Marshall University

Celebrating 150 years of higher education, MU is the second-largest university in the state. Twelve colleges and schools educate an enrollment of approximately 16,000. Marshall University is also the home of the exciting Thundering Herd sports.

Just outside the Memorial Student Center at the heart of Marshall’s Huntington campus stands the Memorial Fountain—a visible reminder of the 75 lives lost in the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash.

More than 13 feet high and weighing 6,500 pounds, the memorial was created by sculptor Harry Bertoia. It was his hope the fountain would “commemorate the living—rather than death—on the waters of life, rising, receding, surging so as to express upward growth, immortality, and eternality.”

The Memorial Fountain was dedicated by President John G. Barker on Nov. 12, 1972, to the memory of the plane crash victims. Each year a memorial service is held on the anniversary of the tragedy. The ceremony includes the traditional laying of a wreath and the fountain’s water is turned off until the following spring.

Visitors seek out the fountain and for students and alumni, it is a landmark—a statement of resiliency, constancy of spirit and a flowing future.