News Archive

Friday, October 20, 2023

Westminster College’s Foster Art Gallery will host an artist lecture and gallery reception for ceramics artist Jeremiah Ibarra from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the gallery located in Patterson Hall.

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Peyton Aujay, a senior at Westminster College, was one of six musicians awarded an opportunity by the Pittsburgh Creators’ Project for his musical talent.

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Westminster College has been awarded $437,351 by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to support the development of an on-campus high-fidelity nursing simulation lab that will benefit current Westminster nursing students and first responders in the region.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Westminster College students and faculty members from the School of Communication and Center for the Environment showcased their new interdisciplinary work at the 83rd Pennsylvania Communication Association (PCA) Annual Conference held at Slippery Rock University on Friday, Sept. 29.

They presented “Westminster’s Green Team: Communication at the Intersection of Science, Sustainability, and Social Media,” delivered as part of the PCA’s salon session on “Rachel Carson: Listening to the Voices of Nature.”

Avery Keenan, a sophomore environmental science major from Cranberry, Pa., introduced his research with Dr. Patrick Krantz, associate professor of environmental science, on using real-time monitoring of bee hives to study temperature regulation, swarm behavior and honey production.

Hallie Hughes, a sophomore environmental science major from Jeannette, Pa., presented her research on nature therapy being done in collaboration with Dr. Helen Boylan, professor of chemistry. Their research investigates the combination of mindfulness outdoors and its effect on stress, attention span, and short-term memory.

The presentation culminated with Reid Sanderson, a junior broadcasting and sports communication major from Meadville, Pa., who discussed his research with Bradley Weaver, broadcasting and sports communication lecturer. Sanderson’s work is the creation of environmentally focused education media that communicates science and initially focused on the research of Keenan and Hughes. One of Sanderson’s video packages was shared as part of the presentation and was favorably received by the audience.

“We received positive feedback and witnessed how ‘The Green Team’ project sparked some inspiration among PCA members,” said Weaver. “A few asked for our social media links. They want to share the videos with their colleagues and students.”

Keenan and Sanderson had the opportunity to work on their projects as summer research fellows funded by the Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research. Grants from the Drinko Center covered registration fees for all three students.

Questions about this project can be directed to Dr. Patrick Krantz at krantzpd@westminster.edu.

Monday, October 16, 2023

Jamie Kohler, director of McGill Library and associate professor at Westminster College, will present the 2023 Henderson Lecture at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, in the Witherspoon Rooms of the McKelvey Campus Center.

Monday, October 16, 2023

The Westminster College School of Music invites all high school orchestras and individual high school string players to join current Westminster students at String Festival Day on Saturday, Nov. 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Will W. Orr Auditorium.

Monday, October 16, 2023

Westminster College students involved in the Buzzfeed cluster course served as video volunteers for the Bags & Blessings 5K Run/Walk in Beaver County in September.

Runners and walkers of the event—which was sponsored by Bags & Blessings, a non-profit charity established to help bring hope and love to those undergoing cancer treatments—shared with students their stories about why they were participating.

The recorded interviews will be shared with Bags & Blessings for use on social media.

“I thought this experience was very heartwarming and it was super interesting to hear from the participants of the race. Hearing stories of what some of those people have overcome and faced in their lives is truly amazing,” said Adam Coppins, a junior environmental studies major from Lewiston, N.Y.

Students worked under the guidance of Bradley Weaver, lecturer in Westminster’s School of Communication and an instructor in the Buzzfeed cluster course, which links environmental science and digital social media courses.

“I was very proud to see our students follow the protocols we mapped out in class about being empathic, understanding boundaries, asking open-ended questions and being supportive in recruiting people to share their reasons for running and supporting the organization,” Weaver said.

The project will connect to environmental science later this semester, when students will help bottle Westminster Bee Company’s honey harvest and share with Bags & Blessings to be included in care packages for cancer patients. Students will deliver the honey and conduct another set of interviews with volunteers.

The idea for this cluster course is attributed to Dr. Patrick Krantz, associate professor for the environment and director of the outdoor laboratory, and Dr. Terri Lennox, professor of computer science emerita.

Krantz said incorporating the honey element into the cluster course was inspired by a friend undergoing chemotherapy.

The raw, local honey produced at Westminster’s apiary is free from harmful chemicals and safe for patients undergoing treatment, Krantz said.

To learn more about the Buzzfeed cluster course, please contact Weaver at weaverbl@westminster.edu.

Monday, October 9, 2023

Westminster College political science alumna Anne Tillie '17 has been named to Crain's Cleveland Business' "Twenty in Their 20s" list. Tillie went into public service after graduating from Westminster and is currently project coordinator for the City of Cleveland.

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Westminster College will host its Fall Open House from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 21. The event is open to high school and transfer students who are interested in attending or learning more about Westminster College.

The visit will consist of tours of the campus with student guides who can give their input on their personal campus experiences. Students and their families will also hear from faculty and staff about majors and academic opportunities and will be provided with information about scholarships and the admission process with financial aid. 

In addition, there will be same day admission decisions for those entering fall 2024.

To register for the event, please click here. For more information, please contact the Office of Admissions at 724-946-7100.

Thursday, October 5, 2023

A Westminster College junior biochemistry major spent 10 weeks this past summer working on computational simulations of the histone mRNA degradation complex at Duquesne University.

Gabriella Hunter from New Baltimore, Mich., was chosen to participate in the Integrated Computational and Experimental Chemistry National Science Foundation-Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) Program.

Hunter worked in the biochemistry lab on the project “Role of 3'hExo in Histone mRNA Degradation” alongside Duquesne faculty members Dr. Rita Mihailescu and Dr. Jeffrey Evanseck, Westminster College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dr. Patrick Lackey, and graduate students Caylee Cunningham and Adam Kensinger.

The team worked on creating a better understanding of the degradation process and learning the roles of every structure involved, testing to see how the 3’hExo interacts with the mRNA when it is degrading it.

Hunter says that Westminster College prepared her well for this opportunity, as she was already familiar with the techniques and lab equipment she was using. She was also confident in her understanding of chemistry and biology that was critical to her research.

Lackey, Hunter’s campus mentor, was an integral part of Hunter’s experience.

“He helped explain a lot of background information and aided me along with the presentations we had to do, but he also let me figure things out on my own. That really made the experience interesting, because I could be independent as I learned a lot from doing it on my own,” Hunter said.

At the conclusion of the program, which ran from May 22 to July 28, Hunter presented her research poster at the Duquesne University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Hunter’s future plans include pursuing a career in research and going to graduate school to eventually work as a chemist in formulation or research in the development of cosmetics.

The Integrated Computational and Experimental Chemistry NSF-REU Program is made possible through the collaboration of the U.S. Department of Defense's Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Education (ASSURE) program and the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) program.

For more information about Westminster’s biochemistry program, click here.