The 17th Annual Westmont Christmas Festival appears for the first time at Santa Barbara’s famed Granada Theatre on Saturday, December 4, at 7 pm and Sunday, December 5, at 3 pm. Tickets, which cost $20 each, go on sale Tuesday, November 23, at 5 pm at westmont.edu/festival. Each year, the festival celebrates the birth of […]
Elizabeth Gardner, Westmont assistant professor of communication studies, examines a protest by children and adolescents in South America on Thursday, November 11, at 7 pm in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. The Paul C. Wilt Phi Kappa Phi Lecture, “Child Workers Redefining a Bolivian Childhood in the Código Niña, Niño y Adolescente,” is free and open […]
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, which moved from the confines of the Reynold’s Gallery to its current home in the Adams Center for the Visual Arts more than a decade ago, reveals the enormity of its holdings in “Academic, Barbizon, and Impressionist Artists: Highlights from the Permanent Collection” from November 11- December 18 in […]
The No. 17 Westmont women’s soccer team hosts the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament beginning Thursday, November 11, with two semifinal games on Thorrington Field. Ottawa (Arizona) will play Hope International at 11 am and the Warriors, co-champions of the GSAC regular season, will battle The Master’s at 1:30 pm. The winners will face off […]
Geoffrey Moore, a bestselling author, speaker, and adviser, whose work focuses on the market dynamics caused by disruptive innovation, speaks at a Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership luncheon on Friday, November 5, from 12-1:30 pm in the Simmons Center of Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. A limited amount of in-person tickets, which cost $100 […]
Personal devices and digital technologies captivate our attention and shape how we live and relate to others. Felicia Wu Song, a cultural sociologist of media and digital technologies at Westmont, explores the soft tyranny of the digital age in a new book, Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age. The forthcoming […]
The Westmont Festival Theatre returns for the first time since March 2020 to stage a new play, Kitty Hawk or Kill Devil, which explores what it means to live in proximity to greatness, October 22-23, 28- 29, 30 at 7:30 pm, and Saturday, October 30 at 2 pm, all in Westmont’s Porter Theater. Tickets, which […]
The Westmont College Orchestra returns to the stage for live, in-person performances of the Fall Orchestra Concert on Friday, Oct. 22, at 7 pm and Sunday, Oct. 24, at 3 pm in Hahn Hall at Music Academy of the West. Tickets, which cost $10 for general admission (students are free), may be purchased at westmont.edu/music […]
More than 30 Westmont students presented their findings on 21 posters at the 2021 Celebration of Summer Research on Sept. 24 around the Winter Hall third floor atrium. Topics included “Firewise Plants for a Flammable World,” “Palms and Oaks Predict Urban Acorn Woodpecker Occupancy Across the California Coast,” “Mental Strength Training Improves Running Performance While […]
Graduates of the Westmont class of 2020 will finally be able to walk across the stage on Carr Field to get their diplomas during Commencement. It’s not easy to turn back the hands of time, but Westmont will be welcoming back to campus more than 180 Westmont graduates (of the 298 who are eligible) from […]
Beloved local educator Michelle Hughes has co-edited a new book that offers ways to reframe obstacles to teaching as opportunities for personal and professional growth. Joyful Resilience as Educational Practice: Turning Challenges into Opportunities, a collaborative effort with Hughes’ colleague and friend, Ken Badley, is available for pre-order through Routledge at routledge.com/9780367644192. A 20% discount […]
Dr. Rob Hughes ’04 has wanted to direct student health services at Westmont since he worked in the Health Center as a student. Now, more than two decades later, he accepted this position following Dr. David Hernandez’s retirement at the end of spring. “I appreciate the care that me and my student colleagues received there,” […]
The Westmont Festival Theatre launches the first of three staged readings that explore diversity, equity, and inclusion Saturday, September 25, at 7:30 pm in Porter Theatre. The series of readings, named NEXUS: Readings from Black Playwrights, will include a post-reading discussion, and is free and open to the public. Johnny Jones, a writer and professor […]
Read about the natural bond between dogs and artists in a new book, Santa Barbara Artists and Their Dogs, and see portraits of them in an exhibition through December 18 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s downstairs gallery. The Art Council of the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art created the book, which will be […]
Recent college and university annual rankings continue to affirm Westmont as one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in the nation. Payscale’s 2021 Best Universities and Colleges by Salary Potential shows that mid-career Westmont alumni, including those with a graduate degree, earn a median income of $127,700 after more than 10 years in the […]
With great appreciation, Westmont announces two major gifts totaling more than $15 million, the two largest cash gifts in college history. In late August, Westmont received $8.2 million from Ed and Mollie Miller, the largest single gift ever. It supports the Paul Raymond Miller Scholarship Endowment, named in honor of Ed’s father and originally established […]
Carol Velas, who has served as a registered nurse for 35 years, will direct Westmont’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program, which begins in January 2022 pending approval by the California Board of Registered Nursing. The former senior manager for state licensing and accreditation at Chamberlain University in Chicago, Velas helped design Westmont’s […]
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum focuses its attention on the college’s talented art faculty in “Sight & Insight: Westmont College Studio Art Faculty Exhibition” September 2 through October 30. The public is invited to a free, opening reception on Thursday, September 2, from 4-6 p.m. “Our art faculty are all accomplished working artists in their own […]
Soul Care in African American Practice by Barbara L. Peacock (InterVarsity Press, 2020) has won the annual book award from the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Research Center (MIDWC) at Westmont College. “Barbara Peacock’s book is a rich and loving reflection on the spiritual practices that ‘have been woven into […]
About 410 new students, who include 58 new transfers, begin their journey at Westmont Thursday, August 26, moving into residence halls and enjoying several days of welcoming activities during Orientation. “This class has persisted through the pandemic and arrives with high energy and optimism to live and learn in person in real community,” says Irene […]
“I rarely drink coffee,” says Tiffany Gong ’23, a behavioral neuroscience student at Westmont, who is the subject and the researcher examining the impact of acute caffeine on cortisol and melatonin levels. Gong, whose roommate strategically places a piece of duct tape over Keurig coffee pods to hide their caffeine content, records her salivary cortisol […]
Westmont College and Young Life Southwestern Division have awarded full scholarships to Arath Gomez of Santa Barbara, Destiny Mitchell of Victorville, and Serena Nohmeh of Reseda. Young Life Urban Leadership Scholarships provide funding for each student to attend Westmont for four years. This joint effort encourages students who have benefited from Young Life to remain […]
In a new book of poetry, Paul J. Willis takes his readers on a path through California’s coastal redwoods and giant sequoias in the Sierra, weaving in adolescent practical jokes and sharing unexpected epiphanies. Slant Books published the latest book by the Westmont professor of English and former Santa Barbara poet laureate. Willis’ seventh volume […]
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art invites visitors to explore the diverse expressions and meanings of abstract art through the exhibition, “Towards a 21st Century Abstraction,” on display through August 14. Artists and visitors are welcome Monday through Friday between 10 am to 4 pm. Before coming to campus, guests must fill out a health […]
Long before Westmont founder Ruth Kerr decided to move the burgeoning college to the former Dwight Murphy Estate in Montecito, the grounds featured a wide array of mature trees. Today, many overarching trees still provide shade for walkways serenely wending their way through campus. One soaring redwood tree on Kerrwood Lawn was well-known for its […]
The Lilly Graduate Fellows Program has selected Westmont alumna Olivia Stowell (2019) as one of 10 Lilly Graduate Fellows nationwide. The prestigious fellowship supports outstanding students who want to explore the connections within Christianity, higher education, and the vocation of the teacher-scholar as they pursue graduate degrees in humanities and the arts. Stowell, who earned […]
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has given full accreditation to the Westmont College Department of Education. The site visit team report says through interviews with stakeholders and school partners, it is clear that the local school community benefits from graduates of Westmont’s education department. “Employers consistently spoke of their desire to hire Westmont program […]
Westmont’s Senzo Zola Sokhela, a 19-year-old freshman from South Africa, has hit the ground running despite his short time on campus. After Sokhela won two individual national championships at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships on May 28, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named him the 2021 NAIA Men’s Outdoor Track […]
The creative works of 31 local artists are front and center in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s new show, At the Edges: Tri-County Juried Exhibition, on display through June 19. Visitors are welcome Monday through Friday between 10 am – 4 pm, while the exhibition is open. Before coming to campus, guests will be […]
Amid a global pandemic and dire nursing shortage, Westmont’s proposed Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) arrives just in time to meet a great need not only in the Santa Barbara community, but also in California. The program, run in partnership with Cottage Health, received unanimous approval for its feasibility study from the California […]
During a year in which the world’s art galleries and museums have been closed, 13 graduating art majors overcame innumerable obstacles to offer their capstone art projects on April 8. The exhibit, which includes oil paintings, drawings, collages, digital illustrations, sculptural installations, prints, photographs, videos, and stop-motion animation will be on display through May 8 […]
Westmont’s determined and resilient class of 2021 will walk across the stage and celebrate Commencement in person on May 8, at 9:30 am on Thorrington Field in a special, socially distanced layout. Sandra Richter, Westmont’s Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies, delivers the address, while President Gayle D. Beebe will present the Westmont Medal […]
During a year in which the world’s art galleries and museums have been closed, 13 graduating art majors overcame innumerable obstacles to offer their capstone art projects on April 8. The exhibit, which includes oil paintings, drawings, collages, digital illustrations, sculptural installations, prints, photographs, videos, and stop-motion animation will be on display through May 8 […]
It will be a weekend of stellar athletic competition this weekend in Montecito as Westmont hosts the Golden State Athletic Conference Track and Field Championship and the opening round of the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championships. No. 15 Westmont men’s soccer, fresh off a GSAC Tournament Championship in Arizona, will play No. 18 Corban (Ore.) […]
Watch an engaging video of The Elixir of Love, a two-act opera by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti, on Friday, February 19, at 7 pm at westmont.edu/music. After months of socially distant rehearsals and three days of challenging but safe videotaping, the Westmont Music Department presents its latest opera. Alumna Christina (Farris) Jensen ’09 returned to […]
Climate change and the threat it poses to humans has been well publicized. But we hear less about its effects on the multitude of other species on the planet. Amanda Sparkman, chair of the Westmont Biology Department, explores “A Snake in the Spring Rain: How Biodiversity is Responding to a Changing Climate” on Thursday, February […]
A celebrated Harvard historian and bestselling author, Nancy Koehn will discuss courageous and principled leadership at the 16th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on Friday, March 5, at 8 am. Tickets to the virtual event, which cost $35, go on sale February 12 at westmont.edu/breakfast. Koehn, the James E. Robison professor of business administration at the Harvard […]
The Westmont community is learning together and going deeper in discussing several aspects of race, justice, and equality in our society, including the college culture at Westmont. In commemoration of Black History Month, the college will hear exclusively from Black preachers and educators during virtual chapel this February. “This is an important time in the […]
A warm, inviting atmosphere greets clients who step into the financial planning office of Hannah Buschbom ’10 in downtown Santa Barbara. This welcoming space has witnessed many empowering conversations, especially with women. As a wealth adviser with multiple certifications, Hannah assists those navigating significant transitions in life. As co-founder of the W Source, an organization […]
Westmont’s fall and winter athletic seasons have seen limited action, but several sports have offered inspirational moments. Prioritizing the health and safety of its student-athletes, Westmont decided to play contact sports only against opponents who test for COVID-19 before all athletic contests. Men’s and women’s cross country were the only fall teams to compete, as […]