Ericke Cage was named the thirteenth president of West Virginia State University. He has been serving as interim president since November 2021.
“I look forward to building on the work we have already started, and the successes we have achieved in moving WVSU forward,” Cage said. “As I have said since my arrival, I am convinced that the university’s best days are yet to come and I look forward to working with the campus community to make that a reality.”
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. Despite its status as a HBCU, African Americans are just 9 percent of the student body at West Virginia State University.
Cage joined the university in July 2021 as vice president and chief of staff and served as the university’s chief operating officer managing the day-to-day operations of the university from July 30 to his appointment as interim president. 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.
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.
