Westmont Magazine Help at Home and Abroad

Westmont has received a $475,000, three-year grant from The James Irvine Foundation to enhance the College’s curricular and student life programs and expand opportunities to study off campus.

The grant will fund the assessment and development of both academic departments and student life programs in keeping with standards of excellence set by the faculty. The money will also allow Westmont to develop new off-campus study programs for students.

Currently, the College sponsors semester-long programs in Europe, England, and San Francisco in addition to shorter trips such as a 12-week Asia program that includes internships in China. Students can study abroad through other colleges and universities as well. The Irvine grant will enable Westmont to investigate and initiate more of its own programs.

“We are so pleased to receive this grant from the Irvine Foundation,” President David Winter said. “It is a tremendous vote of confidence in the College’s ongoing efforts to improve our academic offerings as well as expose students to a wide variety of world experiences. Westmont’s philosophy of educating our students as whole people, prepared for leadership in a diverse world, is furthered by this grant, and we are grateful for it.”

Irvine Foundation President Dennis Collins said the foundation, which has given the College several grants in the past, is impressed with Westmont and its commitment to furthering the intellectual, spiritual and social development of students.

“Westmont’s emphasis on helping young people understand themselves and the world around them is one of the reasons its graduates are so successful,” Collins said. “They come away from their academic experiences with a mature and informed view of global concerns, and they put their knowledge to work wherever they go. This is world citizenship, and it’s needed today more than ever.”