Alumna Sydney Franklin to Deliver 2024 New Student Convocation Address
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fulton, Mo. ‒ Aug. 12, 2024: Westminster College is pleased to announce that Sydney Franklin from the Class of 2018 will deliver the 2024 New Student Convocation address at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17. The event is open to the public.*
Franklin currently is a policy officer at the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, where she works to support the first U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice.
A proud native of Dallas, Texas, Franklin majored in security studies and minored in Spanish at Westminster.
Dr. Ingrid Ilinca, Vice President, Chief Academic Officer, Provost, and Chief Student Retention Officer, said Westminster is looking forward to welcoming Franklin and all students back to campus for the 2024 fall semester.
“We wish our students an exciting and successful academic year, filled with new opportunities for intellectual and personal growth, where they thrive and enjoy their educational journey,” Ilinca said. “Likewise, we are delighted that Sydney will be returning to her alma mater exactly 10 years after she walked through the Columns as a first-year student herself. Through her convocation address, Sydney will offer valuable insight into the Westminster experience and help us celebrate this significant milestone in our new students’ lives.”
New Student Convocation 2024 begins with a solemn processional and ceremony on the Hill and ends in Champ Auditorium, where Franklin will address the Class of 2028.
Steeped in tradition, Westminster’s New Student Convocation dates back to the fall of 1929 with the Columns Ceremony, which is conducted by the Skulls of Seven, an honor society established in 1898. The Skulls are seven students who epitomize Westminster’s key virtues: tradition, history, scholarship, loyalty, citizenship, service and honor.
Skull and Custodian of the Columns Ethan Mort of Pacific, Missouri, Class of 2025, will officially induct the new students into the Westminster community after reading the Athenian Oath.
Two members of the freshman class ― John Maynard of St. Louis, Missouri, and Madison Plybon of Fulton, Missouri ― will deliver the response of the Class of 2028.
During the Columns Ceremony, all new students pass through Westminster’s historic Columns, located in the heart of campus, which are all that remain of the original administration building destroyed by fire in 1909. They are not to approach the Columns again until graduation, when they walk through in the opposite direction and out into the world.
ABOUT WESTMINSTER COLLEGE: Founded in 1851 and home of Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, Westminster College is ranked prestigiously by The Princeton Review as one of the “Best 150 colleges in the Midwest” for 2024. New graduates experience a more than 90% placement rate within six months of graduation, while Westminster alumni are in the top 16% nationwide for graduate earnings. The only National Liberal Arts college in Missouri, Westminster has long been recognized for its focus on educating and inspiring students to make an impact on the world around them. Find out more about Westminster College by visiting our website.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Sarah Backer at 573-220-9038 or Sarah.Backer@WCMO.edu.
*All events are subject to change. For those who cannot attend, following the Columns Ceremony, the Convocation Ceremony will be livestreamed on the College’s website and both its Facebook and livestream pages.
