Westmont News

A dozen student musicians will perform songs from jazz legends Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Sergio Mendez, Tommy Flanagan and others in a free concert Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The Westmont Jazz Ensemble is under the direction of Westmont Instructor John Douglas.

Westmont, which is quickly becoming a leader in cloud-based technology, has been named to a prestigious information technology list. The annual InfoWorld 100 Awards chose Westmont as one of 100 IT organizations that have “implemented and integrated technologies in innovative ways in pursuit of concrete business goals,” according to their Web site.

Westmont kicks off the Christmas season with the eighth annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Kerrwood Lawn, Wednesday, Dec. 2. The lights on the 150-foot redwood tree, affectionately known as The Giant Pickle, will glow at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Paul Willis, Westmont professor of English, will read from his new book of poems, “Rosing from the Dead,” at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The reading will take place in Hieronymus Lounge in Kerrwood Hall on the upper campus.

“Beauty Bomb,” a creative combination of dance and theater, explores the ancient Greek mythology about Pandora, the first woman, Nov. 19-21 at 8 p.m. in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. General admission is $10, $5 for students and seniors. For tickets or more information, please call (805) 565-7040.

Richard Pointer, Westmont acting provost and Fletcher Jones Foundation professor in the social sciences, discusses how Native American life affected settlers in early America at a free, public talk, “Going Native: How Indians Changed Europeans in Early America,” Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara Street.

Mai Pham, world-renown Thai and Vietnamese chef and restaurateur, will sign cookbooks, offer special tastings and hold cooking demonstrations Thursday, Oct. 29, from 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m. in Westmont’s Dining Commons. The guest appearance is courtesy of Sodexo, which is contracted by Westmont’s dining services.

A five-person panel of experts will discuss “Christian Perspectives on the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Factory Farms and Scientific Laboratories” Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 3:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Hieronymus Lounge. The discussion is free and open to the public.

Students in Westmont’s Music Drama Workshop Class perform songs from nine difference operas Friday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. in Westmont’s Deane Chapel. “Opera Scenes” is free and open to the public.

Heup Young Kim, professor of systematic theology at Kangnam University in South Korea, discusses “A Trialogue of Humility: A New Way of Christian Mission in Asia” in a free public lecture Monday, Oct. 19, at 5 p.m. in Westmont’s Hieronymus Lounge.

Hundreds of Westmont alumni will celebrate homecoming and reunions at several events this weekend, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17.

A rotating cast of eight actors perform Eugéne Ionesco’s brilliantly funny farce “The Bald Soprano” Oct. 22-24, 29-31 in Westmont’s Porter Theatre at 8 p.m. General admission is $10, $5 for student and seniors.

Kim Kihlstrom, professor of computer science, examines insights drawn from her experience in November’s Tea Fire and applied to the design of computer systems in a free lecture, “Fire! Applying Lessons Learned in the Tea Fire to Computer Systems,” Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St.

David Newton, Westmont Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, has been named to the board of directors of a prestigious national educational organization. Newton formally joins the Board of Directors for The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge at its semi-annual meeting Sept. 25-27 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

John Blondell, Westmont theater arts professor, reveals how he developed and directed a world premiere play last summer in Macedonia at a free lecture, “Another Fool in the Balkans,” Friday, Sept. 18, in Westmont’s Porter Theatre at 3:30 p.m.

The hereandnow Theatre Company, which believes everyone has a story to tell, performs in Westmont’s Porter Theatre Saturday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. The show is free, but reservations are required by calling (805) 565-7040.

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Starting this academic year, Westmont is video taping each chapel and making it publicly available on YouTube. Alumni and friends of Westmont are able to subscribe to Westmont's YouTube channel, WestmontTV, to be automatically notified when new videos are posted.

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When students returned to Westmont for the first day of classes, Aug. 31, they encountered many changes and improvements to the Montecito campus. One of the first noticeable enhancements is a new lower Cold Spring entrance, featuring a stone veneer wall. Many larger stones at the entrance have been quarried from other construction areas on campus. Workers have planted about a dozen native oak trees near a new irrigation basin inside the entrance.

Westmont leaped 19 spots in this year’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges according to U.S. News and World Report’s “American’s Best Colleges, 2010 Edition.” Of the nation’s 266 liberal arts colleges, Westmont finished at 92. This is the fifth straight year the college has ranked in the top tier.

Westmont's summer camps come to an end this afternoon, but not before the Discovery Camp’s annual cardboard boat race, which gets underway at 1 p.m. The races, held at the Westmont pool below Murchison Gym, are expected to last an hour and a half. The campers make their boats out of a refrigerator box and lots of duct tape, climb in and try to paddle across the pool and back. Most boats make it about halfway back.