INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT MESSAGE

Donors Answer the Call to ‘Bring Back the Titans’

Since the early months of the pandemic, the Westminster College community has consistently and compassionately mobilized in many ways to support each other and to keep our community safe. We knew, early on, that many of our students and their families were bearing especially difficult burdens wrought by the pandemic—job losses and serious illnesses—that threatened to derail their educational goals. Now, as we move into the second half of 2022, it is worth pausing to reflect on the progress that has been made in creating the conditions that have allowed many to return—safely—to work and to school. It is also worth acknowledging those who helped to assuage the strife wrought by the pandemic.

We are deeply grateful for the many alumni, friends, businesses, and foundations that chose to support our students with gifts to the Bring Back the Titans campaign, held in 2021, which provided significant financial support to help students who were most significantly affected by the pandemic. We are pleased to acknowledge the meaningful and measurable impact that gifts to the campaign have had on our students:

• Forty-one (41) students who received tuition and other financial assistance from our Bring Back the Titans campaign have now graduated from Westminster College.

• Fifty-six (56) students who received tuition and other financial assistance from the Bring Back the Titans campaign are on track to continue their education at Westminster.

• The retention rate among students who received tuition and other financial assistance from the Bring Back the Titans campaign is an impressive eighty-two (82) percent.

The above results demonstrate the impact of gifts of all sizes and when those gifts are directed to ensuring that our most vulnerable students can participate and succeed in Westminster’s exceptional experiential and educational environment. The above results speak to the College’s commitment—made possible through generous support from alumni and friends—to students of low socioeconomic status and those from traditionally underrepresented and under-served populations.

On behalf of the entire Westminster College community, thank you for answering the call to support students who were among

those made most vulnerable by pandemic. Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to learn more about Westminster’s initiatives to expand opportunities for more equitable access to education, especially for historically marginalized populations.

Dr. Jean Hale Vice President for Institutional Advancement halejm@westminster.edu