Ericke Cage has been appointed interim president of West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia. He will serve while a national search for a permanent president is conducted.
West Virginia State University is a historically Black educational institution. Today, there are about 3,500 undergraduate students and just over 100 graduate students on campus, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans are just 9 percent of the student body.
Cage joined the university in July as vice president and chief of staff and has been serving as the university’s chief operating officer managing the day-to-day operations of the university since July 30. Before arriving at West Virginia State, Cage was the senior advisor to the president and university ombudsman at Norfolk State University in Virginia. Earlier in his career, Cage was director of government affairs for Teach for America.
“I am both honored and humbled by the trust the West Virginia State University Board of Governors has placed in me to serve as interim president of this great institution,” Cage said. “Since my arrival here I have strived to do what is right for the students, faculty, and staff of the university and that will continue in my new role. We have tremendous momentum at West Virginia State and I look forward to all we will accomplish working together in the months ahead.”
Cage has a bachelor’s degree in political science and leadership from Virginia Tech. He holds a juris doctorate from the Rutgers University School of Law and a master of law degree from the George Washington University School of Law.
