Only one student was registered for classes in the new Washington Center at West Virginia University, which was created to push back on woke ideology.

Republican lawmakers in West Virginia allocated $3 million in taxpayer funds over the last two years to create the “Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship” ahead of its opening this fall, according to West Virginia Watch. Proposed courses include “Woke,” “Nation and Migration” and “The New Right.”

The new center comes amid a $45 million budget shortfall at West Virginia University that resulted in 28 academic majors being cut and hundreds of people losing their jobs.

However, Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) argued that the anti-woke center at WVU was necessary “to push back on the woke ideology that has infected our schools and help return higher education to its true purpose.”

But, only one student has enrolled in just three of the 20 courses as of late last month, a university spokesperson said.

“As of July 9, one WVU student had registered for three of the 19 courses available through the Washington Center for the Fall 2026 semester,” Shauna Johnson, WVU’s executive director of strategic communications, said.

Delegate John Williams, a West Virginia Democratic state lawmaker, told West Virginia Watch that he opposed the program because of the lack of interest and believes the money would be better spent on improving higher education institutions in the state.

“I’m not happy about it,” Williams said. “Now we’re in a position where we’ve allocated so much money towards this program, and only one person is taking advantage of it.”

“It’s frustrating when state government, since I’ve been in the Legislature, is so unwilling to make a meaningful investment in higher education, and then they come around with this pet project that we now see has one enrollee,” he added.

Erik Herron, a professor of political science at WVU, also questioned whether this center was the best use of taxpayers’ money and noted the irony of the center’s existence.

“I do think that it’s important for the Legislature and for the governor to reflect on this… there is a question about whether or not this is the best use of public funds,” said Herron.

“I think the Washington Center, ironically, seems to be exactly what it complains that higher education has become,” he continued. “It was created in Charleston, and it was imposed on the university, so it’s a big government mandate.”

Meanwhile, defenders of the center insist that more students will sign up once the center’s classes can count for credit towards existing majors at the university.