Zander joins Westminster College

FULTON, Mo. — Former Iowa Wesleyan athletic director Derek Zander has found a home in Westminster College, a former conference rival for the Tigers. Zander will join the Blue Jays this fall.

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The University announced Zander as the new Vice President of Intercolegiate Athletics, Athletics Advancement and Strategic Programs this week.

Zander also made the announcement on social media, stating on Twitter that he is looking forward to joining the Westminster and Fulton community.

Westminster is a member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a league that Iowa Wesleyan played in from 2013 until 2021, when the school went back to the NAIA.

Not only were the Tigers in the SLIAC when Zander took the Athletic Director job in 2017, but Zander coached against the Blue Jays in his tenure as head baseball coach, from 2012 to 2017.

Zander was the Athletic Director from 2017 until the school closed this spring. He had also been promoted to Vice President for Advancement and Athletics in May of 2020.

Zander’s hiring at Westminster is the latest in a series of former Iowa Wesleyan Athletics members landing jobs at other schools. Among those are head football coach MD Daniels, who has accepted a job as Pass Game Coordinator and Wide Receiver Coach at Bethel University. Baseball coach Blake Beaber was recently hired to take up the head coaching job at Peru State College.

Zander just happens to be landing in the same town as head basketball coach Jordan Ashton, who was hired on to run William Woods University hoops last month. William Woods and Westminster both reside in Fulton, a town of just under 13,000 people.