Westmont News

Bethany Hamilton, whose autobiography, “Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board,” inspired the 2011 film “Soul Surfer,” spoke to more than 1,200 people in a special chapel service April 10 in Westmont’s Murchison Gym.

Abraham Lincoln. Peter Drucker. Bill Gates. These iconic leaders continue to make a profound and pivotal impact on American thought and culture.

Thirteen graduating art majors will display their capstone art projects April 9-May 9 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A free, public reception opens “Maker’s Dozen: Westmont Senior Art Exhibition 2015” on Thursday, April 9, from 4-6 p.m.

​Renowned Russian pianist Vassily Primakov, who recently released a new, two-CD album, “Chopin: 51 Mazurkas,” performs Saturday, April 25, at 3 p.m. in First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu St. Tickets cost $25 for general admission; $20 seniors; $10 student and group (eight or more); and may be purchased at the door or by calling (805) 565-6040.

The concert, which is co-sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Logan and the Westmont College Music Department, is a fundraiser for Westmont’s piano program.

The Westmont College Choir tours Central California April 10-12 with performances in San Luis Obispo, Chowchilla, Visalia and Santa Barbara. The choir of 60 student singers will perform a selected repertoire from their entire concert season, especially works by emerging American composers.

Bethany Hamilton, whose autobiography, “Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board,” inspired the 2011 film “Soul Surfer,” speaks Friday,

The ringed, gas giant Juniper will be the star attraction at this month’s free public viewing on Friday, March 20, beginning at 7:30 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. In case of inclement or overcast weather, please call the Telescope Viewing Hotline at (805) 565-­6272 and check the Westmont website to see if the viewing has been canceled.

Westmont CIO Reed Sheard has been named a Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader for 2015. He accepts this award in March with other top IT professionals from the business, education, government, service, technology and non-profit sectors.

Jodi Magness, a renowned archaeologist and Kenan distinguished professor in early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, examines the validity of claims that Jesus’ burial has been found in Jerusalem during a lecture on Thursday, M

Six high school seniors will compete for Westmont music scholarships at the third annual Music Guild Competition on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. at Westmont’s Deane Chapel on lower campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Nineteen student actors and the same creative team behind the national award-winning 2013 production of “The Pirates of Penzance,” stages “The Insect Comedy or The World We Live In” Feb. 27 and March 6 at 8:30 p.m., Feb. 28 and March 5 at 8 p.m., and March 7 at 2 p.m., all in Westmont’s Porter Theatre.

Westmont’s Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts hosts its 14th annual conference focusing on how a liberal arts education contributes to contemporary society Feb. 26­-28. The public is welcome to plenary sessions of “Liberal Arts and the Social Good.” A complete schedule is available online at westmont.edu/institute.

The Provost’s Office and the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts co-­host two free, public lectures Feb. 9 and 11 at Westmont, featuring Elaine Ecklund, Herbert S. Autry professor of sociology at Rice University, and David McNaughton, professor of philosophy at Florida State University.

Two new college rankings list Westmont among the top schools in the nation. Business Insider names it one of the 50 Most Underrated Colleges in America, and Princeton Review recognizes Westmont among Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Best-­Value Colleges, “the best overall bargains based on cost and financial aid among the most academically outstanding colleges in the nation.”

Westmont graduating seniors Brynn Mitchell, Elaine Pazaski and James Wong present a fresh, fierce homage to the central characters of Anton Chekhov’s classic, “The Seagull,” in “The Nina Variations” by Stephen Dietz on Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. in Porter Theatre. The play, directed by Mitchell with scenography by Wong and starring Pazaski as Nina, is free and open to the public.

Bob Woodward, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, examined “Presidential Leadership and the Price of Politics” for 300 people on Jan. 16 in the Coral Casino at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara Biltmore. The legendary journalist, who has worked for the Washington Post since 1971, said it is not enough for a president to simply provide moral and ethical leadership.

The Fletcher Jones Foundation has awarded a $750,000 grant to Westmont toward the renovation of the college’s biology and chemistry labs. The grant will improve classroom and lab spaces inside Whittier Science Building, which opened in 1985.

The Westmont Observatory is closed this evening due to poor visibility. Please check back next month for another free, public viewing on Friday, Jan. 16.

Thomas Whittemore, Westmont physics instructor, will operate the powerful Keck Telescope, a 24-inch reflector, while several members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit offer celestial views with additional smaller telescopes.