The first meeting of the Western College Physical Education Society (WCPES), originally called the Western College Men’s Physical Education Society (WCMPES), was held at the University of Utah in the Fall of 1956. A small group of college and university physical educators from Western states met to discuss inequity in selecting sites for the College Physical Education Association’s (CPEA) annual meetings. From this initial meeting came recommendations that CPEA meet periodically in states west of the Mississippi or provide for a CPEA western division.

After the Utah meeting, questionnaires were distributed to western college and university male physical educators by E. C. Davis of USC. In response to the questionnaires, the following decisions were made:

Meet independently from CPEA.
Deal only with the topic of physical education
Use a roundtable discussion format without presenters or panels. In effect, each member is to participate and serve as a resource person.
Limit the program to discussion of two or three problems or issues.

At CPEA’s national meeting in 1957, WCMPES elected to meet independently in Reno in October 1958. A committee was formed to draft an Operating Code. The Code, limited to one typewritten page, set forth conditions for continuing the format as prescribed by its charter members.

After CPEA’s demise, and the subsequent formation of the National Association of Physical Education in Higher Education (NAPEHE), overtures were made by WCMPES to amalgamate and/or meet jointly with the Western Society for Physical Education of College Women (WSPECW). WSPECW rejected the offers. In 1986, WCMPES chose to drop the “M” from its title and open its membership to all college and university physical educators.

The Dr. G. A. “Art” Broten Scholar program, originated by Robert J. Ritson of the Oregon Department of Education and others in 1987, encouraged the involvement of younger college and university physical educators in the WCPES. A call for papers is to be made annually. Time is allotted in the conference program for presentation of these papers. These papers are also published in the WCPES Monograph Series.

In 1988, Sam Winningham devised a WCPES logo. In 1994, a motto was coined by Jerry L. Ballew, of the University of Nevada, Reno, and approved for use with the logo on a newly designed letterhead and envelopes.

In 1999, students were invited to the conference, and “The R.D. Peavy Student Symposium” was introduced by Lawrence D. Bruya of Washington State University. Since its inception, the “Peavy Papers” has provided opportunity for students to be active participants at the conference.

In order to better represent the work of the Society and in recognition of the trend in the profession to move away from the term “physical education,” the membership initiated action to change the name of the organization. Following the 2004 meeting, the membership approved a name change to the Western Society for Kinesiology and Wellness (WSKW) to inaugurate its 50th anniversary.

Western College Physical Education Society (WCPES)
1956 Organized – presided by Golden Romney & E.C. Davis
1957 E. C. Davis, University of Southern California
1958 E. C. Davis, University of Southern California
1959 E. C. Davis, University of Southern California
1960 C. V. Langton, Oregon State College
1961 N. P. Neilson, University of Utah
1962 Wynn Fredericks, University of Southern California
1963 Golden Romney, Washington State University
1964 G. A. Broten, University of Nevada, Reno
1965 Ronald Thompson, Arizona State University
1966 Fred Kasch, San Diego State University
1967 Fred Kasch, San Diego State University
1968 Wayne Brumbach, University of Oregon
1969 Dave Bartelma, University of Colorado
1970 Clair Anderson, Idaho State University
1971 Fred Roby, University of Arizona
1972 Alex Petersen, Southern Oregon College
1973 Ken Froman, Seattle Pacific College
1974 Glenn Arnett, California State University, Northridge
1975 Glenn Arnett, California State University, Northridge
1976 Robert Bergstrom, Oregon State University
1977 John Gilmore, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
1978 Bill Gustafson, San Jose State University
1979 John Woods, University of Wyoming
1980 John Nettleton, Colorado State University
1981 Bill Napier, Walla Walla College
1982 Ross Cutter, Whitworth College
1983 Fred Furikawa, California State University, Sacramento
1984 Jim Ewers, University of Utah
1985 Herb Schmalenberger, University of California, Davis
1986 Elmo Roundy, Brigham Young University
1987 Bob Ritson, Oregon State Department of Education
1988 Sam Winningham, California State University, Northridge
1989 Clair Jennett, San Jose State University
1990 Sherm Button, Boise State University
1991 Bob Peavy, Washington State University
1992 Jerry Wyness, San Francisco State University
1993 Leon Griffin, University of New Mexico
1994 Keith Henschen, University of Utah
1995 Rob Carlson, San Diego State University
1996 Ron Bailey, University of Nevada, Reno
1997 Glenn Potter, Boise State University
1998 L. Jay Silvester, Brigham Young University
1999 John Massengale, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2000 Craig Johnson, St. Mary’s College
2001 Robert P Pangrazi, Arizona State University
2002 Carole Casten, California State University, Dominguez Hills
2003 Ross Vaughn, Boise State University
2004 Jerry L. Ballew, University of Nevada, Reno

Western Society for Kinesiology & Wellness (WSKW)
2005 John Z. Ostarello, California State University, East Bay
2006 Walt Hamerslough, La Sierra University
2007 R.R. Apache Goyakla, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2008 Sharon Stoll, University of Idaho
2009 Boyd Foster, Gonzaga University
2010 Robert Thomas, La Sierra University
2011 Brian Sather, Eastern Oregon University
2012 Pete Van Mullem, Central Washington University
2013 Matt Silvers, Whitworth University