Westmont News

Susan E. Penksa, an international and European security specialist and professor of political science at Westmont, is in Brussels for two weeks speaking at the European Parliament and participating in the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union’s seminar on security sector reform.

More than 30 Westmont students show off their summer research projects Thursday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m. in Founders Dining Room. “A Celebration of Science Research” will include a student’s work determining the orbit of an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter as well as another student’s work investigating cognitive impairment among older adults.

The 333 members of the class of 2012 arrive at Westmont this week for new student orientation Thursday, Aug. 28, through Aug. 31. Parent orientation programs take place Aug. 28-29. The first day of classes for all students is Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1.

The incoming class is one of the most talented academically, but also one of the most diverse. There are 111 students of color, a third of the freshman class.

Santa Barbara master violin maker James Wimmer will be honored at Wimmerata, a festival of two concerts featuring musicians from throughout California playing their Wimmer instruments, Sunday, Sept. 7, at Trinity Episcopal Church on the corner of Micheltorena and State Streets. The first concert, 4-6 p.m., will highlight world-class fiddlers playing bluegrass and old-time music. A classical concert follows at 7 p.m. with an all-Wimmer string orchestra and featured soloists.

Westmont’s Reynolds Gallery opens the academic year with “Language Skills: The Art of the Expanded Print,” new work by Martha Ensign Johnson, on display September 4 through October 25. An opening reception Thursday, September 4, 4-6 p.m. is free and open to the public.

Westmont is in the top tier among the nation’s best liberal arts colleges according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Colleges, 2009 Edition.” Of the nation’s 265 liberal arts colleges, Westmont ranked in a four-way tie at 111. This is the fourth straight year the college has ranked in the top tier.

Teri Bradford Rouse, executive director of the Channel Islands YMCA Youth and Family Services branch, will become Westmont’s senior director of alumni and parent relations. Rouse graduated from Westmont in 1977, earned her master’s degree from USC then worked at Westmont as a resident director, director of residence life and associate dean of students from 1981 to 1998.

Lyle C. Hillegas went to be with his Lord and Savior July 29, 2008. He served as the fifth president of Westmont from 1972 to 1975. At 37, he was the youngest person ever appointed to the position and the only one to come directly from the ranks of the faculty. During his tenure, he recruited a strong team of administrators, began the process of increasing enrollment from 800 to 1,200 and worked on preserving Westmont’s gardens and beautifying the campus.

The first-ever Montecito Summer Music Festival is underway at Westmont College. More than a hundred chamber music students, ranging in age from 10 to 36, arrived on the Westmont campus Monday with performances running through Friday, Aug 1.

Westmont is prominently featured in a video produced by the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory of Michigan State University. The video describes the Westmont College Cosmic Muon Detector Array and undergraduate research such as viewing the cosmic muon flux mapping over a wide range of the sky.

Several hundred youngsters who arrive for a basketball camp in less than two weeks will be the first to play on Westmont’s new state-of-the-art court in Murchison Gym. Workers are putting the finishing touches on the floor, including lines and a half-court logo are being painted on the floor over the next several days.

The Hubert Schwyzer Quartet, a unique ensemble of instruments commissioned by Westmont, is taking shape under the hands of master violin maker James Wimmer at his workshop in Santa Barbara. Named for a former UC Santa Barbara philosophy professor and cellist, the quartet will be used by Westmont faculty and students during the school year and loaned to the Music Academy of the West in the summer months.

The National Association of Schools of Music Commission on Accreditation has granted associate membership to Westmont following a four-year review process. NASM, founded in 1924, is an organization of more than 600 colleges and universities that establishes national standards for degrees and credentials.

Westmont’s computer science department awarded scholarships of up to $10,000 to five students. The recipients are first-year students Erick Brownfield and Morgan Vigil, juniors Josh Carver and Toby Lounsbury, and senior Michael Gardner. In addition to financial support, the program includes support for study groups, research experience, participation in conferences and other activities.

Forty-eight music students, three professors and one staff member recently returned from Central America, where Westmont choirs sang and served with locals in Guatemala and Costa Rica. The choirs tour each summer, traveling internationally every third year. Westmont students emceed concerts entirely in Spanish and sang in both English and Spanish.

The Westmont Foundation welcomes four prominent Santa Barbara residents to its board. Brad Frohling, Andria Kahmann, Bill Loomis and Alice Van de Water join the 26-member board whose mission is to cultivate ties between the community and Westmont.

Rick Pointer, Westmont professor of history, has been selected as the first recipient of the newly established Fletcher Jones Foundation Endowed Chair in Social Science. The Fletcher Jones Foundation created the chair to rotate among deserving faculty within the social science division. Pointer will occupy the chair for the next four years, beginning in fall 2008.

The Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR) granted preliminary approval for all of Phase I of the Westmont College Master Plan. The first part of the project will add a new art center, science building, chapel, observatory and residence hall while reconfiguring the campus road and athletic fields.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition” opened at a VIP event June 5 at the Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix, kicking off a five-year world-wide tour that includes Westmont’s famed C.S. Lewis-owned wardrobe. The wardrobe, usually housed in Reynolds Hall on Westmont’s campus, is prominently featured at the beginning of the exhibition, which includes other items that Lewis used when he penned the seven-book series, “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Judy L. Larson begins work this week as the new director of the Reynolds Gallery and the first holder of the R. Anthony Askew Chair in Art. Larson, most recently the director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts [NMWA] in Washington, D.C., will also teach art history courses. The founding director of Reynolds, Tony Askew, has retired after 26 years at Westmont.

Three current and former Westmont artists were honored with Independent Theater Awards at a ceremony May 19 at Center Stage Theatre downtown. The Indy Awards, given annually by a panel of theater critics from the Santa Barbara Independent and the Los Angeles Times, honor excellent productions throughout the Santa Barbara area.

Twenty-two Westmont students are devoting at least a month this summer to serve people in Malawi, Indonesia, and El Salvador through Emmaus Road, a Westmont program that’s been sending students overseas for the past 10 years.

Paul Willis, Westmont professor of English, will read from his new book, “Visiting Home,” at the Wildling Art Museum, 2329 Jonata St., Los Olivos, on Sunday, June 1, at 3 p.m. The event is free, and the book will be available for sale and signing.

Two seemingly different academic disciplines come together for a unique seminar open to the public this summer at Westmont. “Flying Information” will focus on how we learn to read codes, patterns, signs, and symbols and navigate webs of meaning Monday, June 2, through Friday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to noon. Marilyn McEntyre, professor of English, and Wayne Iba, professor of computer science, will teach the course.

Two Westmont art professors earned awards for their recent work, and several art students were featured in an exhibit in Sacramento last month.

Westmont’s student life office awarded 12 outstanding students for their leadership during the past year. The David K. Winter Character Through Servant Leadership Award is given each spring to students who show exemplary leadership through service at Westmont and in the community.

Each student receives $2,000 toward tuition during the next school year.

Westmont’s famed C.S. Lewis wardrobe will take a five-year journey with “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition,” a state-of-the-art presentation based on the Disney film series and Lewis’s beloved fictional books. The exhibit, premiering June 7 at Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, features artifacts from Lewis’s personal study as well as the wardrobe.

Gayle Beebe presided over his first Westmont Commencement as president of the college May 3, handing diplomas to 310 graduating students, 109 graduating with honors.

Westmont’s Reynolds Gallery presents “Views and Visions: The Shoe,” a juried exhibition open to all tri-county artists, Thursday, May 15 through Thursday, June 19. The in-gathering of submissions will be at the gallery Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. to noon, with an opening reception and awards presentation Thursday, May 15, 5 to 7 p.m. Cash awards will be given in a variety of categories.

Gayle Beebe presides over his first Commencement at Westmont as president of the college Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m. President emeritus David K. Winter formally introduced Beebe to the college at last year’s service. The registrar’s office reports 310 students will be participating in the ceremonies, 109 graduating with honors.

Philip Ficsor and Emma Lou Diemer unveil the world premiere of Diemer’s “Suite for Violin and Piano” Wednesday, May 7, at 11 a.m. in the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu Street. The free concert is presented by the Santa Barbara Music Club.

World-renowned bassist Robert Black will perform and discuss his work in Westmont’s Deane Chapel on Saturday, April 26, at 2 p.m. The free concert, presented by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at UCSB in collaboration with Iridian Arts, is open to the public.

Westmont has created a new endowed faculty chair in the visual arts through the financial support of several friends of the college. The endowment, named the R. Anthony Askew chair, will support a new full-time professor who will also direct Reynolds Gallery.

More than 530 people came to hear former presidential candidate Steve Forbes speak at a breakfast at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort celebrating the inauguration of Westmont’s eighth president, Gayle Beebe. Forbes spoke about “America’s Economy and the Global Imperative,” declaring that the world is in the midst of a Golden Age. The breakfast kicked off a day of events.

“Never before in human history have so many advanced financially,” Forbes says. “Despite the recent hits on the stock market, it’s still 60 percent higher than it was five years ago.”

Westmont’s annual Fringe Festival, a week-long gala of contemporary theater and dance, returns to campus Tuesday, April 15 through Saturday, April 19. Seventeen original productions by students and faculty fill four performance bills. The public is invited to nightly performances in and around Porter Theatre Tuesday through Friday at 7 and 9 p.m., and a marathon performance Saturday beginning at 4 p.m.

Theater student Zak Landrum presents an interactive performance, “Redemption History III: Ecclesia,” for his senior production Sunday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Murchison Gym. With over a dozen student and faculty actors, the Westmont Gospel Choir, live orchestral music, and video projections, the play tells the story of the Christian church from Pentecost to the Apocalypse.

Three quartets of Westmont string students perform an Instrumental Chamber Concert Friday, April 11, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel on lower campus. The free concert features new and rarely heard gems alongside traditional repertoire pieces.

Westmont inaugurates Gayle D. Beebe, its eighth president, Friday, April 11, with a day of events and lectures focusing on “The Global Imperative: Education and the Knowledge Society in the 21st Century.” With the exception of the afternoon panel discussions, all events are by invitation only and require a ticket.

Click here to view the complete schedule of events.

Susan Penksa, Westmont associate professor of political science, will draw on her extensive consulting work with the U.S., NATO, EU and the U.N. in a free lecture, “International (In)security: U.S. and EU Approaches to Fighting Terrorism and Crime,” Thursday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St. Penksa will highlight the security challenges confronting the United States and Europe and recommend ways to improve the success of rule of law and security reform efforts.

Westmont graduate Reggie Williams returns to campus to lecture about “Decolonizing the African-American Mind: The Liberative Role of Faith in Christ in African-American Culture,” Wednesday, April 9, at 3:30 p.m. in Kerrwood Hall’s Hieronymus Lounge. There will be an informal dinner and discussion following the free lecture.

Westmont’s graduating art majors exhibit their work in the Senior Art Show in Reynolds Gallery Thursday, April 3, through Saturday, May 3. An opening reception April 3, 4-6 p.m., is open to the public.

Twenty five art majors, a Westmont record, will graduate in May. For the first time the exhibit will be juried by faculty, a tradition the department plans to continue in the future.

Five missions in the majestic mountains of northern Querétaro will be the focus of a free lecture Tuesday, April 8, from 3:30-5 p.m. in Westmont’s Founders Dining Room. Visiting scholar Araceli Ardón will lecture on the magnificent churches in “The Missions of Father Serra in Querétaro, Mexico.” A reception will follow.

Dennis Bakke, best-selling author of “Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach To Fun on the Job,” speaks at the University Club Tuesday, April 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St. Bakke, a successful entrepreneur and former CEO, will lecture on “Thank God It’s Monday: Finding Joy at Work.” The event, sponsored by the Westmont Foundation, is free, though seating is limited. Reservations can be made by calling (805) 565-6895.

A “docu-comedy” about the stuff growing on our heads, “Cuts” is a new play
premiering in Westmont’s Porter Theatre Wednesday and Friday, March 26 and 28, at
8 p.m. A senior project by Casey Caldwell, this play is free and open to the public.

Based on interviews conducted by Caldwell and cast members Sarah Halford,
Nolan Hamlin, and Marie Ponce, the play weaves together poignant and silly stories
with original music and choreography.

“Wit,” Margaret Edson’s play about a woman dying of cancer, gets new life
Thursday and Saturday, March 27 and 29, at 8 p.m. in Westmont’s Porter Theatre.
Performances of this senior production by Beth Segura are free and open to the
public.

Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for drama, “Wit” was first performed in 1995
and made into an HBO film starring Emma Thompson in 2001.

About 250 Westmont students and community volunteers are in Ensenada, Mexico, spending spring break constructing homes, operating medical and dental clinics, leading a vacation Bible school, running haircutting clinics and competing in sports events. More than 5,000 students have participated in Potter’s Clay, an annual student-organized service trip, since it began 31 years ago.

Kenya Davis-Hayes, assistant professor of American history at California Baptist University, will discuss how hairstyles affect perception of black women at a free lecture Friday, March 28, at 1:30 p.m. at Hieronymus Lounge in Westmont’s Kerrwood Hall. Refreshments will be served prior to the lecture.

Author Gustavo Arellano will give a free lecture, “Beaner, Wetback and Other Spicy Words You Can’t Say But Should: Satire as Hammer Against Anti-Immigrant Madness,” Wednesday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Founders Dining Room. Refreshments will be served at the lecture.

Arellano will discuss his nationally acclaimed column “¡Ask a Mexican!” in which he addresses questions about the Latino culture using “satire to combat racism and stereotypes against Mexicans.”