Greenbrier Military School Alumni Association members entrusted its museum and contents to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) on Oct. 18 during an official agreement signing.
The Greenbrier Military School Museum, located on WVSOM’s campus in Lewisburg, W.Va., opened in 2001 to pay homage to the Greenbrier Military School, a private, all-male boarding high school and junior college that operated between 1812 and 1972, until the campus was purchased to be used as a medical school.
“[GMS] closed its doors and this campus transitioned into the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. The GMS Alumni Association and WVSOM have been partners ever since,” said WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D. “With the signing of this new agreement, we ensure the continuity of that past into the future. Our action preserves the legacy of the Greenbrier Military School and its alumni, which includes two governors of West Virginia: Homer Holt, the 20th governor, and Jim Justice, the 36th governor.”
The agreement — among the GMS Alumni Association, the WVSOM Foundation, WVSOM and the Greenbrier Historical Society — was created to memorialize the former military school and to continue its legacy in the Greenbrier Valley through charitable investments.
WVSOM will now be responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of the museum. The agreement transfers a $100,000 initial contribution to the WVSOM Foundation, the school’s charitable organization, for upkeep of the facility.
Mike Ruth, president of the GMS Alumni Association, said the agreement is meaningful to former cadets because of the impact the military school had on them.
“The military school has significance for all of us. It means so much to us because it changed our lives, no matter how long someone was here. [West Virginia] Gov. [Jim] Justice was here for a year and a half, I was here for three and some people were here for seven. For a school to have such an impact and to see its legacy continue is really meaningful,” Ruth said.
Ruth said he doesn’t know of many military schools that have been closed for more than 50 years that have a membership as active as the GMS Alumni Association.
“We have our own museum and archives, and so many people keep returning to campus — whether it’s during a reunion weekend or on their own,” he said. “It’s important to the individuals who went to school here and to their families. It’s amazing that we closed 50-plus years ago and are still doing this.”
The military alumni association began supporting WVSOM through scholarships in 1992 and have consistency financially supported students at the medical school ever since. The Greenbrier Military School Alumni Association Scholarship is presented to two students annually who excel academically and show strong leadership, determination and discipline. The alumni association also invests annually in Greenbrier County’s two high schools.