Orientation Schedule
Orientation is a required experience for all incoming students—first-year, transfer, residential, and commuter—and takes place over all four days, August 20–23
This immersive program is designed to help you build friendships, get connected to campus, develop strong academic strategies, and establish the mindset and habits that support long-term success. Orientation includes academic advising, your first class meeting for WST101, and a wide range of social activities, traditions, and opportunities for fun. Whether you live on campus or commute, Orientation is a vital starting point that ensures every new student begins the semester prepared, confident, and connected.
Questions? For more information about orientation, contact Student Affairs, 724-946-7179, orientationandbelonging@westminster.edu
Resident students only
You will receive your Titan Cards, parking passes, mail room key, along with residence hall check-in materials. Anyone who has not purchased a 2026-2027 parking pass may head to Public Safety in McKelvey Campus Center Room 176 after moving in.
Residence Halls
You will pick up your name tag and receive additional resources and instructions for the weekend’s events. Here is where you will also find out which Orientation group you will be in!
Commuters will receive Titan cards and mailbox keys here as well
Orr Auditorium Tents
Students and Families
Make your Move-In Day even more memorable with a stop at the Alumni Association Welcome Tent, where you can experience Titans Over Time! New students and their families are invited to swing by and take part in a fun, interactive photo experience celebrating the start of your Titan journey. As part of Titans Over Time, flip through our collection of yearbooks to see how the campus has grown over the years—or even find a familiar face from your own family’s past and snap a photo together! No Titan legacy in your family? No problem! Capture the moment with our Titan cutout, themed signage, and other creative photo ops designed just for you. Between unloading and settling in, take a few minutes to pause, connect, and become part of the Titan story—past, present, and future.
Campus Quad
Students and Families
Stop by the bottom floor of the McKelvey Campus Center for a quick lunch
First floor, McKelvey Campus Center
Students and Families
The traditional Opening Convocation is a time of academic celebration that signals the start of the new academic year. All new students sit as a class in the front center section near the stage and families fill in the back rows. For those who need a sensory-friendly space to view the event, Patterson 207 will be showing a live-stream of the event for those interested in alternate viewing options.
Orr Auditorium
Students and Families
We ask you to take a few minutes following Opening Convocation to say farewell before we begin the sessions dedicated to new students. Students will be called to follow orientation leaders to their afternoon sessions.
Campus Quad
Orientation Leaders will help you gather as your individual groups, connect with your peers and direct you to your group’s weekend meeting location.
Various Locations
You’ll engage in high-impact group activities with your fellow classmates and Orientation Leaders. This time will be filled with fun, laughter, and community building.
Soccer Field/Memorial Field House
President Kathy B. Richardson will host new students for dinner at the Manse. Instructions for departure will be communicated by your Orientation Leader.
President’s Manse
While half the group has dinner with President Richardson, the other half will participate in larger-than-life games.
Campus Quad
Watch a great competition between your Orientation Leaders and Resident Assistants as they battle it out in a triathlon hosted by the Peer Health Educators.
Memorial Field House
Meet and mingle with fellow commuter students and learn some tips and tricks to enhance your commuting experience.
MCC Mueller Theater
Meet your Resident Assistant and fellow first-year students on your floor to review important community information while relaxing in your home away from home.
Residence Halls
You will receive a wake up call from Residence Life and start your day with some breakfast in McKelvey
First floor, McKelvey Campus Center
Head to your group’s weekend meeting location for a morning check-in.
Various Locations
Group training on the student strengths survey with your Westminster 101 instructors led by the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students.
Orr Auditorium
This is your very first Westminster class where you will meet your WST101 instructor. Materials for the class will be provided. This session is for all new first-year students and transfer students registered for WST 101.
Various Locations
Head to your academic advising location based on your major as noted in your Orientation and Academic Advising Location Document.
Various Locations
McKelvey Campus Center first floor
Bring a copy of your class schedule or be sure to pull it up on your phone. Orientation Leaders will let you know where to meet in-between sessions for classroom tours.
Various Locations
During the Titan Talks, you will rotate through sessions with your orientation group and hear from staff, faculty, and students on how to navigate the various components of college life. You will be given tools to promote academic success that can be tailored to fit your individual needs.
Various Locations
Orientation Leaders will show you around to your classroom locations. Within each group, they may split further to efficiently bring students to different locations.
Various Locations
During the Titan Talks, you will rotate through sessions with your orientation group and hear from staff, faculty, and students on how to navigate the various components of academic life. You will be given tools to promote academic success that can be tailored to fit your individual needs.
Various Locations
Orientation Leaders will show you around to your classroom locations. Within each group, they may split further to efficiently bring students to different locations.
Various Locations
During the Titan Talks, you will rotate through sessions with your orientation group and hear from staff, faculty, and students on how to navigate the various components of academic life. You will be given tools to promote academic success that can be tailored to fit your individual needs.
Various Locations
Whether you've already used AI tools or are just curious about them, this session is for you. We'll explore how AI is changing the way we learn, work, and interact with the world. Through discussions and real-life scenarios, we'll talk about how AI is built, where it can fall short, and the human qualities that AI can’t replace, such as creativity, empathy, ethical decision-making, and critical thinking.
This orientation session will introduce you to strategies and resources that will help you regularly organize, plan, and prioritize things like laundry, meals, jobs, athletic schedules, appointments, and social events. Every participant will leave with a framework that will guide their transition from high school into college, including being in class fewer hours, studying more on your own, and taking charge of your academic path.
You will have the opportunity to meet with the college counselors, learn to identify signs of stress in your life, learn skills to manage your emotions, and identify resources on campus to support you and your well-being at Westminster College.
McKelvey Campus Center first floor
Join us in the Orr Auditorium for an exciting performance by Dance Theatre
Orr Auditorium
Kick off your first weekend at Westminster College with style at New Titan Rally - a high-energy welcome event hosted by the Campus Programming Council! Get ready to light up the night with high-energy beats from a live DJ, take some memorable photos with a printing Photo Booth, compete in 9-hole mini golf, and treat yourself to popsicles and fizzy creations from a custom soda bar. This is an opportunity to shine, connect, and celebrate your new start at Westminster with your new community of classmates and friends!
McKelvey Campus Center & Berlin Lounge
McKelvey Campus Center first floor
Various Locations
The TRIO Team is excited to welcome our newest TRIO Scholars to campus! During this session, you’ll have an opportunity to meet the rest of our incoming TRIO Scholars, check some start-of-year tasks off your to-do list, and make sure you’re ready for a great start to your semester! Note: This session is intended for admitted TRIO Scholars; Students who are not yet part of TRIO are encouraged to speak to a member of the TRIO Team for more information.
Berlin Lounge
During the Titans Together sessions in the morning and afternoon, you will engage in conversations focused on critical topics about what it means to live and learn in a community with your fellow Titans.
Alcohol and other drugs remain a leading cause for concern among college students. While often celebrated as a “right of passage” in movies and television, it is important to know the impact of alcohol and drug use. Learn from our Wellness Center staff on how to be remain safe and responsible and the resources available to you at the College and in the local area.
We are committed to creating a campus culture of safety for all students and believes it's up to all of us to make that happen. This interactive training session will introduce interpersonal violence, ways to identify and prevent it, aspects of healthy relationships, consent culture, and the importance of bystander intervention. This session will provide a necessary foundation for the WST 101 Class IPV Prevention and Bystander Intervention.
In this two-part session, you will be provided with some best practices related to financial management to help you as a college student and ways to keep your data and information secure in an online world with increasing cyber-attacks.
Various Locations
Your Orientation Leaders during lunch will introduce you to Downtown New Wilmington, the Saturday Market and point out local resources.
McKelvey Campus Center first floor
In order to create a community that allows all students to reach their full potential, everyone must be treated with respect and appreciated for their individual experiences. This session will focus on campus policies that set the foundation for us to interact in an honest, respectful community where we can belong and further develop as a person and community.
Transitioning away from home can be challenging. This session will introduce you to topics that help you navigate the reality of living and learning in a new environment. Get the inside scoop from peers on how they managed first-year fears and expectations and also from staff members who support students in their transition.
The most meaningful learning often happens through experiences. Explore how leadership, involvement, service, research, campus employment, and relationships can help you discover your strengths and build the skills that lead to success in college and beyond.
Various Locations
McKelvey Campus Center First Floor
Football Field
Join us in the Amphitheatre for one of our favorite traditions, comedy skits by your Orientation Leaders!
Anderson Amphitheatre
Outside Wallace Memorial Chapel
McKelvey Campus Center First Floor
Memorial Field House
McKelvey Campus Center first floor or Galbreath Dining Hall
Ice cream information social with the Office of Faith and Spirituality. This is an opportunity to learn about and hear from campus ministry groups.
Wallace Memorial Chapel