Author spotlight: Scott Craig

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College.

Talk Examines Medieval Suicide and Care
By Scott Craig   |   April 18, 2023

Rebecca McNamara, Westmont assistant professor of English, speaks about care and compassion for those struggling with suicide or affected by the trauma of suicide in late medieval England in a Westmont Downtown Lecture on Thursday, April 13, at 5:30 pm at the Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara. “Care in […]

Praises for New Provost
By Scott Craig   |   April 11, 2023

Westmont officially installed its new provost and dean in a joyful celebration of the life, faith and career of Kimberly Battle-Walters Denu, who began her accomplished professional arc as a first-generation college student from South Central Los Angeles.  “This is a culmination of my childhood play,” she said. “When I was young, for as long […]

No Fooling at this Spring Sing
By Scott Craig   |   April 11, 2023

Westmont’s longest running on-campus tradition, Spring Sing, was held at the Santa Barbara Bowl on April 1. Students from off campus – and the Ocean View Apartments – were the big winners of the competition. They produced an original skit, “The Day Scott Lost His Mind,” about campus pastor Scott Lisea, deftly incorporating an homage […]

Denu to Be Installed as Provost, Dean
By Scott Craig   |   April 4, 2023

Dr. Kimberly Battle-Walters Denu will be officially installed as provost and dean of the faculty at Westmont on Friday, March 31, from 10:30 – 11:20 am in Murchison Gym. The event is free and open to the public.  “We look forward to coming together as a community to thank God for His faithfulness and celebrate […]

Festival Awards Student Filmmakers
By Scott Craig   |   April 4, 2023

The curtain may have closed on the inaugural Montecito Student Film Festival, but there is still a buzz about the spectacular young filmmaking talent in our community. For about five hours, cinephiles filled Westmont’s Porter Theatre to screen 20 student films on March 25.  In the end, Westmont sophomore Campbell Ralph of Fox Island, Washington, […]

Baseball Hits 15th Straight Win
By Scott Craig   |   April 4, 2023

Westmont baseball (25-5) extended its winning streak to 15 games by taking two doubleheaders against Bethesda University on March 24-25 at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors, ranked 12th in the NAIA, have completed four straight series sweeps, and the fifth this season. The Warriors host Jessup in two double headers on March 31 and April […]

Musical Talent Shines at Guild Competitions
By Scott Craig   |   March 28, 2023

The Westmont Music Department awarded large scholarships to instrumentalists and singers as part of its annual guild competitions, attracting stellar young musical talent to the region. Aaron Wu, a cellist from Glendale, won the 11th annual Instrumental Guild Competition on Feb. 25 and will receive more than $10,000 in annual music scholarships (more than $40,000 […]

Warriors Swing a Series Sweep
By Scott Craig   |   March 28, 2023

Westmont Baseball (21-5, 10-2 GSAC), ranked 18th in the NAIA, completed a three-game series sweep of No. 9 Vanguard (17-11, 5-7) at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors won the first game 8-7 in 12 innings on March 17 thanks to the strong starting pitching from sophomore right-hander Bryan Peck who only allowed two earned runs […]

Goodwin Offers Historic Perspective on Ukraine
By Scott Craig   |   March 21, 2023

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and bestselling author, drew parallels between the United States’ response to aid Britain in the early years of World War II, and the U.S.’s partnership with Ukraine in its war with Russia at the 18th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on March 10. President Gayle D. Beebe gave Goodwin, speaker […]

Montecito Home to Inaugural Student Film Festival
By Scott Craig   |   March 14, 2023

The inaugural Montecito Student Film Festival showcases the impressive work of undergraduate students from California colleges and universities with screenings on Saturday, March 25, in Porter Theatre. A jury of industry professionals and special guests will judge and award the top prizes, while polls determine the winner of the Audience Award.  “Montecito has a robust […]

Getting Back to the Garden
By Scott Craig   |   March 7, 2023

Janell Balmaceda uses a pitchfork to spread mulch over the walkways that weave between the garden rows below Thorrington Field. Student intern Peter Schramm (’25) hammers together pieces from several wooden pallets to create new compost bins.  This spring, the Westmont garden will be flourishing again, thanks in large part to Balmaceda, Westmont’s new sustainability […]

Conference Examines Liberal Arts, Climate Change
By Scott Craig   |   March 7, 2023

The 21st annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts explores how a liberal arts education can prepare us for the future, March 2-4 at the Global Leadership Center. “Educating for the Unknown: Liberal Arts in the Age of Climate Change,” sponsored by the Gaede Institute, attracts teachers, administrators, and students from around the country.  “We’ll spend […]

Final Weekend for Flying A
By Scott Craig   |   March 7, 2023

Wet weather and storm watches didn’t keep people away from the opening weekend of the Westmont College Festival Theatre’s world premiere Diamond to Dust: A Flying A Fantasy. Director John Blondell and writer Michael Bernard, a local actor, educator and playwright, have brought Santa Barbara’s treasured cinematic history to the stage in a creative exploration […]

Talk Explores ‘Street Art Now’
By Scott Craig   |   February 28, 2023

G. James Daichendt, art critic, curator, art historian, and dean of the colleges at Point Loma University, examines how street art is changing the art world and how we engage art in a free public lecture, “Street Art Now,” on Thursday, Feb. 23, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. […]

College Hosts Competition of Mathletes
By Scott Craig   |   February 28, 2023

La Cañada High School ran circles around the competition in Westmont’s 34th annual Mathematics Field Day on Feb. 11 in Winter Hall. About 100 regional high school students matched math wits in the event on the eve of the Super Bowl, but it was La Cañada that was the Overall Winner for 9-10th grades and […]

Women’s Hoops Enters Playoffs
By Scott Craig   |   February 28, 2023

The No. 5 Westmont women’s basketball team was led by its seniors in the final regular-season game of the 2022-23 season on Feb. 18. The Warriors (23-2, 16-2 GSAC) beat Golden State Athletic Conference foe Jessup (81-44) on the shoulders of Stefanie Berberabe and Sydney Brown. Berberabe produced her third triple-double of the season and […]

Stargazing Features Great Nebula
By Scott Craig   |   February 21, 2023

This month’s Stargazing at the Westmont Observatory features a diverse celestial menu of planets, Messier objects, open clusters, and double stars on Friday, Feb. 17, beginning about 6 pm and lasting for several hours. The observatory, home of the powerful Keck Telescope, is open to the public every third Friday of the month and held […]

Orchestra Tour Features French Romantics
By Scott Craig   |   February 21, 2023

The Westmont Orchestra performs at several locations as part of a Presidents’ Day weekend tour, Feb. 16-18. These concerts are open to the public and free. The orchestra will perform “Amazing Grace,” Bizet’s “Carmen Suite” and Franck’s “Symphony in D minor” at 7 pm Thursday in San Marcos High School (4750 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara); […]

Swimmer Leave Their Mark
By Scott Craig   |   February 21, 2023

Westmont women’s swimming finished ahead of all other NAIA teams in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships Feb. 8-11 at East Los Angeles College. In their fourth year, the Warriors were able to beat Fresno Pacific and Alaska-Fairbanks, which have been their biggest rivals. The meet also provided an opportunity to honor Westmont’s graduating seniors, […]

Talk Explores Bringing Flying A to the Stage
By Scott Craig   |   February 14, 2023

Westmont’s John Blondell discusses the world premiere play that will bring Santa Barbara’s silent film history to the stage in a Westmont Downtown Lecture Thursday, February 16, at 5:30 pm in the Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara. “The Film Within a Play: Celebrating Santa Barbara’s Flying A Studios on […]

College Hosts Nursing Open House
By Scott Craig   |   February 14, 2023

Westmont hosts an information session for its new accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program on Wednesday, February 15, from 5:30-7 pm at Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing, 26 West Anapamu Street. The open house will be an opportunity for prospective students to meet faculty, admissions and financial aid representatives and tour the downtown […]

Warriors Come Out Swinging
By Scott Craig   |   February 14, 2023

In their first seven games of the young baseball season, the No. 13 Westmont Warriors have been hot at the plate, hitting .314 and scoring 74 runs against Saint Katherine and Embry-Riddle (AZ). The Warriors completed a four-game sweep of Embry-Riddle Feb. 4-5 at Russ Carr Field.  Starting pitchers Eric Oseguera (.82 ERA), Chase Goddard […]

Pratt Takes Leading Role in Filmmaking
By Scott Craig   |   February 7, 2023

The Santa Barbra International Film Festival was a small local event when Sean Pratt began working for it two decades ago. Pratt, SBIFF managing director and Westmont adjunct professor, Roger Durling, SBIFF Executive Director, and their team have grown the festival from one featuring adventure-sport and nature films into one of the top 10 in […]

Mori to Share About Japanese Internment Camps
By Scott Craig   |   February 7, 2023

A Westmont music professor participates in a community conversation about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Paul Mori, whose grandparents and parents were all incarcerated under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, will speak on a panel with two internment camp survivors, Roke Fukumura, and Hideko Malis, on Saturday, February 4, […]

Honoring Past Hoops Champions
By Scott Craig   |   February 7, 2023

Westmont celebrates one of its all-time great teams at halftime of the men’s basketball game Saturday, February 4. The 1971-72 men’s basketball team beat NCAA DI No. 14 Hawaii a day after the death of the Warriors’ head coach Tom Byron following a battle with cancer. The club would go on to win the NAIA […]

Spring Opera Offers Double Bill of Humor
By Scott Craig   |   January 31, 2023

Westmont performs an ambitious operatic double bill of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and Rossini’s The Silken Ladder Friday, January 27, and Sunday, January 29; both at 7 pm in Center Stage Theater. To purchase tickets, which cost $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors or military members, please visit the Center Stage box […]

Wolf Receives Layton Shoemaker Award
By Scott Craig   |   January 31, 2023

Dave Wolf, who retired following a 32-year career as head coach of Westmont men’s soccer, was awarded the Layton Shoemaker Award from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on January 14 at the National Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia.  The award recognizes a coach that honors God on and off the field, and models a strong […]

Goodwin Returns to Speak at Breakfast
By Scott Craig   |   January 24, 2023

Doris Kearns Goodwin, world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, speaks at the 18th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on Friday, March 10, from 7-9 am in the Grand Ballroom of Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Tickets cost $125 per person and go on sale Friday, February 10, at 9 am at westmont.edu/breakfast. Seating is limited, […]

Professor Wins Prestigious Philosophy Award
By Scott Craig   |   January 24, 2023

David Vander Laan, Westmont professor of philosophy, has won the American Philosophical Association’s 2022 Alvin Plantinga Prize. Coincidentally, the prestigious award honors Vander Laan’s doctoral adviser, one of the most influential people shaping Christian philosophical thought during the past 50 years. “To receive a prize named for Plantinga is a tremendous honor,” Vander Laan says. […]

Professor Speaks at Vatican, Meets Pope
By Scott Craig   |   January 17, 2023

A Westmont professor’s work about media, digital technology, and the church resulted in an invitation to speak at the Vatican and meet with Pope Francis on November 11. Sociologist Felicia Wu Song lectured about “The Good News in a Digital Age: A Call to the Contemplative” at a plenary assembly of the Vatican’s Dicastery for […]

‘Entangled’ Exhibit Explores Environment 
By Scott Craig   |   January 17, 2023

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features two artists whose work responds to climate change and our planet on the brink of perilous danger. The exhibition, Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis, runs from January 12 to March 25, 2023, and highlights the artwork of Madeleine Tonzi, a New Mexico painter, muralist and printmaker, and GATS […]

Paying It Forward Giving Loans That Transform Lives
By Scott Craig   |   December 27, 2022

Fourteen years ago, Jay (Ofori) Diallo (’08) planned to serve with the United Nations or World Vision, but he has pursued a different path with the same passion to help the less fortunate. Since earning a degree in political science from Westmont, he has spent his entire career in banking, transforming the lives of economically […]

Christmas Lighting of Kerrwood
By Scott Craig   |   December 27, 2022

It was a festive evening of entertainment and holiday treats at the annual Let There Be Light on November 30 on Kerrwood Lawn. Karen Sloan, who recently retired from Westmont after 16 years, was chosen to throw the large switch to turn on the Christmas lights at Kerrwood Hall.  The Westmont Activities Council hosted a […]

Sustaining Missionaries while Running Bitcoin Beach
By Scott Craig   |   December 20, 2022

Since 60 Minutes featured alumnus Michael Peterson (’97) and his Bitcoin Beach last April, his life has changed a bit. “I’ve had meals with three different billionaires,” he says. “I don’t normally run in those circles.”  Michael and his wife, Brittney Cox Peterson (’97), co-founders of Missionsake, prefer meeting the spiritual, mental, physical, and relational […]

Engineers Put Creations to the Test
By Scott Craig   |   December 20, 2022

Westmont’s junior engineering students were revved up for the annual remote control car competition on December 8 in front of Kerrwood Hall. The students spent the last 10 weeks working in teams to assemble hundreds of parts to create their race cars, which count for five percent of their overall grade in the Machine Design […]

Westmont’s History in a Mason Jar
By Scott Craig   |   December 6, 2022

Westmont celebrated the life of its founder Ruth Kerr on National Mason Jar Day on November 30. Following the death of her husband Alexander, Ruth became president of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company in 1930. Kerr became one of most recognizable American mason jar brands.  Alexander started the company in Portland, Oregon, in 1904 after […]

Workshop Inspires Christians to Climate Action
By Scott Craig   |   November 29, 2022

Westmont is equipping evangelical students from across the nation who care deeply about the environment to lead their communities in answering God’s call to steward creation wisely. The college will be hosting “Faith. Climate. Action: A Workshop on Christian Climate Advocacy,” attracting about 40 students and faculty from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities […]

Guiding Low-Income Students to College
By Scott Craig   |   November 29, 2022

Westmont hosted a community event with education and financial representatives exploring the best ways low-income students can fund a college education on November 15. About 100 underprivileged high school students and their families attended “Affording Your Dream College,” which was held in partnership with several county education initiatives.  “Education is the most powerful and transformative […]

Exhibition Shares Highlights of Berkus Collection
By Scott Craig   |   November 22, 2022

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art shares the deep trove of art collected by the late Barry Berkus, an architect, urban planner, watercolor artist, and author, in A Bold and Unconventional Collector: Highlights from the Barry Berkus Family Collection, which will be on display from November 17 to December 12. The public is invited to […]

Athletes Advance to National Championships
By Scott Craig   |   November 22, 2022

Four Westmont athletics teams hit the road with hopes of bringing home national championships. No. 15 Westmont women’s soccer (14-0-3) battle No. 22 Lindsey Wilson College (KY) (7-4-4) on Thursday, November 17, at 9:30 am PST at Southeastern University in Florida for the first round of the NAIA National Championship. The winner advances to play […]