Westmont News

Westmont remains in the top 100 best liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report for the eighth straight year.

Paul Cronshaw, president of the Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association, explores the critical ecological importance of bees in agriculture at a lecture Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Founders Dining Room.

Four distinguished tenure-track professors join Westmont’s faculty this fall: Elizabeth Gardner (communication studies), Carmen McCain (English), Jonathan Mitchell (physics) and Serah Shani (anthropology).

About 1,400 firefighters continue to make significant progress containing the Rey Fire, which is burning north and east, away from Santa Barbara and Westmont on the backside of the Santa Ynez Mountain Range.

Sixteen high school basketball teams compete in the 43rd annual High School Summer Varsity Basketball Tournament that kicks off Friday, June 24, at noon with games being played continuously through 11 p.m. The action continues on Saturday, June 25, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, all in Westmont’s Murchison Gym.

Westmont kicks off its annual youth summer sports camps Monday, June 20, beginning with Sports Skills, which helps develop the motor skills of co-ed campers from ages 5-10, and girls’ soccer.

Westmont alumnus Keaton Hudson ’14 won the Lorry Hubbard Best in Show prize for his instant film piece, “Room,” in the annual Tri-County Juried Exhibition at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.

President Gayle D. Beebe expressed the shock and sorrow of the Westmont community at learning about the shooting death of alumnus William Klug at UCLA today. “We’re deeply saddened by this tragic news and send our condolences to his wife, Mary Elise, also a Westmont graduate, and their family,” Beebe says.

Dave Wolf

Associate professor of kinesiology and head coach of men's soccer at Westmont College

What are the chances that soccer will become as popular as baseball or football in the next 10 years?

Under cloudy skies, 299 bright Westmont seniors celebrated their graduation May 7 at a lush Carr Field. About 5,000 family members and friends witnessed the pageantry as the college honored its top graduates and professors. Of the 299 students, 105 of them graduated with honors.

With a leadership gift from Roy and D’Aun Goble, Westmont has created the Goble Center for Global Learning as part of the new Global Leadership Center, which includes two residential buildings, the Leadership Center and five programmatic initiatives.

Westmont breaks ground on new facilities for the college’s Global Leadership Center on Thursday, May 5, at 3:30 p.m. at the construction site, east of Van Kampen Hall. The ceremony is open to the public.

The Westmont College Choir tours the Pacific Northwest May 8-19 with California performances in Shafter, Davis, Redding and Grass Valley; Oregon performances in Klamath Falls and Salem; Washington performances in Seattle, Anacortes and Lakewood; and Vancouver British Columbia.

Two Westmont seniors, Aria Hamann and Jarrett Catlin, both Monroe Scholars, have been awarded Fulbright Scholarships to conduct research and teach English outside the U.S. next year.