Westmont Magazine Latest Crop of Students Arrives on Campus

Westmont continues to enroll a well qualified and increasingly diverse group of new students

The 320 first-year students in the class of 2013 arrived at Westmont in August. The incoming class includes 11 National Merit Scholars, 80 students of color and 65 from the Tri-Counties of California’s Central Coast. Westmont also welcomed six international students from England, Tokyo, Cairo, Kenya, China and Korea.

A total of 55 students have transferred to Westmont from schools such as Pomona College, University of Colorado at Boulder, Pt. Loma Nazarene University, Biola University, Azusa Pacific University, Willamette University, Gordon College, Boston College, University of Virginia, and University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“We’re extremely grateful to have such a diverse and talented group of students despite the difficult economy,” says Joyce Luy, Westmont dean of admission. “We’re also thankful to donors who’ve given us the financial resources to provide 80 percent of first-year students with academic merit scholarships.”

Last February, Westmont’s Board of Trustees froze tuition for 2009-2010 because of the growing challenge for students and families to finance college. Luy says the decision will not have any negative impact on the availability of classes or the services offered to students. Westmont doesn’t receive state or federal funding and isn’t affected by budget cuts. But reduced federal and state aid programs may hurt students.

Westmont has selected four Monroe Scholars, honoring top students with full-tuition scholarships. This year’s recipients are: Samantha Gardner of Los Alamitos, Calif.; Daniel Gee of Temple City, Calif.; Kacie Kyne of Ridgway Colo.; and Wesley Zuidema of Ontario, Calif. These students have an average GPA of 4.5 and scored 1560 out of 1600 on the SAT. The Monroe Scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition award offered to a few exceptional and high-achieving first-year students each year. It’s the highest academic honor an incoming student can receive.