Westmont Magazine Alums Return as Parents

Convincing your daughter to attend your college can be a tough sell when she has graduated from your high school.

Roy ’81 and D’Aun Wolford ’81 Goble laugh about their daughter, Rachel ’05, assuring them she would never choose Westmont after spending four years at their high school.

But when she started visiting colleges, her attitude changed. The beauty of Westmont’s campus and the strength of its academic program drew her.

“Her attraction to Westmont also grew as she grew spiritually,” D’Aun says. “She prayed about it a lot and felt called to come.”

So Roy and D’Aun became Westmont parents as well as alums, and they have served on the Parents Council for the past two years. With Bruce and Cheryl Bickel stepping down as co-chairs now that their son, Matt, has graduated, the Gobles have agreed to take their places.

“We were so impressed by the orientation process for parents when we first took Rachel to campus,” Roy explains. “We didn’t expect the faculty and staff to embrace us and make us a central part of the process. We felt so honored and respected. As we drove away, I remember thinking how wonderful it was that we were leaving our daughter in a community that clearly cared for her.”

“The parents program has made an impact on us,” D’Aun adds. “We didn’t just drop our kid off and go home, we learned how to be the parents of a college student. And it’s been great to get to know the other parents on the council, who care so much for all the students and pray regularly for them.”

“Westmont respects the spiritual mentoring parents do as they raise their children,” Roy notes. “We always feel honored when we come to campus.”

The Gobles don’t expect to make many changes to the council because they think it works well now. “We are praying about the way we should lead the group,” Roy says. “We wonder, how God can use us to reflect our particular interests and abilities?”

Roy and D’Aun work with a family  business, Goble Properties, that invests in retail shopping centers, office buildings and a hotel in Maui. The company also buys old warehouses, brings them up to code, and then sells them; it’s a kind of recycling.

Recycling and stewardship of the Earth are important to the Gobles. Founders of the Christian Stewardship Association (now Target Earth International), the couple have been deeply involved with the organization for 17 years. Recently they stepped down as members of the board.

“We have given all we could give,” Roy says. “It was time to pass the torch to new people with new energy.”

Over the years, they worked with programs that provided educational experiences for college students (such as the Belize semester that Westmont students may attend), evangelism to environmentalists and a project to buy up and protect rainforests.

Roy comes from a Westmont family. His sister, Adria Goble Weinstein ’70, was a good friend of Judy Brinkman Gaede ’70, wife of President Stan Gaede. Judy remembers meeting Roy as a 10-year-old child when she visited the Goble home. They have enjoyed their reunion as fellow parents of Westmont students.

The fact that Rachel is having a great college experience also encouraged the Gobles to serve as Parents Council co-chairs.

“She has loved it academically; it has been very challenging,” D’Aun says.

Rachel has immersed herself in Westmont activities. The photo editor for the Horizon, the student newspaper, she has also worked in the alumni office and for the college’s annual phonathon.

The Gobles attend Crosswinds Church in Dublin, Calif., and live in Pleasanton where their son, Jedd, is a high school student. They are waiting to see if he will choose Westmont and follow in the family tradition.