Ellis Roper and Elizabeth Gulick are West Virginia University’s 2014 Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer.
Roper and Gulick were crowned during halftime of the WVU-TCU football game on Saturday (Nov. 1) at Milan Puskar Stadium. The awards are given each year as part of WVU’s Mountaineer Week festivities.
Roper is a senior human resources management major. He was sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Pi Mu chapter.
He is president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., co-director of the WVU Paul Robeson/Mahalia Jackson Gospel Choir and a student diversity ambassador for WVU’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He has been a finalist for the WVU NAACP Image Awards “Rising Star” Student of the Year, as well as the 2014 SHRM Regional Case Study competition.
Gulick is an elementary education master’s student with a concentration in special education and mathematics for grades five through nine. She is sponsored by the WVU Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
She is a four-year Division I volleyball player for WVU, a leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a finalist for the 2013-14 Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year. She was a member of the 2012 and 2013 Capital One Academic All-District 2 Women’s Volleyball Team, and part of the 2014 WVU Presidential search committee.
As Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer, Roper and Gulick will help host and participate in a number of University activities throughout the year.
Other Mr. Mountaineer finalists were: Ethan Kline, Christopher Morlock, Caleb Rice and Brennan Wood.
Other Ms. Mountaineer finalists were: Jordan Lovejoy, Tiffany “Madison” Shirkey, Christine Snyder and Sarah Taylor.
In addition to the Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer presentation, WVU’s Most Loyals were honored. The 2014 honorees are: Kay Goodwin, Most Loyal West Virginian; Dr. Larry Schwab, Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer; Paul Lewis, Most Loyal Faculty Mountaineer; and Jo Morrow, Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer.
The Most Loyal West Virginian and Alumni Mountaineer awards have been presented since 1974, while the Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer award was created in 1994 and split into two separate awards in 2001. The award recipients are chosen by a joint committee representing the WVU Foundation, WVU Alumni Association and the Mountaineer Week organizing committee.
Mountaineer Week is an annual celebration of West Virginia’s rich Appalachian heritage and traditions. The activities serve to remind and educate WVU students about the culture that has made West Virginia what it is today. This fall, the festival commemorated its 67th year.
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