Westminster College is a private, residential, undergraduate college with a curriculum based on the liberal arts. Located in Fulton, Missouri, the College was established in 1851 as Fulton College. The National Churchill Museum (formerly known as the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library) is a national historic site located on campus and is recognized by the US Congress and by the International Churchill Society. It is home to the Church of St Mary, Aldermanbury. The church, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1667, was rebuilt on the campus to commemorate Sir Winston Churchill, who made his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at the college gymnasium in 1946. Mikhail Gorbachev gave a speech there in 1992, declaring the end of the Cold War. Steeped in historic tradition, the college continues with contemporary and world-known speakers discussing topical issues impacting society.
History
1851 - 1999
Westminster College was founded as a college for young men by the Rev. William W. Robertson and local Presbyterians in 1851 as Fulton College and assumed the present name in 1853. Throughout the next century, Westminster College continued to be an all-male institution until the first coeducational class in 1979.
In 1909, the original Westminster Hall was destroyed by fire - only the Columns remained. Since then, the Columns have been restored and serve as a symbolic rite of passage for new and graduating students. Freshmen walk ceremoniously through the columns to campus and graduating seniors walk out ceremoniously out of the columns into the world.
Westminster College gained worldwide attention when United States President Harry S. Truman invited former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, to speak at Westminster. Churchill delivered his famous Iron Curtain speech on campus in 1946 as part of the Green Lecture Series, now known as the John Findley Green Lecture Series.Â
Other leaders who have lectured on its campus include Margaret Thatcher, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev George H. W. Bush, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, Harry S. Truman, Lech Wałęsa, Dick Cheney, John Kerry, Ralph Nader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., John Major, and James A. Baker III. See more.
In 1969, Westminster College dedicated one of its most recognizable landmarks - the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. The Church was moved to campus from London. The undercroft of the Church is now home to the National Churchill Museum. Also in 1969, Westminster College became independent of the Presbyterian Church.
2000 â€" Present
This period is marked by growth, innovation, and collaboration. The endowment grew from $27 million in 2000 to its current $56.6 million. Programs were introduced that are unique to Westminster. The annual Hancock Symposium, introduced in 2006, brings two days of lectures, panel discussions, and presentations by noted experts on one particular subject of global interest. Notable past speakers have included General David Petraeus, Robert Kennedy, Eugene Washington, among others. The Take a Friend Home Program, also introduced in 2006 and now managed through the Churchill Institute for Global Engagement, encourages global travel. International students select a friend with whom they would like to travel and share their family experience. Likewise, American students may select an international friend with whom they might like to share their American family experience over a holiday such as Thanksgiving or Christmas / Winter break. The College pays for the round trip airfare for the international flight for each "team" of students. Participating students agree to host their friends and share their experiences with the Westminster community upon their return.
In 2007, the Undergraduate Scholars Forum was launched. This annual event showcases students' achievements in a formal and comprehensive way. Students offer paper presentations, poster presentations, multi-media presentations, and creative performances.
Westminster began offering online classes in 2011. The Churchill Institute for Global Engagement was created in 2013 to further global education with new academic programs and global initiatives. In 2015, Westminster appointed its first African-American president, Benjamin Ola Akande Ph.D., and ushered in an era of new corporate and academic partnerships, including a historic agreement with Washington University in St. Louis.
Academics
Academic Divisions and Departments include Humanities, Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and Social Sciences. The college offers 35 majors, 39 minors, and 12 pre-professional programs. Westminster’s Cadaver Program, beginning as a small independent study in the Fall of 2005, is offered for pre-med, biology, and psychology students, who can explore the anatomy of the human body through scientific dissection.
Accreditations
Westminster College is a member of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and is regionally accredited by HLC. Westminster College's business program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Scholls & Programs (ACBSP); Westminster College's education program is accredited by the Missouri Department of Secondary Education (DESE).
Pre-professional programs
The pre-professional programs at Westminster are Dual-Degree Engineering with Washington University in St. Louis or Missouri University of Science and Technology, Dual-Degree Nursing with the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, Health Professions, and Legal Professions.
Mentoring program and seminar
All incoming students are provided with two seminar mentors and a seminar professor who will advise students throughout their years at Westminster College. To make the transition from high school to college easier, mentors help orient students to their new life at Westminster and provide guidance in the areas of academics, social and residential life.
Rankings and Recognitions
U.S. News & World Report ranked Westminster College in the Top 150 schools for undergraduate education. It also ranked Westminster College fourth among liberal arts colleges for its proportion of international undergraduate students and as one of the 10 American Colleges with the most students in fraternities. Westminster College was also ranked as “Best in the Midwest†by The Princeton Review and recognized by Forbes as one of the nation’s top colleges. Westminster was also ranked the Top Liberal Arts College in Missouri and 53rd nationally by enrollment of undergraduate students.Washington Monthly.
Campus
The Westminster College Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It encompasses nine contributing buildings and six contributing objects. They include the Hall of Science (1900-1901), Steam Heating Plant (1919-1920), The Columns ("Old" Westminster Hall) (1853-1854), Westminster Hall (1909-1911), the Gymnasium (1928), Swope Chapel Memorial (1967), Washington West House (1907), Re-Union Hall (1903), and Reeves Library (1950-1951).
Historic Westminster Gymnasium
The Gym was built in 1928 and completely renovated in 1972. This national historic landmark is where Winston Churchill presented his Iron Curtain Speech in March 1946. Vice President Dick Cheney also visited the college during the 2004 campaign and spoke in the Gym. When new bleachers were installed, the old bleachers were recycled into new lockers for the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The floor has been renamed for Henry “Hank†Iba, Class of 1927, who was an all-state basketball, football and baseball player at Westminster before going on to coach Oklahoma State University to two national basketball titles and the U.S. Olympics basketball team to two gold medals. The Gym houses a basketball/volleyball court, athletic offices, and an exercise room. It also housed an indoor swimming pool until 2016.
Westminster Hall
This hall was built in 1911 and renovated in 1973-74. It is the main administrative building on campus and houses the Business Office, the Dean of Student Life offices, the Registrar, the Study Abroad Coordinator, and Dean of Faculty offices along with two classrooms. The lower level houses Westminster’s Health and Counseling Services, and Learning Opportunities Program.
The Columns
These columns are the only remains of the first Westminster Hall built in 1854 and destroyed by fire in 1909. These Columns are the center of a campus tradition, which is known as the Columns Ceremony.
Newnham Hall
Formerly the Hall of Science and was originally built in 1901. It is the oldest building on campus and was completely renovated and remodeled in early 1970 as a gift of an alumnus. This building houses several classrooms plus some faculty offices. Greg Richard Resource Centerâ€"Office of Career Services is located in the basement; a gift from alumnus and trustee.
Reeves Library and Hazel Wing
Reeves Library was built in 1951 and expanded & renovated in 1981 and again in 1996. This building houses a collection of more than 100,000 volumes readily available in-house for students and faculty. It is a member of the statewide consortium of 50 academic libraries. The Hazel Wing was dedicated in October 1996 and serves as the technological center on the campus, housing four computer labs, video editing equipment, a multimedia classroom, a language lab, small group meeting, and study rooms as well as offices for the Department of Information Technology. Also located in this building is the writing/math lab.
Hunter Activity Center
Otherwise known as the "HAC" for short, this building is a common area for both faculty and students. Downstairs is the Johnson College Inn (known to students as "JCI") grill/snack bar which is surrounded by ping-pong tables, pool tables, campus mailboxes, and the TV lounge. Upstairs houses meeting rooms and the HAC Gym. Westminster’s HAC Gym includes a racquetball court, indoor track, weight equipment and workout room and is the site for most intramural sports.
Coulter Science Center
This building was renovated in 2004 with an $18 million gift from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. Otherwise known as "CSC," this is where science classes and labs such as chemistry, biology, physics, psychology, environmental science, computer science, and math are held. This building is complete with computer labs on every floor. Westminster faculty were asked to provide their input before architects were hired to draw up the plans. The focus is totally on students and how to create a better learning atmosphere and to offer rooms for student research on a large scale.
Champ Auditorium
This large building was built in 1966 and seats 1,400 people for concerts, lectures, music productions, and other college events such as Commencement and Freshmen Convocation.
Breakthrough
Breakthrough is a sculpture consisting of eight sections of the Berlin Wall. It commemorates the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War. The sculpture is the work of artist Edwina Sandys, granddaughter of Winston Churchill. It was dedicated to Westminster College in 1990 by former President Ronald Reagan. It is the longest contiguous section of the Berlin Wall in North America.
Church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury
This predecessor of this church building was originally constructed in the City of London during the 12th century, but burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1666. This church was erected as its replacement by Christopher Wren in the 17th century. During World War II, the Wren church was gutted by German bombs and in the mid-1960s, it was dismantled and shipped stone-by-stone to Fulton and reconstructed on Westminster’s campus. Today, the church serves as the College’s chapel. While it is occasionally claimed that St. Mary’s is the oldest church in North America, the statement is not accurate. The transported Wren building is not the original 12th Century building of the St. Mary Aldermanbury parish of London. It is instead the replacement that was built under Wren's direction between 1672 and 1677, and contains no details of the original, being a new construction made largely of Portland stone that Wren had quarried in Dorset. This would make it considerably newer than such ancient North American buildings as the church of San Francisco in Tlaxcala, Mexico, whose construction began in 1521.
National Churchill Museum
Located below the Church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury, this state-of-the-art museum is devoted to Sir Winston Churchill. In 2005, the building underwent a $4 million renovation and reopened in March 2006, marking the 60th anniversary of Churchill’s speech at Westminster. This museum features interactive exhibits about Churchill, World War II, Sir Christopher Wren and the Church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury. The Museum also showcases traveling and temporary exhibits, archival resources for scholarly research and a gift shop with unique “Churchillian†merchandise.
Residential life
Westminster College manages and maintains nine residence halls as well as a limited number of residential homes for student occupancy. In addition, the five national fraternities for men operate their own independent living units. New students are generally assigned to Gage, Marquess, Rice, Scott and Sloss Halls, which compose the Churchill Quadrangle. Westminster’s upper-class students live either in one of the four upperclass residence halls (Emerson, Wetterau, Weigle, Sweazey), Westminster Apartments, an on-campus residential house, Westminster Townhouses or a national fraternity house.
Student life
Clubs and organizations
Westminster students can pick from over 50 clubs and organizations to become involved in on campus. Honorary societies include: Alpha Chi, Alpha Mu Gamma, Beta Beta Beta, FMA National Honor Society, Gamma Theta Upsilon, Kappa Delta Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Alpha Delta, Phi Alpha Theta, Pi Mu Epsilon, Psi Chi, Phi Sigma Alpha, Phi Sigma Tau, Sigma Tau Delta, and Theta Alpha Kappa.
Greek life
Westminster College has a well-established history of Greek Life, dating to 1868. 43% of students are members of Greek organizations. Participation in this heritage has afforded students opportunities in leadership and involvement, both on-campus and within the greater Fulton community. Greek life consists of 5 national fraternities and 3 national sororities. Fraternities and sororities receive national recognition for the successful organizations that have been formed and maintained over the last 150 years.
Fraternities
- Beta Theta Pi
- Delta Tau Delta
- Kappa Alpha Order
- Phi Delta Theta
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sororities
- Alpha Gamma Delta
- Kappa Alpha Theta
- Kappa Kappa Gamma
Global experience
Study abroad
Students who are enrolled full-time at Westminster College and who wish to study off-campus may choose from Westminster's 150+ approved foreign and/or domestic programs. Westminster can provide assistance with advising, potential credit transfer and financial assistance.
Take a Friend Home Program
The Take a Friend Home Program is a global outreach and cultural immersion program through the Churchill Institute for Global Engagement. International students select a friend with whom they would like to travel and share their family experience. Likewise, American students may select an international friend with whom they might like to share their American family experience. Upon return, participating students agree to share their experiences with the Westminster community.
The Hancock Symposium
The Hancock Symposium is a premier annual lecture series that encourages the study of topics which have a profound global significance. Notable past speakers have included General David Petraeus, Robert Kennedy, Eugene Washington, among others.
Churchill Institute
The Churchill Institute incorporates the life and work of Churchill into the whole Westminster curriculum and across the range of activities and events that underpin the whole Westminster experience, enhancing the College’s mission and elevating its profile. Signature programs of The Churchill Institute include the Westminster Symposium, the Fulbright-Robertson lecture and a new program, Profiles in Leadership.
Traditions
The Columns Ceremony
Six columns remain from the original college building which burned down in 1909. All students pass through the Columns as a new student and again as graduates. The first ceremony serves as a symbol of a students’ entrance into college life and the Westminster community. The other symbolizes entering the world prepared with knowledge and experience gained at Westminster.
The Skulls of Seven
The Skulls of Seven is an honor society, founded in 1898, that prides itself on its commitment to seven virtues: tradition, history, scholarship, loyalty and friendship, citizenship, service, and honor. The Skulls of Seven are defenders of college tradition and are chosen for their adherence to the seven virtues with the duty of upholding these values. These six seniors and one junior are selected based on their proven devotion to the college and their positive representation of Westminster. This society has existed for over 100 years. The continuing purpose of the Skulls is always and ever the welfare of the college.
Athletics
Westminster College is a NCAA Division III school and belongs to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC). Westminster sports include baseball, basketball (M&W), cheerleading, cross country, dance, football, golf (M&W), soccer (M&W), softball, tennis (M&W), track and field (M&W), and volleyball.
Service and leadership
The Emerson Center for Leadership & Service is named in honor of William "Bill" Emerson, a 1959 Westminster College graduate, who served eight terms on behalf of Missouri’s Eighth District in the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning in 1980. The Center helps enhance Westminster’s student involvement, multicultural student development, spiritual life, international student services, leadership development & education, and community involvement. Westminster College encourages its students to participate in service activities. Some projects and organizations students work with every year include: MLK Day of Service, American Red Cross, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, the Food Bank, the Humane Society, Coalition Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARD-V), the Davis Foundation Projects for Peace, and charity: water.
Notable alumni
References
External links
- Official website
- Westminster College Athletics website