The AI has as its mission to serve as a center of research and analysis, education and action attuned always to the struggles and dreams of the Appalachian people. In focusing on contemporary Appalachian challenges and opportunities, it uses a unique set of resources, including religious leaders, community organizers, academic experts, and students, and its reputation of a facilitator of dialog on contentious issues. With these tools the Appalachia Institute seeks to create safer, healthier, and stronger communities in the central Appalachian region and beyond. Reflecting the values of its culture and the values and ethics embodied in the Appalachian Bishops’ pastoral letters, the Institute joins in the region’s work of building a sustainable and promising future.

The Appalachian Institute at WJU is named to honor Rev. Clifford M. Lewis, the first Jesuit to reside in Wheeling in 1953. Two years earlier, at the request of Bishop John Swint, Fr. Lewis initiated a two-year feasibility study which led to the founding of Wheeling College.

An area native, Fr. Clifford M. Lewis dreamed of an institution that would "provide independent enlightenment to tomorrow's problems." His dream lives on in the Appalachian Institute, which derives its inspiration from, and is guided by, This Land is Home to Me, the pastoral message from the Catholic Bishops of the Appalachian region.

"The dream of the mountains' struggle, the dream of simplicity and of justice, like so many other repressed visions is, we believe, the voice of the Lord among us.

In taking them up, hopefully the Church might once again be known as

• a center of the Spirit,
• a place where poetry dares to speak,
• where the song reigns unchallenged,
• where art flourishes,
• where nature is welcome,
• where humble people and humble needs come first,
• where justice speaks loudly,
• where in a wilderness of idolatrous destruction,
• the great voice of God still cries out for Life."

from This Land is Home to Me
Appalachian Catholic Bishops, signed February 1, 1975 at Wheeling College - For the full Pastoral Letter click here

"More and more people recognize that a new social order is being born. Indeed, the spirit of God presses us to this recognition. We do not understand it all, but we know we are part of it, in Appalachia, our nation, across the world."

from This Land is Home to Me
Appalachian Catholic Bishops, signed February 1, 1975 at Wheeling College - For the full Pastoral Letter click here

"We continue to believe in the spiritual depth and creativity of the people of Appalachia. We believe that they can find a way to remain at home in the web of life."

from At Home in the Web of Life
Appalachian Catholic Bishops, First Edition 1995 - For the full Pastoral Letter click here

"We dare to speak, and speak strongly, because we believe that the cry of the poor is also a message of hope, a promise that there can be a better way."

from This Land is Home to Me
Appalachian Catholic Bishops, signed February 1, 1975 at Wheeling College - For the full Pastoral Letter click here