Westminster College (Pennsylvania)

Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population is approximately 1,307 undergraduate and graduate students.[3]

Westminster College
TypePrivate
Established1852 (1852)
Religious affiliation
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Endowment$116.5 million (2019)[1]
PresidentKathy Brittain Richardson
Undergraduates1,138[2]
Location
New Wilmington
,
Pennsylvania
,
United States
CampusSmall Town, 300 acres (120 ha)
ColorsBlue and White    
NicknameTitans
Websitewww.westminster.edu

History

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.[4] In 2010, Forbes ranked Westminster first in the nation as the "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math."[5] In 2008 36% Westminster's graduating class received their degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (known colloquially as STEM)--and unusually, more of those STEM graduates were women than men.[6]

Campus

Westminster is located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, a town of 2,466 residents located 50 miles (80 km) north of Pittsburgh and 80 miles (130 km) south of Erie and Cleveland on a 300-acre (120 ha) campus.

Athletics

The Westminster Titans compete in NCAA 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 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The Titans currently are a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

The first official football game by the Westminster Titans was in December 1891. They lost to Geneva 42–0. The next year was the first official season; they played 4 games that year and went 3–1. Over the next 100 plus years, the Titans have had a record of 577–406–54. They are one of only 10 schools to record over 575 wins in school history. They have won the national championship 6 times with 11 undefeated seasons. Four former Titans football players have been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame: Harold Davis, Joe Fusco, Larry Pugh, and Harold Burry. Hall of Fame head coach Tuss McLaughry was not an alumnus but did coach the Titans for four years.[7] The current head football coach of the Titans is Scott Benzel, who became head coach in 2014.[8]

Westminster men's basketball team lost in the national NAIA title game twice (1960 and 1962) under coach Charles 'Buzz' Ridl. Ridl was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame (1969), Western Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame (1980), and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (1992).

Publications

Westminster has one alumni publication and three student publications. The alumni publication is Westminster College Magazine, which is a quarterly magazine detailing on-campus and alumni activities. The student publications include The Holcad, a weekly student-run newspaper; Argo, the student-run yearbook; and Scrawl, a student-run yearly literary magazine.

Titan Radio

Westminster's radio station, Titan Radio (Digital 88.9/WWNW-FM) serves Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. The station streams online on titanradio.net and features a hot adult contemporary format. The station is programmed and managed by students for the campus and the community. Programming includes live, local sports. Titan Radio broadcasts home football games for Wilmington Area High School during the regular season. The station also broadcasts regular season football games for the Westminster Titans live on the air and online. Titan Radio also broadcasts men's and women's basketball. In 2008, Titan Radio received a BEST CAMPUS RADIO STATION recognition from the Princeton Review ranking it among the Top 20 College Radio Stations in the U.S. That recognition continued in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2012 and 2013, the Princeton Review survey ranked Titan Radio in the Top 10.[9] Titan Radio is a broadcast member of the Pennsylvania Associated Press. The station is the only AP member station in Lawrence County. The station is also a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB). Titan Radio carries radio newscasts from NBC News broadcasts on weekdays at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. Those newscasts are paired with two-minute Titan Radio newscasts covering local, state and campus news. These newscasts are produced and reported by students in the Titan Radio newsroom.

WCN

Westminster's television station is the Westminster Cable Network (WCN). It provides programming to Comcast subscribers in New Castle & Lawrence County on channel 183. WCN is available on Armstrong Cable in New Wilmington on channel 72. Armstrong Cable also carries WCN in Lawrence and Mercer counties on channel 204. WCN creates and televises local programming including live high school football games, live Westminster College football games and Westminster Christmas Vespers. Other live programming includes the Lawrence County Band Festival and the New Castle Light Up Night parade. WCN produces a news magazine show, WCN 24/7 (formerly known as The County Line and Inside Lawrence County) and a weekly sports program called Coaches Corner focused on football in the fall and men's and women's basketball in the spring.

WCN 24/7

Titan Radio News and WCN operate WCN 24/7online at wcn247.com as a multimedia outlet for news, sports, information and entertainment content produced by Westminster students studying the Broadcast and Digital Communications major. Programming includes news stories covering the campus and community and Pennsylvania, podcasts, vodcasts, online documentaries and more.

Student organizations

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) exists primarily for governing and providing entertainment for the student body.[10]

Greek life

The four 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 choose. The fraternities are: Alpha Sigma Phi, Phi Kappa Tau, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Theta Chi. The sororities are: Alpha Gamma Delta, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu, Sigma Kappa, and Zeta Tau Alpha.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References
  1. As of June 30, 2019. "U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised)". National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  2. "Westminster College, Westminster College (Pennsylvania), Best College, US News". USNews.com. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  3. "Prospective Students \ Westminster College". Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  4. Archived August 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Best Colleges For Women And Minorities In STEM". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  6. Doss, Natalie (15 December 2010). "Best Colleges For Women And Minorities In STEM". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  7. 2009 Football Media Guide, Westminster College, p. 35, retrieved June 16, 2010.
  8. "Titan Athletics – 2015 Football Coaching Staff". Westminster.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  9. "Westminster College Selected Among The Best 378 Colleges in Nation by The Princeton Review; Also Honored for Best College Radio Station and Great Town-Gown Relations \ Westminster College". Westminster.edu. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  10. "Overview | Student Government Association | Welcome". Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2008.
  11. "Alumni News". Westminster College. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  12. Mackey, Jason (March 9, 2012). "Pitt Baseball Coach Jordano Is Embracing Some New Challenges". TribLive.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  13. "Gerald J. LaValle (D)". Official Pennsylvania Senate Profile. Pennsylvania Senate. Archived from the original on 2007-08-19.
  14. "Orr, David." American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 24 September 2012

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