Virtual Hancock Symposium Astounds by Reaching About 2,000 Viewers

Westminster College’s 15^th Hancock Symposium on Sept. 16, 2020, seemed fittingly futuristic as audiences throughout the country peered into their personal devices while NASA’s chief scientist kicked off the day-long virtual event.

[pullquote]Ultimately this year’s virtual format allowed viewers from across the globe to watch a total of five livestreamed presentations while the campus community viewed nine additional presentations via secure Zoom links. Green’s lecture attracted a virtual audience of approximately 2,000, making it among the most well-attended Symposium sessions on record.”[/pullquote]

“I firmly believe if this species is going to survive, we’re going to have to be a multi-planet species,” Dr. James Green said of the possibility of NASA traveling to Mars. His remarks followed an in-depth presentation that included information on NASA’s recent findings of possible evidence of life on Venus.

The virtual format — adopted as a safety measure during the COVID-19 pandemic — contributed a space-age feel to the wide range of innovative talks showcased throughout the event.

Launched in 2006, the Hancock Symposium is the College’s signature event, representing the finest aspects of a Westminster liberal arts education. The series is designed to illustrate how different academic disciplines can intersect within a single topic.

Addressing the theme of “Vision & Values,” the subject matter of Symposium 2020 ran the gamut. The search for life on other planets, COVID-19 in Missouri, stigmas surrounding mental illness, halting perpetual world wars, shaping a successful legal career to fit your values, and George Washington Carver’s revered but hidden influence on Fulton, MO, were just a few of the 14 presentations that featured nearly 20 speakers.

The event began with a prerecorded reflection on Westminster’s liberal arts mission by Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty Dr. David Roebuck and message of welcome from Interim President and Chief Transformation Officer Donald P. Lofe, Jr.

Dr. David Schmidt, who is responsible for the recent Westminster recovery of a 3,000-pound, 7-foot-long triceratops skull in the Badlands of South Dakota, introduced Green. The Associate Professor of Geology and Environmental Science drew a correlation between unearthing prehistoric life and discovering new planetary realms, which Green later expanded upon from his office at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC.

Ultimately this year’s virtual format allowed viewers from across the globe to watch a total of five livestreamed presentations while the campus community viewed nine additional presentations via secure Zoom links. Green’s lecture attracted a virtual audience of approximately 2,000, making it among the most well-attended Symposium sessions on record.

Included in the extensive list of speakers were five Westminster alumni: Betsy Sharp Lynch, ’02 ΚΑΘ, Tshering Yangzom, ’10 , Dr. Mary Nestor, ’14 ΚΑΘ, Jacob Marsh, ‘08 ΔΤΔ, Noelia Cerna, ’09.

Dr. Jeremy Straughn, Hancock Symposium co-chair and Director of the Churchill Institute for Global Engagement, said that the reenvisioned format of the event produced positive results. In all, the percentage of students who viewed the sessions was higher than in recent years, and students were able to access the recorded talks after the events ended. Non-student participation also increased.

“Although we usually attract off-campus viewers for our plenary and executive sessions, going virtual allowed for an even larger audience,” Straughn explained.

In addition to current students, faculty, staff, Westminster alumni, representatives from various news outlets, and other members of the public, the audience included a group of high school students from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas who participated in a private webinar with Green and Regional Admissions Counselor Lane Hume, ‘10 ΚΚΓ.

Timothy Riley, Hancock Symposium co-chair and the Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator of America’s National Churchill Museum, said Hancock Symposium 2020 celebrated what sets a Westminster liberal arts education apart.

“The ideas discussed in this year’s Hancock Symposium were very much rooted in the brand of education Westminster extols and upholds,” Riley reflected. “It is extraordinary to me that from the 350-year-old Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, we can explore, using modern methods of communication, big questions about important topics of today and tomorrow.”

Complete presentations from Hancock Symposium 2020 are found on Westminster’s YouTube page and below.

The Hancock Symposium is funded in perpetuity by a generous gift from Westminster alumnus David Hancock, ’67 FIJI, of Kansas City, MO.

Complete List of Presentations for Hancock Symposium 2020: Vision & Values

“The Search for Life Beyond Earth in Space and Time”
Dr. James Green, Chief Scientist, NASA

“COVID-19 Pandemic Response: The Story from Those Who Live It Daily”
Bill Whitmar, Laboratory Director, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services

“Grid of the Future: Finding a Way Forward!”
Gunnar Shaffer, Founder of Agrownomics, Engineer at Southwest Energy Power Pool

“How Illness Led to Insight: From Brain on Fire to the Great Pretender”
Susannah Cahalan, Best-Selling Author and Mental Health Advocate

“The Future of Perpetual Wars: Do Warring Parties Have an Obligation to End the Conflict?”
Laurie R. Blank, Professor at Emory University, Distinguished Expert in Security and International Law

“Imagining Climate Change Through Fiction”
Dr. Amy Brady, Editor in Chief, Chicago Review of Books, Expert on Climate Fiction
Omar El Akkad, Egyptian Canadian Novelist

“Spaces for Learning and Preparing for What’s Next”
Jeanne Narum, Principal, Learning Spaces Collaboratory, Pioneer in STEM Education

“Non-Linear Paths for the Non-Conformist”
Betsy Sharp Lynch, ’02 ΚΑΘ

“Bhutan: Gross National Happiness & Development with Values”
Tshering Yangzom, ’10 ΚΚΓ, Bhutan Foundation

”Finding Your Vision in Your Values: An Occupational Therapist’s Perspective”
Dr. Mary Nestor, ’14 ΚΑΘ, Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Playabilities Clinic

“The New American Dream – Vanlife, Social Entrepreneurship, and the Rehabilitation from Expectation”
Jacob Marsh, ‘08 ΔΤΔ, Author, Business Owner, Sustainability Seeker


“The Power of Owning Our Story”
Noelia Cerna, ’09, Performance Poet

“Building Hope, Building Homes”
Alexis Lowery, Victim Advocate, Founder of Mary’s House of Hope

“Our Buildings Shape Us: A 2020 Vision for Two Fulton Monuments”
Timothy Riley, Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator; Churchill Fellow of America’s National Churchill Museum at Westminster College
Carmen Brandt, President, George Washington Carver Cultural Center Board of Directors
Victor B. Pasley, Retired Executive, Xerox Corporation
Dr. Gary Kremer, Executive Director, the State Historical Society of Missouri