Part of the Mission of Wheeling Jesuit University is to educate the children of Appalachia as "men and women in service" Education and leadership provide the two major tenets of our existence and serve as the basis of our founding, fifty years ago. This attitude, this purpose, this “culture of service,” immerses us in the lives and destinies of our students, and the larger community and world we serve.

Wheeling Jesuit, one of the larger employers in an otherwise economically-challenged area, functions as a significant financial and human resource for all its communities, including the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, and the Ohio Valley region. Our focus is to make practical the reason we exist in the first place: to enable the people of Appalachia to gain their own voice, to shape and determine the fate of their region. Reflecting the values of our culture, while remaining rooted in the Jesuit traditions of values and ethics, Wheeling Jesuit University works with numerous community organizations in and beyond Wheeling, West Virginia

The City of Wheeling, as the metropolitan center of the Upper Ohio Valley, has been very aggressive in recent years in efforts to redevelop its economy. Traditional smokestack and heavy industry has left the area, as have other businesses. Significant prospects for future growth have been identified in technology and shared services industries, as well as professional and other services, specialty retail, tourism, health care, education and culture and recreation. The City of Wheeling has never had a deficit budget and it continues to own and operate all basic services for its residents, except solid waste disposal. Within Ohio County there are significant projects underway (Target, Wal-Mart, Cabella's, and the entire Highlands area) that will satisfy the retail and culinary needs of residents and visitors, thereby more closing defining the sorts of businesses which can be recruited to the Central Business District and outlying areas within The City of Wheeling.

Wheeling Jesuit University lives in Appalachia, the thirteen-state region recognized for its beautiful mountains, rich natural resources of coal and timber, and geographically-isolated communities where a rich culture of music, storytelling, and art has flourished. These characteristics have been the source of economic support for its population as timbering, coal mining, related manufacturing industries such as steel and production, and more recently, cultural and environmental tourism, have provided jobs for its residents. However, they have also been the source of strife – between employers and workers fighting for living wages, safety on the job, and unionization; between environmentalists and corporate interests seeking to remove natural resources by means that deface the land and water; and between families rooted in traditions developed in isolated communities and inquisitive outsiders who have labeled the practices as “backward” and “uneducated” and in need of modernization. As the era of U.S. manufacturing domination fades, the issues of unemployment and needed economic development strategies, poverty, out migration of youth, environmental degradation, weak educational systems, and poor health practices and access to health care continue challenge much of Appalachia. However the determination and commitment to the region of its proud, independent people inspire hope for a promising future. For further information, please see the Appalachian Institute website, www.wju.edu/ai.