Shepherd University not only enrolls fewer than 1,500 students per year but is also located in a town with fewer than 1,800 residents. Therefore, the university must often carry the burden of being deemed a minute, irrelevant speck of higher learning in an ongoing joke of West Virginian culture.
Quite frankly, seeking national recognition when coming from such an undersized school can be a seemingly impossible feat to accomplish.
True, we do not hold the academic prestige of Harvard and are certainly not located in the city of USC in Southern California, but these negatives should not prevent us from hanging our collective hats on the factors that make our university a one-of-a-kind institution.
One unquestionable distinction between Shepherd and all other universities in the nation is the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies – an archival heaven that should strike envy in the hearts of all other universities.
As of January 2013, the 522-page Congressional Papers collection of Byrd’s personal records was made accessible to researchers after two-and-a-half years of tedious processing, organizing, and transferring.
According to Marc Levitt, the Byrd Center’s director of archives, the recently opened collection of Byrd’s Congressional records serves the public in numerous ways.
“I wanted to make these collections accessible to the public as soon as possible because the archival business is not just about preserving valuable documents but about making the documents accessible and useful to the public. Using the documents as research tools validates saving the documents,” Levitt said.
Levitt believes that the newly-opened index will aid the public in not only providing insight into the life of the longest-serving Congressman in history but also serving as evidence of Byrd’s individual stance on many issues, as well as the interrelationships that were existent among him and his constituents.
Like Levitt, the political science department at Shepherd University seems to concur with the potential benefits of having access to such valuable records.
For example, political science department Chair and Associate Professor Dr. Stephanie A. Slocum-Schaffer urges both scholars and students to reap the benefits of Byrd’s archives.
“I do want to emphasize what a wonderful, wonderful resource the archives are for both scholars and students. We are lucky to host the papers on Shepherd’s campus, and I believe that they will be a treasure trove of information on the workings of the Senate, the Congress as a whole, and the U.S. government,” she said.
Like Dr. Slocum-Schaffer, political science Assistant Professor Dr. Jacob L. Stump agrees with the scholarly sentiment.
“Archival research is an important component of many faculty and student research projects. Making this information available to a wider audience opens the door for more research, more grounded research, and research that covers areas and questions that were previously overlooked or unavailable,” he said.
Conversely, the student opinion of the archival access is ambivalent. For example, sociology major Sara Haberkorn expresses doubt that she will utilize the documents despite their apparent usefulness.”Although it gives people another way to appreciate Byrd for what he’s done for the area and university, I highly doubt I’ll use them,” she said.
Similarly to Haberkorn, senior sociology major Kyle Reedy believes that the overall usefulness of the documents are contingent on the student.
“It depends on what is in the archives. I think it would be helpful to the residents of the area and maybe some of the students in certain majors . . . it really depends,” Reedy said.
Whether you are aspiring for a career in politics or are just interested in the historical value of Byrd’s incomparable tenure, I am a major proponent of profiting from one of the few factors that sets Shepherd apart from other universities. Byrd’s financial generosity toward West Virginia and Shepherd University during his stint on the Appropriations Committee displays not only a financial investment in the state but also an intellectual investment in Shepherd University community. Therefore, I believe it would be foolish to not reciprocally invest in the resources that Byrd has afforded us.
In this vein, I agree with Levitt that Byrd’s archives are in fact the “bread and butter” of West Virginia’s past 57 years.
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