Westminster College celebrated its 171st Spring Commencement on Saturday, May 10, awarding diplomas to 246 students during an outside ceremony on Old Main’s Weisel Senior Terrace on the College’s campus.

Members of the Class of 2025 were awarded Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees. Four students earned dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. Ten students received Master of Education degrees, while nine earned Master of Business Administration degrees.

David Farner ’85, chair of the Westminster Board of Trustees and a 1985 graduate, opened the ceremony followed by the invocation by College Chaplain the Rev. James Mohr II.

Westminster College President Dr. Kathy Brittain Richardson greeted the members of the Class of 2025, congratulating them on their years of hard work and encouraging them to go forth into the world with the knowledge and skills developed at Westminster.

“As you move forward, your mission as a graduate of Westminster is to represent the best of humankind, wherever you will live, work and serve. Strive to stand out as a Titan, wherever you are,” she said.

Dr. Jeffrey Bersett, professor of Spanish and chair of the faculty, provided faculty remarks, encouraging the graduating seniors to remain curious and continue to learn.

“Don’t stop learning now. Keep learning and never stop,” Bersett said. “You are just getting started. No matter how much you learn, though, remember that it’s not what you know. It’s what you do with it and who you are while you’re doing it. There is more to learn in the world than you will have time to learn.”

“I encourage you to go into the world and be people for others. Take care of yourself, but be sure to take care of others. Be kind, be tolerant, be forgiving. Use what you have learned and what you will learn to make the world better,” he said.

Ian Herr, a computer science major from New Castle, Pa., offered the senior address during Commencement exercises, imparting wisdom and comparing the graduates’ college careers to computer coding.

“When we arrived at Westminster College, we started with a blank file. An empty project. No roadmap, no user guide, just the vague idea that we were here to build something meaningful. We each hit ‘New Project,” unsure of what we were coding, but excited to begin,” said Herr.

“And now, here we are, at the end of the file. The final closing brace. The last line of our main method. But just because the program ends doesn’t mean the story does. This is just version 1.0. Ahead of us are updates, rewrites, patches and entirely new frameworks,” he said. “We’re not finished—we’re just initialized.”

“Westminster wasn’t just our codebase. It was our community, our testing ground, our launchpad. And no matter where we deploy next—grad school, new careers, unexpected paths—we carry with us the functions we’ve defined here: resilience, creativity, compassion and heart.”

Prior to the conferring of degrees, Dr. Jamie McMinn, dean of the College and vice president for academic affairs, presented the prestigious Distinguished Faculty Award to Dr. Kristin Park, professor of sociology and a member of the Westminster faculty since 1993.

Described as a “steady source for calm reflection, inquisitive wisdom and passionate advocacy,” Park’s teaching interests center around Amish culture, contemporary indigenous societies, women’s lives in low-income nations and food studies.

“Dr. Park cultivates students’ curiosity, empathy and compassion for others in curriculm that is rooted in service and experiential learning,” said McMinn. “And through her work, she helps students understand the immediate world around them and the worlds far beyond, leading them to develop the characteristics, competencies and commitments that are central to Westminster’s mission.”

Park earned an undergraduate degree in sociology and anthropology from Colgate University, and her master’s and doctorate in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The award is presented annually to a tenured faculty member who has demonstrated characteristics of the most outstanding faculty—intellectual vitality, effective communication skills, the ability to motivate or inspire compassion and concern for student success, collegiality and leadership.
    
The Commencement ceremony also included special music performed by the Westminster College Brass Quintet, featuring Dr. JaKobe Henry, assistant professor of music, on trumpet, as well as Terry Gale on trumpet, Dr. Marissa Ulmer on horn, Kevin McManus on trombone and Kyle Grabigel ’15 on tuba.

Performing the Westminster College Alma Mater were senior vocalists and members of the Westminster College Graduate Choir Jada Brown, a music education major from West Newton, Pa.; Amber Cepec an accounting and music business double major from Freeport, Pa.; Isabella Dienes, a music education major from Punxsutawney, Pa.; Katie Lyons, a music education and music performance double major from Shippensburg, Pa.; Shelby Pocono, a music education and music performance double major from Shavertown, Pa.; and Shawn Redmond, a music performance major from Ellwood City, Pa.

Other participants included Dr. Martha McGrath-Brown, instructor of sport management, and Dr. Robert Craven, assistant professor of English, who served as faculty marshals. Students were led by marshals Dr. Patrick Lackey, associate professor of chemistry, and Dr. Angela Lahr, associate professor of history.

The day’s ceremonies began with Mohr leading the morning Baccalaureate service in Wallace Memorial Chapel. The Rev. Beth Creekpaum, campus ministry fellow, provided the call to worship

The Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes, president emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary, provided the message, “In Search of a Vision.”

Baccalaureate senior speakers included Tarell Hefflin, a finance major from Pittsburgh, who offered the Old Testament reading, and Elizabeth Marshaus, a business administration major from Mayville, N.Y., and Michael Tokar, a business administration major from New Wilmington, who led the litany of faith.

The service included music by organist Mitchell Stecker and the Kool Kats Jazz Ensemble featuring Herr on piano; Dylan Kresak, a senior political science major from Sarver, Pa., on drums; William Pry, a sophomore music major from Pittsburgh, on bass; and Jack Romocean, a senior music composition major from Ravenna, Ohio, on tenor sax. Bagpiper Kim Meek also led the processional and recessional during baccalaureate and the Commencement ceremony.

Watch the complete Commencement ceremony here.

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