games; over 1,100 intentionally ignited street fires were reported from 1997 to 2003.
  Members of the Morgantown-area community volunteered as Goodwill City Ambassadors for the first time in the fall of 2012 to welcome visiting fans to the football games. The Goodwill City initiative is a collaborative effort of the City of Morgantown, WVU, Morgantown Dominion Post, and community residents.
caption: The WVU student section perform the first down cheer at a home football game.
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