Alumnus Da’Shaun L. Scott to Deliver 2023 New Student Convocation Address

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fulton, Mo. ‒ Aug. 17, 2023: Westminster College is pleased to announce that alumnus Da’Shaun L. Scott will deliver the 2023 New Student Convocation address at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19. The event is open to the public.*

New Student Convocation 2023 begins with a solemn processional and ceremony on the Hill and ends in Champ Auditorium, where Scott will address the Class of 2027.

Scott graduated from Westminster in 2016 after majoring in Business Communication and Human Resources Management. He then earned a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs as well as a graduate certificate in Education Law from Indiana University in Bloomington.

He currently is the Assistant Director of Student Engagement at Washington University in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.

Scott is the vice president and previous membership chairperson of the Westminster College Alumni Council.

President and Chief Transformation Officer Donald P. Lofe, Jr., said Westminster is excited for the beginning of the fall semester and to welcome Scott as the 2023 Convocation Speaker.

“Da’Shaun has a contagious enthusiasm for Westminster College that comes from having an open mind and embracing our many leadership opportunities on campus,” Lofe said. “I know I speak for all of us at the College when I say we are truly looking forward to Da’Shuan’s address on Saturday afternoon.”

The origins of Westminster’s New Student Convocation date back to the fall of 1929 with the Columns Ceremony.

The ceremony 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 Heather Ripperger of Hillsboro, Missouri, Class of 2024, will officially induct the new students into the Westminster community after reading the Athenian Oath.

Two members of the freshman class ― Darvin Fowler of Bono, Arkansas, and Madison VanDyke of St. Peters, Missouri ― will deliver the response of the Class of 2027.

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. In 2023, the independent think tank Third Way singled out the small, private college as one of the nation’s best among colleges and universities in the United States in terms of economic mobility and return on investment. New Westminster alumni experience a more than 90 percent placement rate in jobs or graduate school within six months of graduation. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report places Westminster in a unique category by itself, listing it as 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 by visiting our website.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Sarah Backer at 573-220-9038 or [email protected].

*All events are subject to change. For those who cannot attend, the event will be livestreamed on the College’s website and both its Facebook and YouTube pages.