The Mountainlair, commonly called "the Lair" by students, is the three-floor

student union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

building at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. The current building dates to 1968 and replaced an earlier structure built in 1948. The Mountainlair is also the site of American sculptor

Donald De Lue Donald Harcourt De Lue (October 5, 1897 – August 26, 1988) was an American sculptor, best known for his public monuments. Life and career De Lue was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and later serve ...

's 1971 statue ''The Mountaineer'', a bronze representation of West Virginia University's ''Mountaineer'' mascot.

Description

The student union offers many services to students including an information desk, lounges, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, bank,

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

pool hall A billiard hall, also known as a pool hall, snooker hall, pool room or pool parlour, is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve alcohol and often ...

video game arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchan ...

, cafeteria, and several chain restaurants. Along with these recreational facilities, the Mountainlair is also home to a large events ballroom, several meeting and conference rooms, and many administrative offices of the university. In addition, The Student Government Association (SGA) and other student organizations of special interest hold offices in the Student Organization Wing (SOW) of the Mountainlair, including the Hockey Club, Muslim Student Organizations, and

Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a national Mixed-sex education, coeducational Service fraternities and sororities, service Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It is the largest College fraterniti ...

National Service Fraternity. The Mountainlair's north wing additionally houses a coffee shop and the campus's main bookstore (managed and stocked by

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

) and university shop. Located behind the main building is the Mountainlair parking garage, containing 245 short-term spaces and additional space for long-term. These facilities and its central location make the Mountainlair the "heart of the WVU campus."

WVU "Up All Night"

WVU "Up All Night" is a program designed to provide a safe environment for WVU students to socialize during weekends. The Mountainlair has hosted "Up All Night" every Friday through Saturday during the fall and spring semesters since 1998. The University provides free food and beverages, and entertainment such as movie screenings at the Gluck Theater, laser tag, game shows, astro bowling, comedy caravans, and casino night. The program has garnered national attention from other universities as a solution for reducing alcohol consumption and partying on college campuses across the country. WVU administration have been asked to speak about its success at national conferences, and estimate the program's cost at $350,000 annually.

References

External links

Mountainlair Student Union

{{coord, 39, 38, 05, N, 79, 57, 12, W, display=title West Virginia University campus Student activity centers in the United States University and college buildings completed in 1968