Alumnus to Open Convocation for New Students
Bryan York ’05 from Oklahoma City, OK, returns to his alma mater Westminster College to offer words of wisdom from his days on campus to new fall students. York will speak at the 3 p.m. annual Convocation Ceremony, Saturday, August 20, in Champ Auditorium on campus.
Graduating as an English major, today York is Senior Vice President and Manager for Treasury Management for BOK Financial.
York recalls coming to Westminster from Tulsa, totally unsure of what future career he would pursue and apprehensive about his roommate, particularly when he arrived to find his new classmate had already claimed the bed next to the wall and hung up the Texas flag. Today that roommate is still one of his best friends.
He credits his Kappa Alpha fraternity for much of the support and growth he found at Westminster because his fraternity brothers encouraged him to become a part of the campus and the local community.
York was active in Student Ambassadors, Student Foundation and served as the Interfraternity Council Vice President, in addition to other leadership roles in his fraternity. He embraced Westminster’s commitment to service and worked with Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels. As a senior, he was inducted into the Skulls of Seven, Westminster’s highest honor society.
“I found my niche at Westminster,” says York. “Westminster gave me confidence and there wasn’t anything that I didn’t think I could do.”
During the spring semester of his senior year, he began interviewing for jobs. He ultimately chose to work for UMB Financial Corporation as a part of a selective class in the UMB management rotation program in Kansas City, MO.
“Westminster does a fantastic job of helping you with interviewing, preparing for career and the corporate world,” York says.
Over the next 10 years with UMB, York rose to Vice President of Treasury Management where he managed $100 million to $6 billion clients and traveled from Washington D.C. to Denver. Then in 2013 he was made Senior Vice President and Treasury Management Regional Manager, overseeing there territories out of his St. Louis office.
When the opportunity came to move to a larger bank 90 miles away from his hometown in 2015, York moved to BOK Financial.
Before the new students hear York at the Convocation Ceremony, they will participate in one of Westminster’s most revered traditions, the Columns Ceremony. New students will walk from the world through the historic Columns and onto the campus to begin their Westminster experience. Upon graduation, the students will walk back through the Columns and into the world. These two ceremonies are the only times people walk through the Columns.
Classes will begin for the new academic year Thursday, August 25.
