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Greetings and best wishes from Williamson!
As I write this letter, the conclusion of the 2024-25 school year is rapidly approaching. It has been another exciting year as we continue to work towards accomplishing our strategic goals.
One of our goals has been increasing student enrollment so that more young men will have this life-changing experience. We have witnessed how the Williamson 1,000-day journey makes them better employees, better husbands and fathers, more productive members of their communities, and inspirational role models. Williamson not only benefits our students, but it also benefits the families and communities of our graduates. It is clear that our country needs more Williamson men!
Jay Merillat, Vice President of Enrollment Management, and his staff are working hard to attract more young men to Williamson. Their goal is to increase our application pool to attract the best qualified and most financially deserving students each year – and they have been doing an outstanding job! The number of applicants has been increasing every year, and this year, we had 765 young men apply to Williamson – the most in our history. In the last ten years, the additions of the Watson, Strine, and Howley Dorms have made it possible to house an additional 120 students. This year was our third year of bringing in a larger freshman class of 124 students – a 23 % increase over the previous freshman class size of 101. Our current enrollment is 310 students – the largest in our history. The Class of 2W5 was the first expanded class and, with 97 current members, is about to make Williamson history as the largest class ever to graduate.
While it is great to increase the number of students at Williamson, we are keenly aware of the importance of maintaining our reputation of having the highest-quality programs in the nation. We are constantly reviewing and updating our course offerings to ensure that our students are prepared in their trades. By keeping our programs up to date, we know that our students are learning the skills that are sought after by employers. We continue to add new equipment and technology in our shops so that our students are familiar with the latest tools and techniques when they enter the work force.
Three years ago, we started our newest trade offering- the Construction Technology- Electrical program. This new trade is the most popular among applicants and an excellent addition to our college. At this spring’ s commencement ceremony, 16 young men will become
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our first electrical graduates.
The Joseph and Marion Wesley Student Center, now in its second year of use, continues to be extremely popular among the students and is the center of student life. This magnificent building was designed to improve our students’ experience by providing a first-class facility for work outs and recreation. As a result, the students are more engaged on campus, strengthening the bonds of brotherhood with their fellow students
Our school year began with Convocation and Paul Harbison, the director of the Department of Transformative Opportunities and the leader of the Experiential Designs( XD) Team at the Coalition for Christian Outreach( CCO), speaking on the importance of character. In 2008, Paul helped us develop the Junior Leadership Expedition( JLE), a eight-day wilderness-based trip focused on leadership development. In the beginning, JLE provided this experience to two juniors from each shop. Thanks to the support of Gerry Lenfest, the program has expanded today to include the entire junior class and is a critical part of our students’ Williamson experience.
The opening of the Howley Dormitory has helped us accommodate our increasing enrollment. This triple-dormitory houses 72 students. We recognized and thanked the Howley Foundation and Nick and Lorie Howley, founders of the foundation, for their generous gift of $ 7 million with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during Homecoming last October.
Our Rowan Day celebration in November featured Wilbert“ Will” Abele, founder of the Abele Family Foundation, Inc., and the retired owner and president of Henry Troemmer, LLC, A graduate of Girard College, Mr Abele shared about the contributions and generosity of several successful people, including Stephen Girard, Isaiah Williamson, and Henry Rowan. We will forever be thankful to Henry Rowan, Lee Rowan, the Rowan family, the Henry Rowan Family Foundation and philanthropists like Will and Joan Abele, for all they have done and continue to do for Williamson.
Founder’ s Day was a great celebration again this year. We heard from our own trustee, Tim Crow, who emphasized that our country needs skilled tradesmen now more than ever and Williamson is the best place for them to gain these skills. We also honored Joe and Marion Wesley with the Board of Trustees’ Isaiah V. Williamson Award for their great accomplishments in life and business and all they have done for Williamson. Daniel Deaver 1W5 received the Schrenk Young Alumnus Award for all he has accomplished in the ten years
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since his graduation from Williamson.
The SkillsUSA campus competition in December included seven categories- masonry, carpentry, cabinet making, electrical, machining( automated and precision), sheet metal, and welding. The winner in each of these competitions will move on to the state competitions and, hopefully, will represent Williamson in the national competition in Atlanta in June. We take great pride in what our students have accomplished through the years and continue to achieve in SkillsUSA. It is a program that showcases the amazing skills our students have developed through their hard work and the knowledge, dedication, and quality of teaching our instructors provide them in their shops. Again this year, we set a new record for company representatives at our fall career fair. Coming from 18 states, with 44 first-time attendees, companies offered our students a wide range of employment opportunities- full-time career positions for seniors and summer internships for juniors and freshmen. The March career fair was sold out at max capacity of 180 companies a month before it was held, and several companies were turned away prior to the sign-up deadline. More businesses from across the country are finding out about Williamson and the high quality of our graduates. We never get tired of seeing so many companies eager to compete with each other to hire Williamson Men!
We are looking forward to Alumni Day, which will be held Friday, April 25th. In addition to socializing and seeing the newest additions to the campus, guests will be able to see the shops in action and speak with students and faculty, because it will be a normal school-day schedule on campus. The next day, the Alumni Breakfast and Williamson Association of Alumni( WAA) awards presentation will take place at the Springfield Country Club. I am pleased to share that Deron A. Keiter 8W6, Power Plant, will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award and Edward A. Scarpignato 0W5, Carpentry, will receive the Alumnus of the Year- Service to School Award. We will also be recognizing and thanking our newest Wanamaker Society members for their commitment to the long-term success of Williamson.
The WAA has hosted quite a few very well-attended events this school year, some intended to bring alumni together to socialize and others to help our students. Many alumni have volunteered to be Alumni Mentors, sharing their employment experiences with students and helping them prepare for the Career Fair. The alumni vs. student Cornhole
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Tournament has been extremely popular, bringing out many alumni and giving the students the opportunity to interact with them.
Our 132nd Commencement will be held Thursday, May 22, and will feature Tom Riley, President of the Connelly Foundation, as the keynote speaker. We are excited to hear him share his words of wisdom with our 97 seniors, who are ready and eager to start their next chapter in life as Williamson graduates.
After 36 years with Williamson, Dale Plummer, our Director of Athletics, announced his retirement. He will be moving to Ocean City, N. J. We are beyond grateful for Dale’ s many years of service and leadership at Williamson. He will be truly missed. We wish Dale and Debbie all the best in this new chapter of their lives.
Our VP of Enrollment, Jay Merillat, has also announced that he is leaving Williamson at the end of this school year to move closer to his family. He has been an instrumental part of our team for 27 years, and we will miss him greatly. We wish Jay and Jackie well in their new adventures in the Pittsburgh area and thank him for his many years of service to Williamson.
Mary Nell and I are honored and blessed to be a part of this great team and great mission here at Williamson. Watching the students grow and develop through their 1,000-day journey is exciting and gratifying and getting to know our alumni is so rewarding. Williamson men are a special group; it is an honor to be part of the family. We cannot succeed without the generous support of all of you who believe in what we do and want to be a part of it. We are so grateful for your help and thank you for helping Williamson meet its mission. We ask for your continued prayers and support, and hope to see you on campus soon!
May God continue to bless you and Williamson College of the Trades!
For Williamson! Michael J. Rounds
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