Westmont News

This month’s Stargazing at the Westmont Observatory features Jupiter and its four Galilean moons as well as M42, the Orion Nebula, on Friday, Jan. 19, beginning after 6 p.m. and lasting for several hours. The observatory, home of the powerful Keck Telescope, is open to the public every third Friday of the month and held in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit (SBAU) whose members bring their own telescopes to share with the public.

Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree’s entire collection of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, which includes 11 paintings, 12 lithographs and a drawing, goes on display Jan. 11-March 23 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.

For two decades, Siegwart ‘Zig’ Reichwald, Westmont’s Adams professor of music and worship, engrossed himself in the sacred music of German composer and performer Felix Mendelssohn. But when he came to his works written for the Berlin Cathedral in 1843-44, he was struck by how unusual they were compared to the rest of Mendelssohn’s musical creations.

Crews have begun a $2 million renovation project to Westmont’s Dining Commons with the majority of the work being funded by Bon Appetit, the college’s food service provider since August 2022.

Westmont celebrated the accomplishments of 18 new graduates of the Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing program at a pinning ceremony Dec. 14 at Montecito Covenant Church. This is the second cohort to graduate from the 16-month accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program, housed at 26 W. Anapamu.

Two Westmont students presented their research at a joint meeting of the Nuclear Physics Divisions of the American and Japanese Physics Societies Nov. 26-Dec. 1 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Natalie Fogg '24 and Reese Toepfer '26 joined Robert Haring-Kaye, Westmont professor of physics and department chair of physics and engineering, at the event that featured more than 100 undergraduates from both nations.

Bundle up and head to the Westmont Observatory, which opens to the public for its free, monthly Stargazing event Friday, Dec. 15, beginning at sunset and lasting several hours. Saturn and many other celestial delights will be targeted by Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope and the other scopes owned by members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, whose members set up around the observatory.

Westmont junior Analee Josselyn '25, a history and economics and business double major, and Conrad Morgan '23, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, are attending the U.N. Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai.

Overcoming obstacles was the challenge of the day as the Westmont Engineering Department hosted its third annual remote control car competition Dec. 7 in front of Kerrwood Hall.

New this year, students competed in a bowling pin knockout following the traditional figure eight race. The competition was tight and a final race with all three cars was needed to determine a winner.

With the arrival of Advent, Paul Willis, professor emeritus of English and former Santa Barbara poet laureate, has co-edited an anthology of readings “A Radiant Birth: Advent Readings for a Bright Season.” Madeleine L'Engle, Marilyn McEntyre, Eugene Peterson, Tania Runyan, Luci Shaw, Jeanne Murray Walker, Walter Wangerin, Lauren Winner and Philip Yancey contribute to the book, which provides daily readings for the four weeks of Advent and two weeks of Christmas.

Westmont is on the board! Monopoly: The Santa Barbara Edition includes a space featuring the Montecito campus in the light purple section where Virginia Avenue sits in the classic game. The only college featured on the board, Westmont appears between two iconic locations: the Santa Barbara Harbor and the Santa Barbara Airport. The square features a Brad Elliott photo highlighting the college’s iconic Italian fountain, a replica of one dating from the 19th century that graced the Dwight Murphy estate, which Westmont purchased in 1945.

A study of older U.S. South Asians examines relationships between religious service attendance (temple, mosque, etc.), anxiety and feelings of emotional neglect by fellow congregation members. The research finds that among U.S. South Asians, those who attend religious services more often are also more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety. Further, much of this relationship can be attributed to feelings of being ignored or neglected by other members of the congregation.

Westmont Festival Theatre reimagines the life of Saint Clare of Assisi as if she spoke like a Beverly Hills teenager in Chiara Atik’s “Poor Clare” on Dec. 7-9 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which cost $20 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors, may be purchased at westmont.edu/boxoffice.

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded Westmont College a $1.25 million grant to create a unique program exploring the meaning and value of in-person Christian preaching. At a time when much communication takes place online, remotely and impersonally, the Incarnational Preaching Project will invite active and aspiring preachers to investigate the value of preaching live to a church community.

The Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) voted to approve accreditation for Westmont’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. Westmont had to clearly demonstrate that its nursing program, which launched in January 2022, met all four of the CCNE standards: mission and governance, institutional commitment and resources, curriculum and teaching-learning practices, and assessment and achievement of program outcomes.

For Giving Tuesday, a generous donor has pledged $50,000 to double the impact of gifts made to the Westmont Fund between Nov. 21-28 until midnight or until the pledge amount runs out. 

An ecological restoration project near the Westmont campus has begun with students, faculty and staff planting about 45 native coast live oaks. This first phase focuses on an area where Montecito Fire removed many dead and dying eucalyptus trees last summer.

The Westmont Women’s Leadership Council Luncheon features Natalie Taylor, certified financial planner and behavioral financial advisor, on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, 12-2 p.m. in the Global Leadership Center. A limited number of tickets, which cost $100 per person, may be purchased online.

Westmont celebrates Advent with “Let There be Light!” a festive gathering, tree lighting, hot cocoa and opportunity to take photos with Santa on Wednesday, Nov. 29, from 5-7 p.m. on Kerrwood Lawn. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public.

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s most popular exhibition and fundraiser returns to Montecito on Nov. 30- Dec. 15 offering viewers an opportunity to see and bid on more than 675, small 5-inch-square works by regional, national and international artists. The museum hosts a free, public opening reception on Thursday, Nov. 30, from 4-6 p.m.

Longtime Westmont trustee Gary Harris died Oct. 27 from a heart attack. He was 87.

President Gayle D. Beebe announced to the Westmont community that he and Pam were praying for Gary's wife, Jo Harris, and their family, and encouraged the community to do so as well.

Violinist Philip Ficsor, who served on Westmont’s music faculty from 2006-13, returns to college for a recital with American Double, a violin-piano duo consisting of Ficsor and pianist Constantine Finehouse, on Sunday, Nov. 5, at 3 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The concert, featuring American masterworks for violin and piano by John Corigliano and Daniel Gee ’13, Westmont director of choral activities, is free and open to the public.

The 19^th annual Westmont Christmas Festival, which marks the beginning of the holiday season for many in Santa Barbara, combines orchestra and choirs at the Granada Theatre, the central coast’s premier performing arts venue in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m. Tickets, which cost $22 each, go on sale Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 5 p.m. at westmont.edu/christmas-festival.

Westmont’s science professors have obtained a new tool for their teaching and research. The biology, chemistry, engineering and physics departments will all use the Hitachi scanning electron microscope (SEM), housed in Winter Hall. Its focused beam of electrons interacts with atoms in the sample to produce an image.

A large crowd that included students, faculty, trustees and industry professionals on the college’s engineering board gathered to dedicate Westmont’s new Fletcher Jones Foundation Center for Engineering at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 20. Engineering students hosted an open house in their new digs, highlighting their research and explaining the uses of the machinery.

“What Should We Do About State Street?” The Westmont Center for Dialogue and Deliberation (WCDD) hosts a conversation on this pressing issue and invites Santa Barbara residents to share their ideas for shaping and co-creating this special public space. When you RSVP to the free, public event held Thursday, Oct. 26, from 6:45 p.m.-8:45 p.m., you’ll receive information about the location and parking information because space is limited.

On the heels of Saturday’s annual solar eclipse, the Westmont Observatory opens to the public with the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, making an appearance in the night sky Friday, Oct. 20, beginning at sunset and lasting several hours. This month’s free stargazing event features the college’s powerful Keck Telescope, a computer-controlled 24-inch reflector, and other telescopes from members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit.

Katherine Bryant, assistant professor of political science, will speak about “The Changing Geopolitical Landscape and the Role of Foreign Aid” at a Westmont Downtown Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara.

Westmont’s alumni returned to campus for Homecoming 2023 and to honor four stellar individuals at the annual Alumni Awards Celebration Brunch.

The college recognized honorees Jay (Ofori) Diallo ’08 (Alumnus of the Year); Jenise Steverding '97 (Alumna of the Year); Carl LaBarbera ’76 (Global Service); and Gabriella (Pinheiro Chavez) Avila ’14 (Young Alum) for their remarkable achievements in their personal careers on Oct. 14.

The Westmont Orchestra will perform one of Tchaikovsky’s most well-known compositions at the Fall Orchestra Concert on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. in Westmont’s Page Hall; and Sunday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m. in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West. The concerts are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the music department at (805) 565-6040 or email music@westmont.edu.

Westmont has become an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution with more than 23% of students identifying as Latino or Hispanic. The designation is a result of local partnerships, improved outreach efforts and the addition of several key college employees. 

Siegwart ‘Zig’ Reichwald was officially installed as Adams professor of music and worship at Westmont in a day that featured the college choir, orchestra and chapel band performing music from the Psalms, Felix Mendelssohn and rock band U2.

Dave LeMieux ’93, new director of worship for Montecito Covenant Church, performs a two-part multimedia event, "Moses – Truth to Power," on Wednesday, Oct. 18, and Friday, Oct. 20, at 10:30 a.m. at Westmont chapel in Murchison Gym.

Jennifer Ito, Westmont assistant professor of physics, explores exciting new developments in astrophysics in a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Asteroids and Exoplanets: How Scientists Are Exploring Our Universe,” on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara.

Westmont presents “Godspell,” one of the most popular musicals of all time, on Oct. 12-15 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. Music and theater students join together to stage a production for the first time since 2019. Tickets, which cost $20 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors, are available online at westmont.edu/boxoffice.

The parents of a Westmont alumna and a current student joined the Westmont Board of Trustees in May. Mary Barbour, whose daughter, Anna, graduated from Westmont in 2022, and Marcus ‘Goodie’ Goodloe, whose daughter Hannah is currently a senior and will graduate in spring 2024, look forward to supporting the college’s mission on the board, which oversees the operations of the college.

Westmont jumped 16 spots in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Colleges national liberal arts rankings — the college’s largest rise since 2010. For the 19th straight year, Westmont, ranked at No. 107 (tied), is the number one Christian liberal arts college in the Western U.S.

In a public ceremony replete with orchestral and choral music, Siegwart ‘Zig’ Reichwald will be installed as the Adams professor of music and worship Friday, Sept. 29, at 10:30 a.m. in Murchison Gym. The formal ceremony serves as a prelude to a day of public events that include a keynote address and chamber concert.

For the first time in more than a decade, undergraduate students assisted with research at the Simons Array, a set of three telescopes in the Atacama Desert in Chile at an elevation of about 17,000 feet.

Westmont music faculty take the stage for the Fall Faculty Recital on Friday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.

The recital features Music Director Ruth Lin (piano), Adelle Rodkey (oboe), Christina Ramsey (mezzo-soprano), Erin Bonski-Evans (piano), Egle Januleviciute (piano) and Cam Audras (viola).

Andrew Whitehead, one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States, speaks about his new book, “American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church,” on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Global Leadership Center at Westmont.

Westmont welcomes four excellent new tenure-track professors to campus this fall. Sam Cole (economics and business), Linghui Han (economics and business), Paul Mena (communication studies) and Anna Jordan ’07 (English) each bring a deep Christian faith and a desire to challenge students to think deeply while learning broadly.

About 400 first year and transfer students arrive on campus for the newly named Warrior Welcome Aug. 24-27 and the first day of classes for the fall semester on Monday, Aug. 28. On Wednesday, Aug.

Westmont's annual Impact Conference brings together leading thinkers in education and technology to discuss the development of better data systems for colleges and universities. Co-hosted by Salesforce and Westmont’s Center for Applied Technology (CATLab), the free event takes place on campus Thursday, Aug. 10, from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. To register or get more information, please visit westmont.edu/impact.

Westmont engineering students returned to Quito, Ecuador, in May to share their love of science, technology, engineering and math with children in an after-school program. The seven engineering students, Jonny Reitinger, Jonah Swanson, Jacob Bailey, Maria Judy, Elijah Cicileo, Becca Hudson and Tasha Loh, designed and built STEM educational materials to share with the children. They were joined by Dan Jensen, director of Westmont engineering, and a Compassion International representative.

All eight graduates of Westmont’s inaugural Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) cohort have successfully passed the National Council for Licensure Exam-RN (NCLEX-RN) and begun careers as nurses. Half of these nurses serve in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. They completed the program in May 2023.

Celebrated Santa Barbara artist Linda Ekstrom offers a wide range of poetic, imaginative and spiritual works of transformed fabric, paper, books and gloves in an exhibition Aug. 31-Nov. 11 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A free opening reception Thursday, Aug. 31 from 4-6 p.m. at the museum, honors “Straddling Circumference…The Art of Linda Ekstrom,” which features both recent work and a retrospective. The museum plans additional events.

As of today, July 13, Westmont launches into a new era of athletic competition to play in the NCAA Division II PacWest Conference this fall. The NCAA formally notified the college that it is approved to move on to the second year of provisional status, which allows them to compete in the PacWest Conference beginning this coming year.