ALUMNI “WALL OF HONOR” The West Liberty University Alumni Board of Directors instituted a project in 1990 to demonstrate to current students, visitors, and friends that the college has some very successful graduates. This project, known as the “Alumni Wall of Honor,” is a dramatic way to honor some of the college’s most distinguished alumni and display pride in the accomplishments of its graduates. The concept was suggested by then Associate Professor of Physics Robert W. Schramm, who is a 1958 graduate of the college and a 2002 Alumni Wall of Honor inductee. The Alumni Wall of Honor is housed in the south end of the Union known as the Alumni Lounge.
Louis P Cardamone
Inducted 2010After graduating from West Liberty State College in 1965 with a B.A. in education, Louis P. Cardamone began his Ohio teaching career. In 1968, he was selected for a fellowship at West Virginia University and attended there as a full-time student until he completed his M.A. in Counseling and Guidance at the conclusion of the 1968-69 year. Cardamone returned to public education in Ohio while concomitantly continuing his graduate studies in school administration at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.
He was recognized by his Ohio contemporaries as one of the state’s most effective school superintendents. Under his leadership, pioneering educational programs were included in his school districts; these types of programs are common-place today. The programs Cardamone instilled included multi-aged grouping, inclusionary programs for handicapped students and year-round schooling.
In 1993, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, the state school superintendent’s organization, awarded Cardamone the “Exemplary Leadership Award.” That same year, the Ohio County Boards Association recognized him for the leadership that resulted in the students in his school districts improving their performance on the state’s proficiency examinations
The curricular and instructional programs in every school district Cardamone served as its superintendent were improved, but one of his most notable achievements was establishing the International Baccalaureate (IB) program in the Warren City Schools Harding High School. Of this nation’s 26,000 public and private high schools, Harding High was only one of 400 high schools to be accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Cardamone spent 31 years as a public school educator before retiring in 1996 because of family circumstances. With the exception of two years, he served in five of Ohio’s public school districts and as the superintendent of schools in three of those districts.