Following the breathtaking lunar eclipse earlier in the week, the Westmont Observatory opens to the public for its monthly event with the powerful Keck Telescope on Friday, May 20, beginning at sunset and lasting a few hours. Face coverings will be required at the event, which is co-hosted by the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit. The […]
The abundance of accomplished artists from the Tri-County area is on full display at the annual juried exhibition in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Westmont alumnus and hyperrealist painter Robin Eley ‘01 juried the show, Uncanny, which is available May 19 to June 18. A free, public opening reception for the exhibition is Thursday, […]
Commencement speaker Michael Shasberger, between stints of conducting the Westmont Orchestra, told the 2022 graduates they’d attain their greatest happiness when they discovered how to give away what they valued most. Coincidentally, President Gayle D. Beebe introduced Shasberger with news about the newly created Michael Shasberger Student Scholarship Fund for Music. “It’s a fitting tribute […]
Michael Shasberger, who retires as the inaugural Adams professor of music and worship, delivers the address at Commencement Saturday, May 7, at 9 am on Westmont’s Thorrington Field. Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe presents Westmont Medals to Steven A. and Denice D. Fellows for their tireless service and dedicated leadership in improving the delivery of […]
James E. Taylor and Jennifer Moe Taylor, husband and wife, have teamed up to co-author a new book, Soul Pilgrimage: Knowing God in Everyday Life (Cascade Books). The volume takes readers on a sacred pilgrimage to deepen their relationship with God. In fall 2018, the Taylors traveled to Northern Spain to walk the Camino de […]
Graduating political science major and Westmont College Student Association President Hannah Grierson argued her way to the top of the Westmont Debate Tournament and earned $500 on April 23 in the Global Leadership Center. She argued against the topic of the United States implementing a universal basic income. Sophomore Eden Lawson, who recently won the […]
The inaugural cohort of students has nearly completed their first semester of Westmont’s 16-month Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. The intimate class of eight students has been learning on state-of-the-art equipment through a curriculum immersed in the Christian liberal arts. They’re scheduled to graduate in May 2023. The ABSN allows someone with […]
The war in Ukraine is leveling cities and devastating lives, including friends and family of the Westmont community. Igor Rozhko, Westmont’s network manager since 2005, has shared the desperate need from his sister-in-law, Vera, in Kyiv, where she and her husband are missionaries with Ukraine Christian Radio and Video and where they attend the large […]
Keynote speakers David Brooks, Erin Meyer, Gayle D. Beebe, Marcus “Goodie” Goodloe, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, and Robert Putnam share insights on effective and purposeful leadership at the 2022 Lead Where You Stand Conference, June 1-3, at Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. Tickets to the three-day event, which cost $499, may be purchased at westmont.edu/lead. Those who […]
Two Westmont students won David K. Winter Servant Leadership Awards for showing vision, courage, humility, integrity, and competence as leaders. Angela D’Amour, dean of student engagement, introduced the 22nd annual awardees, Ebun Kalejaiye (’23) of Rancho Palos Verdes and Eden Lawson (’24) of Redlands, on April 1 in chapel. Kalejaiye serves as co-leader of the […]
Michael Shasberger, Westmont’s Adams professor for music and worship, shares stories of musical exploration and perseverance during a pandemic at a free, public lecture, “Making Music in the Age of COVID: Challenges, Opportunities, Risks, and Meaning,” on Wednesday, April 20, at 5:30 pm in the outdoor patio of Westmont’s newest downtown Santa Barbara building, 29 […]
The Westmont Observatory opens its doors to the public Friday, April 15, beginning at 7 pm and lasting several hours. Face coverings will be required at the event. Westmont hosts a free, public viewing on the third Friday of every month. Along with the college’s powerful Keck Telescope, members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit […]
The Center for First-generation Student Success has welcomed Westmont and 52 other new institutions into First-gen Forward, a program that recognizes colleges and universities committed to helping first-generation students thrive. An initiative of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the Suder Foundation, the center encourages members to engage in scholarly discussion, share […]
The next time you drive to campus, you’ll discover beautiful new kiosks featuring sandstone, greenery, and vine-covered trellises. Westmont has widened each entrance and designed the kiosks to better protect the campus. “We’ve always had an open campus, and anyone who wanted to visit could make their way up the hill,” says Doug Jones, vice […]
Kya Mangrum, assistant professor of English, has won a $9,900 Graves Award in Humanities research grant. A 2021 Westmont Teacher of the Year, Mangrum is conducting research for a new book exploring how Americans remembered and wrote about slavery and the Civil War in the first five decades (1865 – 1915) following Emancipation and the […]
The 61st annual Westmont’s Spring Sing, a student-performed variety show and competition between residence halls, was back and in person at the Santa Barbara Bowl April 1. It is the longest running tradition on campus and involves more students than any other college event. For the first time, the Global Leadership Center (GLC) won top […]
After a 10-year process, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Professional Training voted in January 2022 to include Westmont College on the list of institutions approved by ACS. Effective immediately, the society will certify the degrees of Westmont graduates who complete the requirements of the college’s Professional Track for Chemistry. The chemistry department first […]
Senior guards Stefanie Berberabe and Lyree Jarrett have been named NAIA Women’s Basketball First Team All-Americans. This is the second time Berberabe and Jarrett have won first team honors. Last year, Berberabe was honored as the NAIA Player of the Year in addition to being included on the first team, while Jarrett was named to […]
Award-winning scholar and teacher Samuel L. Perry examines the type of white Christian nationalism displayed at the U.S. Capitol attack in a free, public lecture Monday, April 4, from 7-8:30 pm at Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. The talk, “A House Dividing: Why White Christian Nationalism is Everyone’s Problem,” will use data from national surveys and […]
Westmont women’s basketball (27-4) punched their ticket to the Round of 16 in the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa, but it wasn’t easy. Down eight points with less than five minutes left, the Warriors staged an incredible 12-1 comeback to defeat Science and Arts of Oklahoma 50-47. “The key all night […]
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art is accepting submissions through April 15 from local artists for its upcoming juried exhibition, “Uncanny.” Westmont alumnus Robin Eley (’01), a hyperrealist painter raised in Australia, is the juror of this year’s Tri-County exhibition, which is open May 19 to June 18. A free, public, opening reception for the […]
The Westmont Observatory opens to the public Friday, March 18, beginning at 7 pm and lasting several hours. Face coverings will be required at the event. Due to the pandemic, this is the first time in two years the observatory has been open to the public. Westmont hosts a free, public viewing on the third […]
Bestselling author Michael Lewis shared insight into his blockbuster books such as Moneyball, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk, at the 17th annual President’s Breakfast on March 4 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Exactly two years ago, Daniel Kahneman, the subject of Lewis’ book, The Undoing Project, spoke at the breakfast on […]
The Westmont Music Department handed out tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to musicians and singers as part of its annual guild competitions. Corrie Bascom, a violinist from Minnesota, won the 10th annual Instrumental Guild Competition February 26 and Hailey Somphone, a soprano from Fullerton, won the Vocal Guild Competition on March 5. Each […]
The Westmont women’s polo team, fresh off a 15-1 victory over cross-town rival UC Santa Barbara, rides into United States Polo Association Regionals on Friday, February 25, in Los Osos. The Warriors will face Stanford, who they beat earlier this season, Cal Poly, UC Davis, USC, UCSB, Oregon State, Montana State, and Idaho State. The […]
Westmont senior Lexy Gillette, a double major in physics and chemistry, will attend the University of Oxford in the fall after earning the prestigious John and Daria Barry Foundation Scholarship. The award, given to about 10 students a year from select institutions, covers tuition, fees, and living expenses, and also provides a stipend and research […]
The Westmont College Festival Theatre and John Blondell, Westmont’s award-winning director and professor of theater arts, stage The Miser, or the School for Lies, Moliere’s funny, highly theatrical on-the-verge-of-the-absurd comedy February 25-26, March 3-5 at 7:30 pm, and March 5 at 2 pm, all in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors, […]
Kimberly Battle-Walters Denu, a stalwart of Christian higher education, takes over Westmont’s academic programs as the new provost beginning August 1. “We’re grateful to hire Kim Denu, a gifted leader, global scholar, and a recognized educator with 25 years of executive leadership experience in Christian higher education,” says President Gayle D. Beebe. “Deeply committed to […]
Randall VanderMey, Westmont professor of English, says that after four decades of resisting photography, he now uses this art form to write and share poetry with a completely new audience. He describes his approach at a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Photography and Poetry: Against My Will,” on Thursday, February 17, at 5:30 pm at the Community […]
Westmont presents Aaron Copland’s great 20th century American opera The Tender Land January 28 and 30 at 7 pm at Center Stage Theater in Paseo Nuevo. Purchase tickets, which cost $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors or military, at the Center Stage box office at centerstagetheater.org. Please visit the Center Stage website to view […]
For more than half a century, the hulking figure of Phil Baker ’71 has traversed Westmont’s campus. As the longtime grounds manager with a familiar goatee and wide mustache, he has created breathtaking gardens and stunning athletic fields. He quietly retired last summer, preferring a tri-tip luncheon with a few dozen co-workers and family at […]
Michael Lewis, bestselling author of blockbuster books such as Moneyball and The Blind Side, speaks with Westmont president Gayle D. Beebe at the 17th annual President’s Breakfast Friday, March 4, 2022, from 7:30 am to 9 am in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Tickets cost $125 each and go on […]
Santa Barbara artist Marie Schoeff explores a profound yet unpretentious relationship with nature and spirituality in a new exhibition, “Marie Schoeff: Amplifying the Between” at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art from through March 26. Schoeff’s imagery, rooted in drawing, explores the ethereal, a transcendent space in a spiritual realm. Her strong sense of physical […]
Sandra Richter, Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies, serves on the New International Version (NIV) Committee for Bible Translation (CBT). Few women have joined the prestigious team translating the top-selling English-language Bible. “Knowing the reach of the NIV and the reputation of the excellent scholars already serving on the CBT, it was a quick […]
The Westmont Downtown semester program has become an important link between the college and the Santa Barbara community. With the acquisition last summer of a second building on Anapamu Street in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, Westmont has the opportunity to extend its reach even further. Rick Ostrander has assumed the new position of […]
A steady string of awards continues to paint an impressive career for Scott Anderson, Westmont professor of art. A jury has chosen his illustration commissioned by the Westmont College Festival Theatre, for the 64th annual exhibition of the New York Society of Illustrators, one of the most prestigious and competitive shows in the field of […]
Marianne D’Emidio-Caston, who served the local education community for more than three decades, received the Westmont Education Department’s 2021-22 Excellence in Education Award. D’Emidio-Caston, who most recently directed student teaching at Antioch University Santa Barbara, spoke to Westmont education students, encouraging them to find a trusted, long-term professional partner to “grow with and, more generally, […]
“Engineering is so hard you have to have fun,” said Dan Jensen, director of Westmont engineering, as small, remote-control cars zipped along the road in front of Kerrwood Hall. On December 6, students in Jensen’s Machine Design course raced their foot-long RC cars on a short, figure-eight racetrack as part of their coursework. A few […]
Two first-year students encountered setbacks and obstacles on their journey to Westmont. But as sisters Roxana and Rosario Montané traveled to Southern California from Havana, Cuba, they witnessed God’s provision. “It’s important to always have faith, believe that you can do whatever you want to do and know that God is with you and is […]
For the third straight year, the Westmont women’s soccer team (10-1-5) will host an opening round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament on November 18 and 20 on Thorrington Field. The second-seeded Warriors will battle third-seeded Embry-Riddle (Arizona) on Thursday, November 18, at 1:30 pm. The top-seeded Southeastern (Florida) will play Marymount (California) on November […]