335 receive degrees from Westminster College

Staff report

NEW WILMINGTON, PA.

More than 330 students earned diplomas during the 160th annual Westminster College commencement ceremonies Saturday. An additional five students received master’s degrees.

An honorary degree, doctor of public service, was presented to Dr. Thomas R. Kepple, president emeritus of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.

Kepple earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Westminster in 1970, and a master’s degree in business administration and doctorate in education from Syracuse University.

He then served as vice president for business and community relations at Sewanee, University of the South, and as provost and dean of academic services at Rhodes College, both in Tennessee. He was named president of Juniata in 1998.

In 2013, he was named president of the American Academic Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. Westminster honored his professional accomplishments with an Outstanding Alumni Citation in 2001.

Kepple shared his thoughts on “Leadership 101” with the graduates, starting with a story about his first day at Westminster when he gave a faculty member a bloody nose, due to an inadvertent elbow, during a students-against-faculty volleyball game.

“So how does this story translate into learning about leadership?” Kepple asked. “First, there was no compelling reason for Dr. [Wayne] Christy to stay to play the game. He certainly could have called it a night and went home to nurse a bleeding nose. But Dr. Christy was a leader — he stayed in the game.

“I have — and you will — get bloodied in the future at times when you least expect it. But to have a fulfilling life you must get back in the game — even in an embarrassingly bloody T-shirt.”

Kepple continued, “That day, I learned in a very unconventional way that I wanted to be a Dr. Christy kind of leader. You, too, have learned many things at Westminster, both in and outside the classroom, that will help you thrive in a world of uncertainty. Go out and do well, I’m confident you will.”

Christy was the school’s longtime faculty member and chairman of the Department of Religion and Philosophy.