Westmont News

Westmont’s first monthly stargazing event of 2025 features Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Orion’s nebula and the Owl Cluster on Friday, Jan. 17, at 6:30 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. Along with the college’s powerful Keck Telescope, members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit bring their telescopes to share with the public.

A large crowd of about 175 people gathered to appreciate the multifaceted exhibition of “WILDLAND: Ethan Turpin's Collaborations on Fire and Water” on Jan. 9 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The exhibition, which explores the complex relationships between fire, water and ourselves, is open through March 22.

A Westmont biology class is celebrating the growing success of an oak woodland restoration project in the barranca along the westside of Westmont’s campus. Nearly all of the 60 coast live oaks that were planted along the dry Westmont Creek in November 2023 are surviving and many have grown more than three feet tall.

Condoleezza Rice, the 66th U.S. secretary of state, speaks at the 20th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on Friday, Feb. 28, from 7-9 a.m. at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Tickets cost $175 per person and go on sale Friday, Jan. 31, at 9 a.m. at westmont.edu/breakfast. Seating is limited, and tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

The fourth cohort of Westmont Downtown| Grotenhuis Nursing graduates were celebrated at a pinning ceremony in front of friends and family Dec. 12 at Montecito Covenant Church.

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features the multimedia creations of Ethan Turpin, whose works are grounded in the natural cycles of wildfire, devastation, and recovery and regrowth from Jan. 9-March 22. The public is invited to a free opening reception of “WILDLAND: Ethan Turpin's Collaborations on Fire and Water” on Thursday, Jan. 9, 4-6 p.m. at the museum.

Westmont honored alumnus Tine Hardeman ’55 prior to the women’s basketball game against Azusa Pacific University on Dec. 14 in Murchison Gym. Hardeman died on Dec. 2 at age 92.

Westmont’s final monthly stargazing event of 2024 features two gas giants, Orion, the Owl Cluster and the Andromeda galaxy on Friday, Dec. 20, at 6:30 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. Along with the college’s powerful Keck Telescope, members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit bring their telescopes to share with the public.

Westmont’s 12 junior engineering students battled in a three-part competition for their Machine Design course that included racing and jumping the 500-piece remote-control (RC) car they made in front of Kerrwood Hall on Dec. 5.

The college kicked off the Christmas season with its annual lighting of Kerrwood Hall in a festive event, Let There Be Light, on Dec. 3 as the Westmont community gathered on Kerrwood Lawn.

The Westmont Women’s Leadership Council Luncheon features Henrietta Holsman Fore, a recognized leader in business, corporate boards, the U.S. government, the United Nations and nonprofit organizations, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, 12-1:30 p.m. at Montecito Covenant Church, 671 Cold Spring Road, Santa Barbara.

A generous donor has committed $50,000 to match gifts made to the Westmont Fund between November 26 and December 3, doubling the impact of your donation until midnight or until the match has been met.

More than 170 high school students and their families attended Affording Your College Dream, a community event that explores the best ways low-income students can fund a college education.

Westmont students Josef Bingener ’25 and Ethan Camp ’27 have participated in a novel nuclear physics experiment with Professor Robert Haring-Kaye. They traveled to Florida State University (FSU) to study the structural properties of an exotic isotope of gallium (72Ga) that survives for only a few hours before decaying to a different isotope.

The November public stargazing event will feature a Beaver Moon, Owl Cluster and two gas giants, Saturn and Jupiter, on Friday, Nov. 15, beginning at 6 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. The college hosts a free, public viewing on the third Friday of every month in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit whose members bring their telescopes to share with the public.

The Westmont Theatre Arts Department staged a hilarious version of John Buchan’s “The 39 Steps” that brought plenty of laughs through an unrelenting barrage of creative set-design gags and physical comedy. Director Mitchell Thomas masterfully squeezes out every laugh while navigating a plot that doesn’t take itself seriously. This was good lighthearted fun at its best. Over six performances, more than 600 people saw the performance in Porter Theatre.

Daniel Jensen will be officially installed as the James R. and Eleanor S. Allder professor of science and technology in a formal, public ceremony Friday, Nov. 8, at 10:30 a.m. in Murchison Gym. Jensen has directed Westmont’s burgeoning engineering program since it began in fall 2021. 

Celebrate Advent with glorious music at Westmont’s 20^th anniversary Christmas Festival, a highlight for many local residents during the holidays, on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3 p.m., both at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. Tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 4, at 10 a.m. at westmont.edu/christmas-festival.

More than 30 members of the Oak Group, a collection of landscape artists passionate about nature and committed to preserving local lands, will each exhibit a painting in “The Oak Group Presents the Grace of the World” from Nov. 21- Dec. 21 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Many of the artists will take part in a free, public opening reception Thursday, Nov. 21, from 4-6 p.m. in the museum.

Hospitals have increasingly been closing maternity departments around the country, including in California. Stephanie Curtis, a certified nurse midwife and Westmont instructor of nursing, examines the issue of maternity care deserts in a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Delivering in the Desert: The Impact of Maternity Ward Closures,” on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m.

Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope takes aim at Saturn and a supermoon at this month’s free public stargazing event on Friday, Oct. 18, beginning about 7 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. The college hosts a monthly star party on the third Friday of each month in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit.

Westmont theater offers “The 39 Steps,” a fast-paced murder mystery and international espionage plot, encompassing numerous characters played by just five actors Oct. 25-26 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 31 at 9 p.m., Nov. 1-2 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 2 at 2 p.m., all in Porter Theatre. Purchase tickets, which cost $20 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors, through westmont.edu/boxoffice. 

On the morning of March 27, 1989, Westmont students Lisa Bebout, Patty (Hallock) Crosby, Megan (Harter) Adams, Alan Voorman and Garth Weedman drove in Voorman’s bright yellow Toyota Corolla from their camp in Ensenada, Mexico, to a nearby village. As members of the Potter’s Clay Construction Team, they were renovating a dilapidated house there. But an oncoming car suddenly jumped the divider and landed on top of Voorman’s vehicle. Fellow students in two cars behind them screeched to a halt and piled out to rescue their friends as ambulances rushed to the scene.

Polarization in our culture and politics has led to division, tension and hostility in our churches, workplaces and even our families. Shirley Mullen, former Westmont provost and history professor, encouraged the Westmont community to instead claim the powerful, redemptive potential of the courageous middle.

Nearly 40 students will present their summer research findings at the annual Celebration of Summer Research on Friday, Oct. 4, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Winter Hall Atrium. The Celebration of Summer Research, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, is free and open to the public.

For two decades, U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges list has ranked Westmont as the top Christian liberal arts college in California and the Western U.S. Westmont remains one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in California, listed among 10 other liberal arts schools. Overall, it is one of only two nationally ranked in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. In the 2025 edition of U.S. News, Westmont appears at No. 108 (tied) among all national, not regional, liberal arts colleges.

Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe will be a delegate at the Fourth Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization on Sept. 22-28 in Incheon, South Korea. He has served as a college president for more than 25 years (18 at Westmont) and received his invitation through the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. Beebe joins about 5,000 delegates from around the world, including thousands more attending virtually, making it the largest representation since the movement began in 1974.

The planet Saturn will be the star of the show on Friday, Sept. 20, from 7:30-10 p.m. at the Westmont Observatory. “If you haven't seen this unique planet and its rings through a telescope before, I highly encourage you to come out and join us,” says Jen Ito, assistant professor of physics and director of the observatory. “Saturn is my favorite planet to see through a telescope."

Westmont’s alums return to campus for Homecoming 2024 with an abundance of family-friendly events Oct. 4-6. Please visit westmont.edu/homecoming for the full schedule, prices and ticket information.

Jesse Covington, whose research explores the interrelation of religion and government, takes a step away from the current electoral matchup to look at enduring challenges Christians face in a context like the United States.

Guests from the Lilly Network of more than 100 faith-based colleges and universities will examine the initial findings of a study about the intellectual-religious experience of undergraduates at the network’s national conference hosted by Westmont's Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts on Sept. 27-29.

The public is invited to join Westmont’s astrophysics students to learn more about the moon on NASA’s International Observe the Moon Night on Saturday, Sept. 14, from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Westmont Observatory.

Six new professors on tenure track or with multiyear contracts joined the Westmont faculty this fall. Jonathan Diaz (English), Kevin McGuire (economics and business), Sara Morrisset (history) and Jada L. Willis (kinesiology) step into tenure-track positions.

For eight years, a unique Westmont program has given high school students space to explore the ways that faith, education and work can be united in a life of significance. Trailhead: Seeking God’s Call wrapped up three weeklong sessions this summer with 55 students who lived on campus, ate in the Dining Commons and worshiped with new friends.

Regular weekend attendance to a religious service creates an immediate increase in positive emotions as well as a decrease in negative ones, according to a new study of U.S. adults. Researchers found there was no change in the emotional well-being of non-regular attendees.

Michael Stewart Robb, who won the Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Research Center’s Book Award in 2023, will receive the honor and speak in chapel Friday, Sept. 6, at 10:30 a.m. in Murchison Gym.

Returning students created a buzz of excitement when they ventured into the newly renovated Westmont Dining Commons (DC). The adjoining outdoor patio excited them the most where workers installed an automatic sliding door from the dining room.

Gayle D. Beebe, entering his 18th year as president of Westmont College, will be selling and signing copies of his new book, “The Crucibles That Shape Us: Navigating the Defining Challenges of Leadership,” on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 4-6 p.m. at La Arcada Plaza, 1114 State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. Free books will be given to the first 100 guests.

About 400 new incoming students, including the Grotenhuis Nursing cohort of 24, arrive at Westmont to begin their first week of Orientation, Aug. 21-25, and the start of the fall semester, Aug. 26. Watch the Orientation video here. 

Duncan Simcoe, a Southern California artist and former chair of the College of Architecture, Visual Arts and Design at California Baptist University in Riverside, offers his signature limited-palette paintings on dark construction-grade tar paper in “Night Visions: The Black Drawings of Duncan Simcoe, 2014-2024” from Aug. 29–Nov. 9 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Meet the artist at a free, public opening reception on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 4-6 p.m.

Alumnus Casey Underwood ’14 has returned to his alma mater to exhibit his diverse talents as an outdoor wildlife artist in “Fins and Feathers: The Art of Casey Underwood” from Aug. 29-Dec. 21 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s downstairs gallery. A free, public opening reception will be Thursday, Aug. 29, 4-6 p.m.

Westmont’s monthly stargazing event features a triangle asterism, a globular cluster and a waxing moon on Friday, August 16, from 8-10:30 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. Along with the college’s powerful Keck Telescope, members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit bring their telescopes to share with the public.

Iyree Jarrett ’22 is the only student to have appeared on the cover of the Westmont magazine twice. She was featured as a student-athlete who best exemplified leadership and as the star guard for the National Championship winning women’s basketball team.

The growing concern about personal information and privacy in the digital age has led a company based in Santa Barbara to develop products protecting consumers. MOS Equipment, founded by Westmont alumnus Ryan Judy ’08, manufactures Mission Darkness faraday bags, tents and lockers that block radio waves, including cell phone signals.

The Westmont Golf Classic, a charity golf tournament started in 2008 to raise funds for student scholarships, returns Friday, Oct. 4, at the Glen Annie Golf Club, 405 Glen Annie Road in Goleta. Registration is $200 per golfer and includes: 18 holes of golf with cart; tri tip BBQ dinner, on-course games, raffles and awards. Additional dinner guests are $50 each. To register, or for more information, please visit westmont.edu/golf-classic.

Westmont’s annual Impact Conference, co-sponsored by Salesforce, explores opportunities and dangers using artificial intelligence tools in education Thursday, July 25, and Friday, July 26, in the Global Leadership Center. Tickets to the two-day event cost $100 with breakfast and lunch provided both days. To register or get more information, please visit westmont.edu/impact.

Experience 45 of the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s recent acquisitions at a stunning summer show. The exhibition features works by three dozen artists, including Americans Richard Artschwager, Laddie John Dill and Louisiana Bendolph of the Gee's Bend quilters, contemporary Chinese artist Yue Minjun, and numerous local artists.

Westmont hosted more than 70 evangelical students, professors and nationally recognized experts from across the country for the second consecutive summer to address the global challenge of climate change June 16-21. Faith. Climate. Action. A Workshop on Christian Climate Advocacy equips students who care deeply about the environment to become leaders in their communities and manage resources wisely.