Dear Alumni and Friends,

Pres­i­dent Bill John­ston (right) and wife, Susan, wel­come for­mer pres­i­dent Jervis Cooke to campus

As we cel­e­brate the 140th year since the found­ing of Wes­ley, it is a good time to reflect on the College’s past, present and future. It was in 1873 that what we now know as Wes­ley Col­lege orig­i­nated. From hum­ble begin­nings as the Wilm­ing­ton Con­fer­ence Acad­emy to a two-year junior col­lege to the four-year vibrant lib­eral arts col­lege we have today—the name changed along the way, but the mis­sion to main­tain the United Methodist tra­di­tions and enlighten mind and spirit remains true.

The theme for the year is “Mem­o­ries and Mile­stones,” and you’ll find a his­tory time­line in the mag­a­zine that details the jour­ney of Wes­ley Col­lege. We were blessed that the Rev. Dr. Jervis Cooke, Wesley’s 13th pres­i­dent, returned to cam­pus to help us launch our “Mem­o­ries and Mile­stones” cel­e­bra­tion dur­ing Founders Day this past March. His tenure involved a great deal of change, includ­ing the move to become a four-year lib­eral arts college.

Improve­ments con­tinue to be made that help shape the future of Wes­ley. The new plazas con­tinue to encour­age a greater sense of com­mu­nity on cam­pus, and now with the Health Sci­ences Build­ing secured, plans are under­way to expand the health and science-related pro­grams. The ren­o­va­tions in that build­ing will start soon, with a pro­jected open­ing in 2014.

In addi­tion, the Col­lege com­mu­nity has made it a pri­or­ity to improve the reten­tion rate on cam­pus, an area that most col­leges are address­ing through­out the coun­try. Armed with 10 rec­om­men­da­tions as a result of a two-year study, most sug­ges­tions have been imple­mented, help­ing stu­dents in a vari­ety of ways. The improve­ments include, but are not lim­ited to: more work oppor­tu­ni­ties on cam­pus, cen­tral­iz­ing stu­dent ser­vices includ­ing the busi­ness, finan­cial aid and reg­is­trar offices in one area, insti­tut­ing first year sem­i­nars, and more finan­cial aid review, all aimed at help­ing our stu­dents succeed.

It is our strong com­mit­ment to stu­dent enlight­en­ment and empow­er­ment that keeps us reach­ing for new oppor­tu­ni­ties and mile­stones. We are thank­ful for the strong foun­da­tion of alumni and other sup­port that has built Wes­ley and will con­tinue to strengthen our Col­lege. I encour­age you to find new ways to con­nect to your alma mater, visit, and see for your­self the pos­i­tive changes tak­ing place through­out campus.

 

With warm regards,

 

 

 

 

Dr. William N. Johnston

William.johnston@wesley.edu
302–736-2508

 

 

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