New Honor for “Mr. Westminster”

“Mr. Westminster” himself, John E. “Jack” Marshall will receive a new honor Alumni Weekend when Westminster College dignitaries dedicate the Alumni House on 7th St. in his name at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, April 27.

Speakers at the dedication ceremony will include Westminster President Dr. George B. Forsythe, Dr. Bill Sheehan, Vice President for Institutional Advancement; Jack Marshall’s brother Dick, ’62;  Sara Hart Weir, ’04, President of the Westminster College Alumni Council and Board of Trustees Member; and Sharon Mather, Director of Alumni Engagement and Event Management.

“If Jack could be with us, how touched he would be that the Westminster Alumni House will now bear his name,” says President Forsythe.  “The Jack Marshall Alumni House will serve as a reminder of how necessary strong support for Westminster and love of the College is to the future of this noble institution.  Jack Marshall provided that level of support and love all his life and he now challenges us to follow his example and live up to the high standards he set for us.”

Jack Marshall never drew a paycheck from any other employer but Westminster College except for the years he spent in the U.S. Army.  During his forty years of employment at the College, he held every prominent position conceivable, including Dean of Men, Dean of Admissions, Vice President for Development and Interim President.  He was also a walking encyclopedia of Westminster’s history and

Jack was instrumental in the effort to bring the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury from London to Fulton to house the Churchill Museum, wrote  the College plan to become co-educational and helped plan world events at Westminster such as the visits of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Thanks to the support  of dozens of individual donors and a strong commitment from the estate of Jack Marshall himself, the Jack Marshall endowed scholarship has been established to educate future Westminster students.

Past Westminster honors bestowed upon Jack Marshall have included a renaming of the Alumni Loyalty Award in his name, the dedication of 6th Street as Jack Marshall Avenue, an honorary degree, an Alumni Achievement Award and the Alumni Award of Merit.