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Jeannette Hooks, director
of diversity services at
Westminster and adviser to the
Black Student Union, has
played a large role in the
College’s retention of minority
students. Her involvement in so
many facets of student life has
proved to be an invaluable
support system.
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students and diversity
officers from public and
private college campuses all
over the region for
conferences, meetings and
symposiums.
Westminster minorities
also have the opportunity to
explore black history and
heritage during educational
tours of Williamsburg, Va.,
and attend leadership
conferences, like a recent
three-day event in Chicago
attended by Hooks and a
number of students.
The College, which has
had a Diversity Symposium
bringing guest speakers to
campus for more than 20
years, has continued to
provide on-campus
programming focusing on
racial diversity, and there has
been a greater response in celebrations of Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month
(Please see sidebar, page 14).
Academically, Westminster has certainly served minorities well. In 2003, the latest data
available, Westminster’s black students had a 67 percent graduation rate, far better than the 39
percent graduation rate for blacks nationwide.
“That’s one of the things I attribute our success to, is the diversity office, actually having it
here,” Chapman said. “When I interview a minority student, usually one of the first questions
is ‘What support services do you have?’ So I talk about our diversity office and set up an
interview with Jeannette so she can talk about her office and the things that she does. Once we
Commemorating Black History
A former Washington D.C., policeman, the first black
football player at Florida State University, and the music revue
“Gospitality” highlighted recent activities at Westminster
commemorating black history.
Ken Seamans, a current Wilmington Township supervisor
and former Mercer County commissioner, worked several
security details for Martin Luther King Jr. in the nation’s capital.
Seamans recalled for the Chapel audience his experiences and
encounters with racism and the fight for civil rights during his
stint as a Washington policeman in the 1960s and ’70s.
J.T. Thomas, a former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back
who played on four Super Bowl teams in the 1970s, grew up in
the Deep South in the midst of the civil rights movement. A
native of Macon, Ga., he earned a football scholarship to Florida
State, where he became the school’s first black football player.
“Gospitality” returned to Westminster for a repeat
performance after a three-year absence. The show carries the
audience through the history of gospel music.
Seamans
Thomas
Among other events co-sponsored by the chapel office and
the diversity services office were a gospel choir concert, a
birthday cake celebration in the McKelvey Campus Center, and
an international day menu at the College dining rooms.
14 Winter 2005 • Westminster College Magazine