Westmont News

The Westmont Music Department’s weekly Friday night virtual concert series gets jazzy on Nov. 6. The Westmont Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of keyboardist Eben Drost, will perform many recognizable standards starting at 7 p.m. at westmont.edu/virtual-concert-series. The concert will be recorded in Deane Chapel with musicians wearing masks and singers standing outside the door when they perform.

Enrico Manlapig, associate professor of economics and business, explores “Decision Analysis and the Common Good” in a live webinar on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at vimeo.com/474003951.

Members of the Westmont College Choir and Choral Union, wearing masks and singing outside, offer a Fall Choral Celebration on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at westmont.edu/virtual-concert-series.

Westmont College has received a grant of $1 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Westmont Center for Thriving Communities.

The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The aim of the national initiative is to strengthen Christian congregations so they can help people deepen their relationships with God, build strong relationships with each other and contribute to the flourishing of local communities and the world.

Acclaimed author Jon Meacham addresses “The Architecture of Endurance: Building a Republic that Stands the Test of Time” on Friday, Nov. 6, from 12-1:30 p.m. in a special virtual event from Westmont. The live broadcast opens with remarks by Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe and includes a question-and-answer session with Meacham, presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize winner. The talk is free and open to the public thanks to the gracious support of Westmont’s Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership.

The Westmont College website, which has undergone a five-year overhaul, won the Web Marketing Association’s 2020 WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in Best Faith-Based Website. A select group of independent judges from around the world selected Westmont’s website for setting the standard of excellence in website development.

Very few Westmont students have tested positive for the coronavirus since returning to campus in mid-September, and faculty and staff are finding innovative ways for students to thrive while staying safe.

The Westmont Orchestra, masked up, socially distant and with bell covers over their instruments, will perform “An Orchestral Sampler” on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. The event, which is being recorded live outdoors, will be available for free viewing at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic.

In a time of challenge, conflict and difficulty, the Westmont Theater Arts Department stages “small enchantments,” a fairy tale-inspired play of change and wonder on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at westmont.edu/watchtheater.

“I wanted to work on something with our students that enacted and presented enchantment, hope and possibility for renewed life rather than an immersion in the desperation and uncertainty of the present moment,” says director John Blondell.

Dr. Eric Nelson, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, will share lessons from the pandemic’s unique impact on emotional health in a free, online lecture, “Stress, Loss and Uncertainty Amidst COVID-19: Cultivating a Mindset to Endure Prolonged Global Distress,” on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 5:30 p.m. at vimeo.com/showcase/7555348.

An interdisciplinary panel of Westmont faculty, including Yi-Fan Lu (biology), Tom Knecht (political science), and Meredith Whitnah (sociology), with moderator Kya Mangrum (English) will explore “What Is Race and Racism?" on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. Off-campus attendees can register at https://bit.ly/33IGuQE to be sent the link to the Zoom event.

Four stellar new professors join the Westmont faculty this fall: Katherine Bryant (political science), alumnus Daniel Gee (music), Robert Haring-Kaye (physics) and Blake Victor Kent (soc

Soprano Megan (Silberstein) Billings will perform as part of the music department’s Alumni Spotlight on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. Listen to the free concert at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic.

The Westmont Music Department features its talented faculty members in the Friday Concert Series on Oct. 2. at 7 p.m. Listen to the free recital at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic.

Jana Mayfield Mullen, who began teaching in Westmont’s history and religious studies departments in 2001, is the new director of Voskuyl Library. She joined the library staff in 2013 and served as co-director for the past year.

Senior Zack Moreau, pictured in 2019, worked with Dr. Allan Nishimura over the summer.

Twenty-seven Westmont students adhered to strict safety protocols to work with their professors on research projects during the summer. Due to the pandemic, Westmont will skip the annual October symposium, where students present their summer research findings in person.

Men’s soccer has been a NAIA Scholar Team for five straight years. Pictured: senior midfielder and 2019-20 NAIA Scholar-Athlete Nick Ruiz.

Four Westmont professors from different disciplines examine how the new coronavirus has forced us to adapt our daily lives in unexpected ways in a talk, “Plagues, Pandemics and Perseverance,” on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. The pre-recorded presentation, sponsored by Westmont’s Voskuyl Library, features Marilyn McEntyre (humanities), Paul Willis (English), Helen Rhee (religious studies) and Lisa DeBoer (art) and are available online at youtube.com/westmontTV.

The Westmont Music Department continues its popular Friday Concert Series with its first Alumni Spotlight recital, featuring alumna Sarah Shasberger Pfister ’12 and the Carnevale String Quartet from Bulgaria on Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. Listen to the free recital at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic.

Recent college and university annual rankings continue to affirm Westmont as one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in the nation.

Westmont’s class of 2024 is the most academically talented in the college’s history. It’s also among the most diverse with 39 percent of the 375 new and transfer students identifying as Hispanic, Asian American, African American, Hawaiian Pacific Islander, Native American, and/or multiracial. Twelve percent are the first in their family to attend college. The average SAT score skyrocketed 40 points to 1260 with a middle range of 1140-1380. The average GPA jumped significantly from 3.88 to 3.98.

The Santa Barbara Symphony and Westmont College have announced a strategic partnership to strengthen their ability to bring music education to local school children while creating a pipeline to provide lifelong musical opportunities in the community. This collaboration includes newly developed innovative virtual and socially distanced curriculum.

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art offers a unique history lesson, blending prints from 16^th to 18^th century Old Masters with a few modern and contemporary works in its latest online exhibition available through Nov. 7. “Making a Fine Impression: Prints from the Faith and Dewayne Perry Collection” includes more than a dozen videos of Westmont experts describing a particular piece in the exhibition, which can be viewed at westmont.edu/museum/fine-impression.

The Westmont Music Department launches its Friday Concert Series with a virtual performance featuring Andrea (flute) and Neil Di Maggio (piano) on Friday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. Listen to the free recital at vimeo.com/showcase/westmontmusic.

Westmont welcomes its new students to a virtual Orientation Aug. 27-29 to learn about the educational program and meet faculty, staff and fellow students. The college has postponed repopulating until the COVID-19 case rate in Santa Barbara County drops below the state-mandated threshold. Classes will begin remotely Aug.

Twelve Westmont art graduates, unable to exhibit their artwork at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum on campus in May due to COVID-19, are displaying their senior projects virtually. “Adjacent: Westmont Graduate Exhibition 2020” is available in-person at the museum only to the artists and their families by prior appointment. Everyone else can see the exhibition, including a virtual tour, online at westmont.edu/museum/adjacent.

Jason Tavarez joined the Westmont community as director of institutional resilience in February 2020 and almost immediately began working to protect the college from the dangers of COVID-19.

My father—Joseph Linden Sargent—passed away almost twelve years ago, yet there’s still hardly a Father’s Day that goes by when I don’t remind myself to call him. That thought usually hits me about dusk, or when I look at one of his watercolors on our walls. He died on his anniversary, nearly two years after my mother’s passing.

The Westmont community celebrates the many ways that God has gifted our students academically by announcing and honoring the Outstanding Graduate Awards in each department. Due to COVID-19, we were unable to publicly announce and honor them during the Academic Awards Convocation, which is typically held prior to Commencement. Here are the Outstanding Graduates of 2020.

Westmont welcomes Tim Loomer, who joins the staff July 1 as director of research, planning and implementation and assistant to the president for board relations. For the past two years, he has served as interim head of school at Providence.

Westmont’s ethnic studies minor, which enables students to examine the cultural, historical, political and social dimensions of a variety of racial and ethnic groups, has been revitalized.

"Treat others with kindness so they have the energy to be kind as well."

Montecito community members joined with Westmont to serve the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, which has distributed 2.25 million pounds of food during the COVID-19 response. Residents dropped off 151 bags of food at the rear parking lot of Montecito Bank and Trust on Coast Village Road on May 9 or asked that donated food be picked up from their homes.

Westmont College will donate 1,000 N95 masks to Santa Barbara Cottage Health’s front-line heroes combating the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Westmont has historically kept a supply of protective masks on campus for its students, faculty and staff to protect them from smoke during wildfires.