Westminster College names new president

Change is coming to Westminster.

The Board of Trustees unanimously chose Dr. Brian Levin-Stankevich over 60 other applicants to take up the leadership of the college. Levin-Stankevich will officially become Westminster’s 17th president on July 15.

“He’s a very capable leader,” Board Chair Bob Frankenberg said. “We thought he was a great candidate for the job.”

As the current Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Levin-Stankevich has nine years of experience running a college. He is particularly familiar with some issues of great importance to Westminster and Sugar House as a whole, including diversity, quality of education and maintaining a good relationship between the college and its home community.

Sugar House is one of Salt Lake’s more diverse areas, and Westminster is no exception. The college also has a sister school in China, and offers several international programs to students.

Levin-Stankevich has visited Eau Claire’s own sister school, Zhuhai College of Jinan University, many times. He also traveled to the former Soviet Union years ago as a Fulbright Scholar.

“He has significant international experience,” Frankenberg said. “That’s a very valuable skill he brings to the table.”

As for the value he places on a quality education, Levin-Stankevich gets an “A,” according to Frankenberg. Levin-Stankevich convinced former Eau Claire students to raise their own tuition costs to help pay professors’ salaries, Frankenberg said. He helped them understand that since so many of their instructors were being laid off at the time, their education would suffer, and they needed to take action themselves.

“That says something about the kind of leader he is, and how deeply he cares about student learning,” Frankenberg said.

Levin-Stankevich went the extra mile for Eau Claire’s hometown. When a beloved skating rink was about to be shut down due to economic trouble, he worked it out so the town and the college could share the cost and the use of the rink. The rink is still open and thriving today.

“I think he will continue the great work President Michael Bassis and Annalisa Holcomb have begun in working with Sugar House,” Frankenberg said.
After 10 years of service, Bassis, Westminster’s current president, will officially retire on the same day Levin-Stankevich steps up.

“I am honored by the board’s selection to follow on the highly successful presidency of Michael Bassis,” Levin-Stankevich said in a press release. “My wife, Debi, and I are truly excited to join the extraordinary faculty, staff and students at Westminster College and to become contributing members of the greater Salt Lake City community.”