Westminster College - Argo Yearbook (New Wilmington, PA)

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JFmln i ; of Hlcstminstcr Westminster College came into existence in 1852. To Rev. George C. Vincent, D. D., be- longs the credit of projecting it. Several places competed for the location of the new institu- tion, New Wilmington winning the prize through the energy of a few of the citizens of the community. It was placed under the care of twelve persons, six each chosen by the Presby- teries of Shenango and Ohio of the Associate Presbyterian Church. In 1859 the Board of Directors was enlarged, and the appointment of its twenty-four members was committed to the First Synod of the West of the United Presbyterian Church. In 1872 the Synod of Pittsburgh was associated with the First Synod of the West in the control of the college, twelve members of the Board to be appointed bv each. Within recent years, the alumni have been given representation in the board b ' eight members additional, and the Board itself has been given power to add eight more, making a total membership of forty. The successive presidents of the Board include the following names: David Goodwillie, Joseph McClintock, Samuel .Alexander. D. H. A. .McLean, Joseph Pressly, David R. Kerr, R. B. Ewing, E. N. McElree. ami John S. McKee; the office being held for quite long periods by Drs. McLean. Pressly. and Kerr The college was born in due time. The men who founded it were wise to discern the need of the time and the future. It provided the opportunity of education for both sexes for a large scope of country that was bottled by Presbyterians of various hues — Seceders and Covenanters and Old School. It had immediate success, students flocking in from all sides. The little building in which it began in the spring of 1852. soon became too small for the accommodation of its classes. In some of the earlier years of its existence, the aggregate enrollment was as great as it has been at any time since. It commanded respect and confidence b - the abilit - and the character of the men who were set over it. They were men of strong intellect and resolute purpose, and they made great sacrifices that they might establish and promote the institution that was dear to them as an instrument of service to Christ and His Church. Rev. Dr. Owens, speaking in 1894 on The Progress of Wesminster in Recent Y ears. pays this brief tribute to the men of his da ' as a student: Comparing the faculty of today with that of say thirty years ago, we find an increase of members and an advance in methods of instruction. Yei to say we have lost nothing in the character and quality of our teachers, is to pay a very high compliment to those who fill the chairs. Such men as Drs. James Patter- son, George C. Vincent, William Findley, Wm. . Mehard, Andrew Black, Prof. J. B. Cum- mings. are not often equalled and seldom surpassed. The fruit of the labors of these men is seen in the cultivated intellect, lofty purpose and large usefulness of her long and honorable roll of graduates. In several churches and in many countries they serve God in the ministry. They are found in Egypt and India, in China. Siam, and Persia. In all parts of our ctjuntry they occupy positions of importance — in educa tion, in business, in law and medicine. They are judges and bankers and editors — men of influence. Especially are they found in the ranks of the ministry and laity of the United Presbyterian Church, which established it to provide educated c)ung men for her ministry and educated men and women for her service in the churches.

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S lie 3 uturc of fflcstininstcr THE ARGO staff has opened before me an inviting door and crowned the executive with a coveted distinction in chissif ing him with those who see visions. For Westminster I see a vision of a future in which even now a rosy-fingered dawn is gilding the emerging hill-tops with the traceries of light. The future of the College, which 1 see, will be builded worthily of the past and the present because the builders whom 1 see fabricating the structure were long ago described for me: Men my brethren, men the icorkers, ever reaping something neix) — I ' hat which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do. ilh a faculty of scholars, expert in specialty, co-operative, sympathetic. Chris- tian; with a student body enthusiastic, earnest, loyal to the core, with a vision which is sweeping the fields of art, of literature, of science, of social life and politics with the searching scrutiny of an unsullied sincerity; encouraged by an Alumni Body every da - in every way becoming better and better in interest, in loyalty and in resourcefulness, all guided by a Board of Trustees ever planning for enlarge- ment, development and efTiciency, — how fascinating becomes the vision splendid of the future of Westminster! High and exacting standards of scholarship and character, demanded and pro- vided for by the Board; maintained and fostered by the Faculty, and increasingly delivered by a Student Body of superior excellence, are developing those builders of the future who cannot fail to maintain Westminster with her traditions majestic, crowned with everlasting light. Southward from Old Main upon the New Campus the Board has seen a vision of buildings of beauty and convenience; upon her athletic fields and floors the Alumni see visions of ictories achie ed by the co-operation of us all in a program of genuine physical education; within her halls of learning the 1-aculty see a revival of the desire for those disciplines achieved onl ' by an address to the college curriculum. .. And as 1 observe the Student Body of the present year, m ' heart w arms within me as 1 look toward the future. 1-or 1 believe in the contagion of loyalty, confi- dence, co-operation and devotion. Never was the present group of students sur- passed in these altitudes toward the College. None was ever assembled wfio could more truly sing; How faint or fall or yield, zchate ' er withstand us Thy presence in a heart, a holy fire. Youngest of all Thy sons, we hail and greet Thee, With all our lives, for service in Thy sight! With these attitudes of the youngest of all her sons becoming truly contagious, all her sons and daughters, scattered far and near upon seats of strategy, shall rise up and call her blessed, Our Alma Mater, glorious, grand and true! Ten