2023 Year in Review

The Future at Westminster

This year was an exciting one for Westminster University. We completed the transition to Westminster University, broke ground on a new wellness facility for students, and made plans for Westminster at 150—our sesquicentennial celebration that will be held in 2025.

Class of 2023

         WATCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM COMMENCEMENT

Westminster University's 2023 commencement ceremony honored 320 undergraduate students and 134 graduate students who became the newest alumni of Westminster University. The event was held on Dumke Field and brought graduates and families to Westminster’s campus to celebrate the accomplishments of our Griffins. The class of 2023 included:

Westminster on the Global Stage

Westminster alumni and faculty are at the heart of our community, but they also make a big impact on the global scale. This year, our Griffins reached massive audiences through social media and speaking engagements, were featured in documentaries, and made significant impacts through their work and research.

• Content Creator and Westminster Alumni Spencer West speaks at Bastian Foundation Diversity Lecture Series
• Three-Time Olympian Devin Logan Graduates from Westminster University 
• Freedom in Freestyle: Alumni Featured in Documentary about his Ski Career and Hearing Loss
• Griffins Win Big this Winter: Westminster Alumni and Student Achieve Success in Winter Sports Season
• Turn your Key: Pioneering an Anti-pollution Campaign 
• Westminster Professor Publishes Book on True Crime Media and Poison Panic 

Athletics

2023 was an exciting year for Westminster Athletics. RMAC Tournament-qualifying sports included men’s and women’s cross country and track, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and golf.

• 54 student-athletes graduated. Of those, 26 we were named All-Academic and 17 All-Conference by the RMAC, with a 3.385 average GPA. Student-athletes also completed 500 hours of community engagement.
• 85 student-athletes were named RMAC All-Academic, 4 All-Americans in skiing, and 28 All-Conference honorees, and a number of Westminster student-athletes received conference player of the week recognition.
• 8 student-athletes received RMAC Brechler Awards (the most in RMAC for the second year in a row). These student-athletes participated in women’s cross country and track, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and men's soccer.
• Men’s lacrosse student-athlete Merritt McMahon was named RMAC’s Co-Attacker of the Year while teammates Tim McGuire was named Co-Defender of the Year and Luke Sillstrop was named Freshman of the Year. Griffins’ head coach Joe Kerwin was awarded as the RMAC Coach of the Year.
• Women’s soccer beat the #1 seed in the first round of the RMAC Tournament.
• Volleyball qualified for the RMAC Tournament as the 8th seed (top 8 teams), which is a first for the program since joining the RMAC and NCAA Division II, and becoming post-season eligible in 2018.
• Westminster's ski team placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Skiing Championships while placing second nationally in the Alpine event.
• The Track and Field team had 3 athletes claim All-American honors while finishing in the top 10 nationally.
• Coach Asami Morita was hired as head coach of the women’s basketball team, the first woman of Japanese nationality to lead an NCAA basketball team.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Westminster’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion had another successful year of creating academic programming and events that challenged students to think critically, explore new ideas, and help create an inclusive environment at Westminster and beyond. Some of these events included the Bastian Foundation Diversity Lecture Series, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, and the Unsung Hero Awards ceremony.

Connecting with the Community