Mountwest Unveils Cutting-Edge Cybersecurity Hub Transforming Digital Defense Education

Summary

• Mountwest Community and Technical College opened a Cybersecurity Center in Huntington, West Virginia, on March 21, 2025.
• Federal funding secured by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and former Sen. Joe Manchin paid for the center, according to local coverage.
• The lab lets students practice attacking and defending computer systems.
• It will also host cybersecurity and esports competitions.
• Students in cybersecurity and network administration programs will train there.

A new lab for Mountwest students

Mountwest Community and Technical College held a ribbon-cutting for its new Cybersecurity Center at its Huntington campus on March 21, 2025. Local TV reported that the center was paid for with federal funds secured a couple of years earlier by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and former Sen. Joe Manchin. An earlier version of this article said Governor Jim Justice attended. We could not confirm that, and by March 2025 Justice was no longer governor, so it has been removed.

Before the center opened, students learned about attacks mostly in a regular classroom. The new space gives them a dedicated lab for longer, more realistic exercises.

Inside the center

The center is built around hands-on practice. Some students attack a system while others defend it, and instructors can watch both sides. That kind of exercise is hard to run in a normal classroom.

“Its one thing to learn in the classroom oh this attack can happen. Its a whole another thing when you can either be the one implementing the attack or the one defending the attack,” said Patrick Smith, director of the Cybersecurity Center, as quoted by WCHS.

Competitions and esports

The center will also host cybersecurity competitions and esports events, which give students experience working under pressure and a way to show employers what they can do.

An earlier version of this article said the curriculum includes partnerships with federal agencies. We could not confirm specific partners and have removed that claim.

Training for local jobs

Employers across West Virginia and the Tri-State region need people who can run and protect networks. Mountwest’s programs in cybersecurity and network administration feed that demand.

A dedicated lab helps graduates arrive with practical experience, which is often what employers ask for first.

What comes next

With the center open, the next test is enrollment and job placement.

For students in the Huntington area, it offers a local, affordable path into security work.

Prospective students can find program details on Mountwest’s website.

Fred Templeton, CISA, CASP, SEC+

Fred Templeton is a practicing Information Systems Auditor in the Washington DC area. Fred works as a government contractor and uses his skills in cyber security to make our country's information systems safer from cyber threats. Fred holds a master's degree in cybersecurity and is currently working on his PHD in Information Systems.