Westminster College, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Westminster College is a liberal arts college
located in New Wilmington
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
. The student population is approximately 1500 undergraduate and graduate students.
and 80 miles (128.7 km) south of Erie
and Cleveland
on a 300 acres (121.4 ha) campus.
Westminster formed as a result of a meeting on Jan. 21, 1852, between the Ohio
and Shenango
Presbyteries. In 2009, The Washington Monthly
ranked Westminster College "third in social mobility" among 253 liberal arts colleges. Westminster is ranked 122nd in the nation among "Liberal Arts Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report
.
The student population is nearly 1,480 undergraduate and graduate students. The college offers 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations.
Division III athletics. Before moving to the NCAA, Westminster competed in the NAIA
for many years. For a brief period, Westminster was a member of the NCAA Division II GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). The Titans currently are a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference
.
Four former Titans football players have been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame
: Harold Davis, Joe Fusco
, Larry Pugh
, Craig Villwock and Harold Burry
. Hall of Fame head coach Tuss McLaughry
, was not an alumus, but did coach the Titans for four years.
to alumni, parents, students and other subscribers, containing announcements and press releases.. The student publications include The Holcad
, a weekly student-run newspaper
, Argo, the student-run yearbook
, and Scrawl, a student-run yearly literary magazine
.
The fraternities are: Alpha Sigma Phi
, Phi Kappa Tau
, Sigma Nu
, Sigma Phi Epsilon
, Theta Chi
. The sororities are: Alpha Gamma Delta
, Kappa Delta
, Phi Mu
, Sigma Kappa
, and Zeta Tau Alpha
.
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
located in New Wilmington
New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1873. The population was 2,452 at the 2000 census...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
. The student population is approximately 1500 undergraduate and graduate students.
Overview
Westminster is located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, a relatively small town 50 miles (80.5 km) north of PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
and 80 miles (128.7 km) south of Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
and Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
on a 300 acres (121.4 ha) campus.
Westminster formed as a result of a meeting on Jan. 21, 1852, between the Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Shenango
Shenango
Shenango can refer to:* Shenango Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania* Shenango Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania* Shenango River...
Presbyteries. In 2009, The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
ranked Westminster College "third in social mobility" among 253 liberal arts colleges. Westminster is ranked 122nd in the nation among "Liberal Arts Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
.
The student population is nearly 1,480 undergraduate and graduate students. The college offers 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations.
Athletics
The Westminster Titans compete in NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division III athletics. Before moving to the NCAA, Westminster competed in the NAIA
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
for many years. For a brief period, Westminster was a member of the NCAA Division II GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). The Titans currently are a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference
Presidents' Athletic Conference
The Presidents' Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky....
.
Four former Titans football players have been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
: Harold Davis, Joe Fusco
Joe Fusco
Joe Fusco is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania from 1972 to 1990, compiling a record of 154–34–3...
, Larry Pugh
Larry Pugh
Larry Pugh was an American football player. He played offensive guard and defensive tackle for Westminster College. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana in 1998. While at Westminster, he received All-American Honors on both sides of the field, and was...
, Craig Villwock and Harold Burry
Harold Burry
Harold Burry was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania from 1952 to 1971, compiling a record of 127–31–5...
. Hall of Fame head coach Tuss McLaughry
Tuss McLaughry
DeOrmond "Tuss" McLaughry was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania , Amherst College , Brown University , and Dartmouth College , compiling a career college...
, was not an alumus, but did coach the Titans for four years.
Publications
Westminster has two alumni publications and three student publications. The alumni publications are Westminster College Magazine, which is a quarterly magazine detailing on-campus and alumni activities and Westminster Weekly, a weekly e-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
to alumni, parents, students and other subscribers, containing announcements and press releases.. The student publications include The Holcad
The Holcad
The Holcad is the official student newspaper of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. It is published every Friday during the academic year except the Fridays immediately before or after breaks and during finals....
, a weekly student-run newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
, Argo, the student-run yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
, and Scrawl, a student-run yearly literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
.
Student Government Association
The Student Government Association (SGA) exists primarily for governing and providing entertainment for the student body.Greek life
The five social fraternities each have their own off campus house which junior and senior class brothers can live in. Each of the five sororities have their own respective hall in a sorority dorm building on campus that sisters can live in if they chose.The fraternities are: Alpha Sigma Phi
Alpha Sigma Phi
Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is a social fraternity with 71 active chapters and 9 colonies. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest fraternity in the United States....
, Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau is a U.S. national collegiate fraternity.-History:Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Main Building in Oxford, Ohio on March 17, 1906...
, Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
, Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon , commonly nicknamed SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College , and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue,...
, Theta Chi
Theta Chi
Theta Chi Fraternity is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 as the Theta Chi Society, at Norwich University, Norwich, Vermont, U.S., and was the 21st of the 71 North-American Interfraternity Conference men's fraternities.-Founding and early years at Norwich:Theta...
. The sororities are: Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta is an international women's fraternity, who are mainly sluts, founded in 1904 at Syracuse University. The Fraternity promotes academic excellence, philanthropic giving, ongoing leadership and personal development, and a spirit of loving sisterhood. Also known as "Alpha Gam" and...
, Kappa Delta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Delta was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School , in Farmville, Virginia. It is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university...
, Phi Mu
Phi Mu
Phi Mu is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. It was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The organization was founded as the Philomathean Society on January 4, 1852, and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same year...
, Sigma Kappa
Sigma Kappa
Sigma Kappa is a sorority founded in 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Frances Elliott Mann Hall and Louise Helen Coburn...
, and Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha is a women's fraternity, founded October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia. The Executive office is located in Indianapolis, Indiana...
.
Notable alumni
- Thomas C. CochranThomas Cunningham CochranThomas Cunningham Cochran was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania....
- congressman, R-PA, 70th-74th Congresses (1927–1935) - Thomas W. DruceThomas W. DruceThomas W. Druce is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He represented the 144th legislative district.He graduated from William Tennent High School in 1979 and from Westminster College in 1983...
- Former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, convicted of fatal hit and run accident - William N. JohnstonWilliam N. JohnstonWilliam N. Johnston became the 16th president of Wesley College in June 2008. Previous to this post Johnston served as the 27th president of Iowa Wesleyan College for six years, and as a lower level administrator at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, Davis & Elkins College in West...
- current president of Wesley College (Delaware) since 2002 - Tim KaiserTim KaiserTim Kaiser is a television producer who has worked on such shows as Seinfeld, including the famous "Soup Nazi" episode, as well as Will and Grace. He also produces $#!T my dad says....
- producer of SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
and Will & GraceWill & GraceWill & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters... - James KennedyJames Kennedy (congressman)James Kennedy was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.Born in Lowellville, Ohio, Kennedy prepared for college at Poland Union Seminary, in Ohio, and graduated from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, in 1876. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in March 1879...
- congressman, R-OH, 58th-61st Congresses (1903–1911) - Gerald LaValleGerald LaValleGerald J. LaValle is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate.A native of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, he earned a degree from Geneva College in 1956 and a Master of Education from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania in 1971...
- Pennsylvania State Senator (1971 M.Ed.) - Deborah Platt MajorasDeborah Platt MajorasDeborah Platt Majoras is the former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, appointed May 11, 2004, by President George W. Bush and sworn in on August 16, 2004. President Bush had announced his intention to appoint her to the position on July 30, 2004...
- chairman of the Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
(August 2004-2008) - Andrew McKelveyAndrew McKelveyAndrew McKelvey was an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive of Monster Worldwide...
- chairman and CEO of Monster.comMonster.comMonster.com is one of the largest employment websites in the world, owned and operated by Monster Worldwide, Inc. Monster is one of the 20 most visited websites out of 100 million worldwide, according to comScore Media Metrics...
(December 1996-October 2006) - Daniel MiglioreDaniel MiglioreDaniel L. Migliore is a Christian theologian and author. He is Professor Emeritus of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.His works include:* Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology...
- World renowned theologian and author; Professor Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary. - Samuel Henry MillerSamuel Henry MillerSamuel Henry Miller was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Samuel H. Miller was born at Coolspring, Pennsylvania . He graduated from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, in 1860. He taught school...
- congressman, R-PA, 47th, 48th, and 64th Congresses (1881–1885, 1915–1917) - R.C. Sproul - theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries
- Amber BrkichAmber MarianoAmber Joy Mariano is an American television personality and winner of Survivor: All-Stars, after appearing as a contestant on one of its predecessors, Survivor: The Australian Outback...
- winner of Survivor: All-StarsSurvivor: All-StarsSurvivor: All-Stars is the eighth season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2003 and debuted in the United States on CBS on February 1, 2004 after Super Bowl XXXVIII. It was set on the Pearl Islands of Panama, where the previous Survivor: Pearl Islands had just finished...
, married to Rob MarianoRob MarianoRobert Carlo "Boston Rob" Mariano is an American television personality, widely known for appearing in several reality shows, including Survivor, and The Amazing Race with his wife, Amber Brkich Mariano. Mariano won Survivor: Redemption Island and the $1,000,000 prize after competing on the show...