# Westminster College (Pennsylvania)

Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population includes approximately 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students.

## History

Westminster was formed as a result of a meeting on January 21, 1852, between the Ohio and Shenango Presbyteries.

## Campus

Westminster is located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, a town of approximately 2,100 residents located 50 miles (80 km) north of Pittsburgh and 80 miles (130 km) south of Erie and Cleveland on a 300-acre (120 ha) campus.

## Academics

Westminster College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, Westminster College was ranked 108th (tied) of 211 national liberal arts colleges.
In 2009, The Washington Monthly ranked Westminster College "third in social mobility" among 253 liberal arts colleges. In 2010, Forbes ranked Westminster first in the nation as the "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math."

## Student organizations
### Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) exists primarily for governing and providing entertainment for the student body.

### Greek life

The four social fraternities each have their own off campus house which junior and senior class brothers can live in. Each of the five sororities have their own respective hall in a sorority dorm building on campus that sisters can live in if they choose. The fraternities are: Alpha Sigma Phi, Phi Kappa Tau, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Theta Chi. The sororities are: Alpha Gamma Delta, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu, Sigma Kappa, and Zeta Tau Alpha.

### Publications

Westminster has one alumni publication and three student publications. The alumni publication is Westminster College Magazine, a quarterly magazine detailing on-campus and alumni activities. Student publications include The Holcad, a weekly student newspaper; Argo, the university's student-run yearbook; and Scrawl, an annual literary magazine.

### Radio and television stations

Westminster's radio station, Titan Radio (Digital 88.9/WWNW-FM) serves Lawrence County. The station streams online and features a hot adult contemporary format. The station is programmed and managed by students as a college and community service. Programming includes live local sports for Wilmington Area High School and various Westminster Titans teams. Each year from 2009 through 2013, the station received recognition from the Princeton Review, ranking it among the Top 20 College Radio Stations in the U.S. five years in a row. Titan Radio is a broadcast member of the Pennsylvania Associated Press and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB).
Westminster's television station is the Westminster Cable Network (WCN). It provides programming to Comcast subscribers in New Castle & Lawrence County. WCN is available on Armstrong Cable in New Wilmington on channel 72. Armstrong Cable also carries WCN in Lawrence and Mercer counties on channel 204. WCN creates and televises local programming including live high school football games, live Westminster College football games and Westminster Christmas Vespers. Other live programming includes the Lawrence County Band Festival and the New Castle Light Up Night parade. WCN produces a news magazine show, WCN 24/7 (formerly known as The County Line and Inside Lawrence County) and a weekly sports program called Coaches Corner focused on football in the fall and men's and women's basketball in the spring.

#### The Holcad

The Holcad is Westminster College's official student newspaper. The Holcad was started in 1884, 32 years after the establishment of the college. It has been published every year since without interruption. It is published every Friday during the academic year except the Fridays immediately before or after breaks and during finals.
It is printed by West Penn Printing in New Castle, Pennsylvania under the advisement of The Herald of Sharon, Pennsylvania. Formerly of the tabloid format, it has been printed in broadsheet format since 2004. The Holcad generally includes the following sections: Campus News, Opinion, Sports, Arts & Entertainment, and Features.

## Athletics

The Westminster Titans compete in NCAA Division III athletics. Before moving to the NCAA, Westminster competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for many years. For a brief period, Westminster was a member of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The Titans currently are a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
The first official football game by the Westminster Titans was in December 1891; they lost to Geneva, 42–0. The next year was the first official season; Westminster played four games that year and went 3–1. The Titans have won the NAIA Division II Football National Championship in 1970, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1989, and 1994, all while competing in NAIA Division II, with 11 undefeated seasons. Five former Titans football players have been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame: Harold Davis, Joe Fusco, Larry Pugh, Harold Burry and Joe Micchia. Hall of Fame head coach Tuss McLaughry was not an alumnus but did coach the Titans for four years. The current head football coach of the Titans is Scott Benzel, who became head coach in 2014.
Westminster men's basketball team lost in the national NAIA title game twice (1960 and 1962) under coach Charles "Buzz" Ridl. Ridl was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame (1969), the Western Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame (1980), and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (1992).

## Notable alumni

* Eric Burns – author, media critic, broadcast journalist
* David S. Cercone – U.S. federal judge
* Amy Marie Charles – professor of English literature at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
* Thomas C. Cochran – congressman, R-PA, 70th–74th Congresses (1927–1935)
* Thomas DiLorenzo – Austrian School economist and author, Professor at Loyola University in Baltimore
* JD Eicher – singer, songwriter, and producer
* Jennifer Elvgren – writer
* William N. Johnston – president of Wesley College (Delaware) 2002–2015
* Joe Jordano – college baseball coach at Pittsburgh
* Tim Kaiser – producer of Seinfeld and Will & Grace and 2 Broke Girls
* James Kennedy – Congressman, R-OH (1903–1911)
* Gerald LaValle – Pennsylvania State Senator (1971 M.Ed.)
* Mark Longietti – Pennsylvania State Representative (2006–present)
* Amber Mariano née Brkich – reality television personality (winner of Survivor: All-Stars), married to Rob Mariano
* Andrew McKelvey – chairman and CEO of Monster.com (December 1996 – October 2006)
* Joe Micchia – 2013 College Football Hall of Fame inductee
* Daniel Migliore – theologian and author; professor emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary
* Samuel Henry Miller – congressman, R-PA, 47th, 48th, and 64th Congresses (1881–1885, 1915–1917)
* Gladys Milligan – painter
* David W. Orr – chair and professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College in Ohio and influential figure in educational reform
* Deborah Platt Majoras – chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (August 2004 – 2008)
* Greg Nicotero - special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director
* M. Richard Rose (1955–2021) – former President of Alfred University and the Rochester Institute of Technology
* Jerry Schmitt – football head coach at Duquesne University, former player and coach at Westminster
* R. C. Sproul – theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries

## Notable faculty

* Wes Craven – (former) film maker and writer
* James Ashbrook Perkins - professor emeritus