FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fulton, Mo. ‒ Aug. 6, 2025: Esteemed New York City attorney Derick Dailey from Westminster’s Class of 2011 will deliver the College’s 2025 New Student Convocation address at 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 16 in Champ Auditorium. The event is open to the public.*
About Dailey and the New Student Convocation address
As one of Westminster’s most accomplished young alumni, Dailey will offer the incoming Class of 2029 insight into how to thrive amid the rigors of a Westminster College education.
A resident of Woodbridge, New Jersey, Dailey serves as counsel for Crowell and Moring LLP in Manhattan. He is a respected advocate for civil rights, youth justice, voting rights and more.
Last summer, Dailey was named a 2024-2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader. He also was named to the National Black Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 in 2024.
At Westminster, Dailey majored in political science and religious studies before going on to earn graduate degrees from Yale University and Fordham University School of Law.
Dr. Ingrid Ilinca, Provost, Chief Academic Officer and Vice President of Academic Affairs, expressed that Westminster is highly pleased to welcome Dailey and all students back to campus for the 2025-2026 academic year.
“Each one of us at Westminster College is excited to welcome students back for a new academic year filled with opportunity, growth and discovery,” Ilinca said. “I’m especially pleased to welcome Mr. Dailey back to campus. His remarkable academic and professional journeys are sure to inspire the Class of 2029 and many more.”
About the 96-year-long Columns Ceremony tradition
New Student Convocation 2025 begins with a solemn processional and ceremony on the Hill and ends in Champ Auditorium, where Dailey will address the Class of 2029.
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 Elly Crum of Centralia, Missouri, Class of 2026, will officially induct the new students into the Westminster community after reading the Athenian Oath.
Two members of the freshman class ― Carter Moore of Auxvasse, Missouri, and Evelyn Ritter of Seneca, Missouri ― will deliver the response of the Class of 2029.
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 151 “Best Colleges in the Midwest” for 2026 and is one of only 37 full-participation institutions nationwide with the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition as recognized by the Higher Learning Commission. 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 New Student Convocation Ceremony will be livestreamed on the College’s website and both its Facebook and livestream pages.
Sarah Rummel Backer is the Director of Media Relations and Senior Writer at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. A proud Westminster graduate, Sarah has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and strategic communications in the areas of higher education, medicine, agriculture, and the private business sector.
