Class of 2020 Commencement
Westmont is committed to celebrating the accomplishments of the class of 2020. Please check back regularly for important updates about how and when we will celebrate you!
Update from 4/8/21:
Thank you to all who responded to the survey about how best to honor and celebrate the Class of 2020. Your class shared a clear preference to attend a fantastic celebration that will coincide with Homecoming 2021, which takes place October 15-16 2021.
We're excited to have the results and we've assembled a team to begin planning the event. Want to help? If you're interested in being part of the planning for your class celebration, please contact us at alumni@westmont.edu.
You can also email to keep us up-to-date with your best contact information so we can share event details with you in the coming days.
Update from 3/19/21:
All of us at Westmont have kept you in our thoughts and prayers this past year. More than a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought swift and significant change to all our lives. Last May, to our mutual disappointment, your on-campus Commencement ceremony was postponed. We had hoped to hold the event last fall during Homecoming, but national and local restrictions arising from COVID-19 prevented that as well. Now Santa Barbara County has informed us our tentative plans to hold an in-person ceremony on May 1 for the Class of 2020 will not be allowed.
As a result, we are looking to celebrate you in ways the county will allow. Current Santa Barbara County Public Health restrictions continue to limit our ability to offer a traditional Commencement ceremony on campus for the class of 2020. In light of the county’s restrictions on bringing people onto campus in proximity to one another, we again want to offer you alternatives that your class will find meaningful. We want to offer the following options, recognizing that none of them are the same or as powerful as a face to face ceremony at the normal end of your college career.
The first option is a drive-through ceremony. From within your vehicle, you’ll receive a warm welcome and a special graduation gift from Westmont’s faculty and staff on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
The second option is to celebrate your class during Homecoming, October 15-16, 2021, with a very special one-year reunion.
The third option is to hold a special gathering at Homecoming in 2025 when your class will celebrate its five-year reunion.
Many of you took last year's survey of proposed alternatives, and the response was very mixed. We'd like to get your response again so please fill out the new survey to indicate your interest in each of these options.
On behalf of the entire Westmont community, I want to express our great pride in your accomplishments as you persevered against multiple, extraordinary challenges during your time at Westmont, and even now as new graduates. As you move forward in life, your class verse is especially appropriate, reminding us of the Lord’s providence in all things: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
May you be encouraged by this truth. I look forward to hearing from you.
Blessings,
Dr. Beebe