| Westminster College, Salt Lake City |
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Westminster College, Salt Lake City, or simply "Westminster College" is a four year accredited Liberal Arts college located in Salt Lake City , Utah , USA . It also offers four Graduate programs. Its mascot is the Griffin . It is the only nondenominational private liberal arts college in the state of Utah. Westminster enrolls approximately 2,400 full and part time students from 29 State s and 24 foreign nations. Currently, Westminster is the only four-year accredited college in the state of Utah which does not give its faculty Tenure . HISTORY The school was founded in 1875 as the "Salt Lake Collegiate Institute," a Prep School under the supervision of the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City. At that time, many Protestant denominations flocked to Salt Lake City in order to try to "save" people who belonged to what they considered a Cult . Westminster is the only remaining vestige of a trend in the late 1800s in which the Protestants set up private Primary and Secondary School s and offer free Tuition to children in order to try to Convert them out of Mormonism . College level classes were first offered in 1897 as "Sheldon Jackson College." It was given that name after a Presbyterian minister and its primary benefactor, Sheldon Jackson . High school level classes ceased to be offered in 1945 . Westminster severed its ties to the Presbyterian church in 1974 . The college changed its name to "Westminster College" in 1902 to better reflect a more general Protestant education. The name is derived from the Westminster Confession Of Faith , a Presbyterian confession of faith, which, in turn, was named for a London Suburb where it was devised. Today, students from all religious persuasions (or none) are welcome. The college is no longer antagonistic toward the Mormon church. About 40 percent of its students are Latter-day Saints, approximately the same percentage as for Salt Lake City. Many LDS students attending the school say they like the proximity to church activities but prefer the open, diverse and less restrictive attitude at Westminster over the parochialism they would find at a school such as Brigham Young University . Westminster was the first Accredit ed two year Junior College in Utah . It then underwent changes to become a liberal arts institution in 1949 . Originally located in Downtown Salt Lake City , the college moved to its present Campus on 27 acres (109,000 m²) in the Sugar House neighborhood of the city. The current president of Westminster College is Dr. Michael S. Bassis , appointed in 2002 . PROGRAMS Westminster offers 37 undergraduate programs and majors. It offers graduate degrees in Nursing , Communication , Education , Business Administration , and Technology management & commercialization. STUDENT ACTIVITIES The Associated Students of Westminster College or ASWC is the student government and activity board on campus. They provide services such as activities, student advocacy, and over fifty different clubs and organizations. SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS The school Newspaper is a weekly called the ''Forum''. There is also a nationally recognized literary journal known as ''Ellipsis''. ATHLETICS Westminster is part of NAIA division one Athletics . Its athletic offerings include men's and women's Basketball , men's Soccer , women's Volleyball , men's and women's Golf , men's and women's Cross Country , and summer basketball camps. EXTERNAL LINKS
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