Tag archives: Westmont College

Masked Singers Offer ‘Choral Celebration’
By Scott Craig   |   November 5, 2020

Members of the Westmont College Choir and Choral Union, wearing masks and singing outside, offer a Fall Choral Celebration on Friday, October 30, at 7 pm at westmont.edu/virtual-concert-series. The choir, directed by Daniel Gee, will perform “This is my Father’s World” by Elaine Hagenberg, “My Soul There is a Country” by Hubert Parry, “Love Bade […]

College Hosts Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian
By Scott Craig   |   November 5, 2020

Acclaimed author Jon Meacham addresses “The Architecture of Endurance: Building a Republic that Stands the Test of Time” on Friday, November 6, from 12 pm to 1:30 pm in a special virtual event from Westmont. The live broadcast opens with remarks by Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe and includes a question-and-answer session with Meacham, presidential […]

Digging Archeology and the Bible
By Scott Craig   |   November 5, 2020

Sandra Richter, Westmont’s Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies, examines the intersection between the Bible and archaeology in a lecture, “Digging Up the Bible: What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Bible,” for the Friends of the Goleta Valley Library at youtu.be/4LpNinvUQc8. Richter says documentaries at Christmas, Passover, and Easter every year claim to […]

Westmont’s New Website Wins Award
By Scott Craig   |   October 29, 2020

The Westmont College website, which has undergone a five-year overhaul, won the Web Marketing Association’s 2020 WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in Best Faith-Based Website. A select group of independent judges from around the world selected Westmont’s website for setting the standard of excellence in website development. In 2015, Westmont began crafting new brand guidelines, messaging, […]

Pandemic Inspires Theater’s ‘Small Enchantments’
By Scott Craig   |   October 29, 2020

In a time of challenge, conflict, and difficulty, the Westmont Theater Arts Department stages Small Enchantments, a fairy tale-inspired play of change and wonder on Tuesday, October 27, at 7 pm at westmont.edu/2020-2021-theatre-art-events and Friday, October 30, at 7 pm on Facebook Live (facebook.com/westmonttheatre). “I wanted to work on something with our students that enacted […]

Concert Offers Orchestral Sampler
By Scott Craig   |   October 29, 2020

The Westmont Orchestra, masked up, socially distant, and with bell covers over their instruments, will perform “An Orchestral Sampler” on Friday, October 23, at 7 pm. The event, which is being recorded live outdoors, will be available for free viewing at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic. Michael Shasberger, Westmont Adam’s professor of music and worship, will conduct the orchestra […]

College Bucks National Virus Trends
By Scott Craig   |   October 21, 2020

Very few Westmont students have tested positive for the coronavirus since returning to campus in mid-September, and faculty and staff are finding innovative ways for students to thrive while staying safe. More than 90 percent of students chose to return to campus rather than learning remotely in their homes. All students were tested for the […]

Friday Night Alumni Concert
By Scott Craig   |   October 13, 2020

Soprano Megan (Silberstein) Billings will perform as part of the music department’s Alumni Spotlight on Friday, October 9 at 7 pm. Listen to the free concert at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic. Billings, a 2014 Westmont graduate, will sing recognizable tunes from Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals as well as productions of Bridges of Madison County and Frozen. She earned […]

Notable Professors Join Westmont Faculty
By Scott Craig   |   October 13, 2020

Four stellar new professors join the Westmont faculty this fall: Katherine Bryant (political science), alumnus Daniel Gee (music), Robert Haring-Kaye (physics), and Blake Victor Kent (sociology). Bryant, a visiting assistant professor for three years at Westmont, launched a study of the effectiveness of Christian aid organizations. Her research focuses on the efficacy of foreign aid […]

Student Researchers Persevere Over Summer
By Scott Craig   |   September 30, 2020

Twenty-seven Westmont students adhered to strict safety protocols to work with their professors on research projects during the summer. Due to the pandemic, Westmont will skip the annual in-person October symposium, where students present their summer research findings. The work spanned a wide range of topics, including factors that affect the presence of western fence […]

Alumna Provides Music from Bulgaria
By Scott Craig   |   September 24, 2020

The Westmont Music Department continues its popular Friday Concert Series with its first Alumni Spotlight recital, featuring alumna Sarah Shasberger Pfister ’12 and the Carnevale String Quartet from Bulgaria on Friday, September 25, at 7 pm. Listen to the free recital at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic. The performance will include pieces by Bulgarian composer Marin Goleminov, Ennio Morricone, […]

Students Return for Outdoor Classes
By Scott Craig   |   September 24, 2020

Westmont students begin arriving on campus September 23-27 for the fall semester’s first outdoor courses on September 28. Current pandemic restrictions prohibit indoor classes, although state and county guidelines permit some indoor labs and studio courses that adhere to strict safety protocols. “We’ve spent extensive time and resources to get ready to welcome students back […]

Topping the Latest College Rankings
By Scott Craig   |   September 17, 2020

Recent college and university rankings continue to affirm Westmont as one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in the nation. According to Payscale’s 2020 Best Universities and Colleges by Salary Potential, mid-career Westmont alumni, including those with a graduate degree, earn a median income of $119,800 after more than 10 years in the workforce. […]

Welcoming Top Students from Around the World
By Scott Craig   |   September 17, 2020

Westmont’s class of 2024 is the most academically talented in the college’s history. It’s also among the most diverse, with 39 percent of the 375 new and transfer students identifying as Hispanic, Asian American, African American, Hawaiian Pacific Islander, Native American, and/or multiracial. Twelve percent are the first in their family to attend college. The […]

Willis Pens New Book, All in a Garden Green
By Scott Craig   |   August 20, 2020

Music brings people together across borders, religions, and even time. Paul Willis, professor of English at Westmont, explores this idea in his newly published young-adult novel, All in a Garden Green (Slant Books, 2020). His experience teaching at Hengrave Hall in England (the home of the Westmont-in-England semester for 20 years) inspired him to depart […]

Graduating Seniors Art Exhibition Goes Online
By Scott Craig   |   August 20, 2020

Twelve Westmont art graduates, unable to exhibit their artwork at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum on campus in May due to COVID-19, are displaying their senior projects virtually. “Adjacent: Westmont Graduate Exhibition 2020” is available in person at the museum only to the artists and their families by prior appointment. The exhibition, including a virtual tour, […]

Classes to Begin Remotely
By Scott Craig   |   August 20, 2020

Westmont is working relentlessly to begin the fall semester in person with flexibility and safety concerns for students and faculty as a priority while observing all Santa Barbara County health and COVID-19 guidelines. A plan to repopulate its campus is on hold until further progress is made in slowing the spread of the coronavirus in […]

Three Local Colleges Prepare for Fall Instruction Amidst COVID-19
By Jun Starkey   |   August 20, 2020

For so many parents, sending a child off to college is a milestone, akin to a wedding day or buying that first home. Until recently, it’s been a romanticized moment of waving goodbye as the center of your world officially branches out to start a life of their own. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest […]

‘Matter + Spirit’ Explores Chinese Art Scene
By Scott Craig   |   July 23, 2020

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum, which remains closed to in-person visits due to COVID-19, offers an online exhibition, “Matter + Spirit: A Chinese/American Exhibition,” which reflects on the perennial tensions between the material and the spiritual in human life and in society, through August 15 at westmont.edu/museum/matter-spirit. The exhibition is a product of a gathering in […]

New Director Focused to Reduce Risk
By Scott Craig   |   July 23, 2020

Jason Tavarez joined the Westmont community as director of institutional resilience in February 2020 and almost immediately began working to protect the college from the dangers of COVID-19. “My biggest concern has been keeping the coronavirus off our campus and doing everything we can, as a community, to keep our remaining students and employees safe […]