Photo by Derek Redd Glen Combs, a 1973 graduate of Alderson Broaddus, speaks to the latest graduating class of West Liberty University’s master’s program in physician assistant studies.

WEST LIBERTY — As the latest graduating class of West Liberty University’s master’s program in physician assistant studies walked the Kelly Theater stage to receive their degrees, none of them had imagined at the start of their studies they would be walking that stage at WLU.

Each one of the 21 graduates Friday night began their degree at Alderson Broaddus University, which had closed its doors for good in August 2023 following a multitude of financial problems. Yet they weren’t without a home for long.

WLU scooped up the students and brought them to its campus to finish their degrees. On Friday night, those students not only celebrated the completion of their studies, but the resiliency with which they did it.

“Their resilience was incredible,” WLU PA Program Director Sarah Brammer said. “I can’t truly imagine that month they went through where it was just a question mark. They didn’t know.”

The students agreed that the month between ABU closing and WLU bringing them on board was one of the toughest of their lives.

Some of them remembered exactly where they were on campus when they heard the news the university was closing.

“It was just one of those moments where everything else goes blank,” graduate Cassidy Moran said. “You don’t really know what’s going to happen next, but hearing that West Liberty was going to pick us up was obviously a huge relief.

“Know that for all the hard work we put in up to that point, it wasn’t all in vain,” he added. “It was the best, worst timing, I always say.”

The university’s closing didn’t just crush the students of the present. It hurt the students of the past as well. The graduation ceremony’s keynote speaker was Glen Combs, a 1973 AB graduate who served as president of the American Academy of Physician Associates twice. Part of his speech mentioned the great memories he held of the small campus in the middle of West Virginia.

“The closing of AB was a major traumatic event for all of us,” Combs said. “It still causes many of us emotional pain that just won’t go away.

“Your perseverance and dedication during these troubled times, and reaching your goals is really a true inspiration,” he added.

Graduate Lane Davidson lauded West Liberty for the way the university helped the ABU students stay on track. That included offering financial support through the West Liberty University Foundation’s Topper Grant Scholarship Program, which specifically supports first-year and new transfer students.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better program and better people to welcome us here,” Davidson said. “They always just made us feel welcome, made us feel at home, made us feel like we belonged here. We were not an afterthought. That made it a very seamless transition overall.”

WLU honored the students history with Alderson Broaddus. Along with their stoles, each student received a blue and gold cord signifying the ABU school colors to commemorate their time there.

Brammer said it was WLU’s pleasure to welcome these 21 students into the Hilltopper family and, while they may not have begun at West Liberty, they all can call themselves proud graduates of the university.

“It’s such an exciting day,” she said. “There have been so many positives that have come out of this year for us and for them, and we’re just honored to be part of it.”

Davidson said while the memories sometimes were tough, he can look back now with a smile at what was accomplished.

“It adds to the experience,” he said. “It’s always a conversation starter.

“Maybe that’ll help me with my future employment,” he added with a smile. “At least people will remember, ‘Oh, that’s the guy that went to two PA programs.'”