Westmont News

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.”

The Westmont student group Act on AIDS is hosting a Broken Bread Poverty Meal Tuesday, March 11, at 5 p.m. on Westmont’s Kerrwood Lawn. The benefit dinner, sponsored through World Vision, will allow students, faculty and the public to identify with families and individuals affected by HIV/AIDS and hunger around the world by coming together to eat a meal of porridge and share a night of fellowship and discussion on the subjects of AIDS and hunger.

Donations will be taken to raise money for HIV/AIDS orphans in Malawi.

Westmont’s Keck Telescope has confirmed the existence of a supernova, discovered this week by astronomical investigators Jack Newton and Tim Puckett in the course of the Puckett Observatory Supernova Search.

Within 48 hours of receiving a communication from Puckett about the discovery, Michael Sommermann, Westmont physics professor, spent several early morning hours imaging Supernova 2008an.

Five prospective Westmont students competed for scholarships of up to $10,000 Feb. 22-23. The Computer Science Connection and the scholarships are funded by a $287,500 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The event included problem-solving activities and a dinner at the home of Kim Kihlstrom, computer science professor.

A world-class panel of evaluators and qualified investors will assess 10 national semifinal ventures at the 5th Annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (S.E.E.D.) National Collegiate Venture Forum, March 14-15 at the Reagan Ranch Center. The event helps top college entrepreneurs meet potential capital funding for their business plans. The student presentations on Friday, March 14 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 15, from 8-11:30 a.m. are free and open to the public.Dr.

In preparation for Easter, Westmont choirs and chamber orchestra present a free concert, Choral Masterworks, Friday, March 7, 8 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church on State and Micheltorena Streets.

Historian Gary Scott Smith explores the issue of religion amid the current presidential campaign in a lecture, “Religion and the American Presidency,” Wednesday, March 5, at 3:30 p.m. in Kerrwood Hall’s Hieronymus Lounge. The talk is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served at 3:10 p.m.

Doug Schaupp, a writer and teacher of racial issues, says America is challenged with the prospect of true integration as diverse populations increase in an increasingly global society. Schaupp will discuss what role white people play in contributing to multiethnic community building and justice at a lecture, “Being White: Finding our Place in a Multiethnic World,” Friday, March 7, in Westmont’s Founder’s Dining Room at 3:30 p.m.

A month-long tournament that started with nearly 100 students will culminate in a final showdown for cash prizes Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. in Page Hall.Several championship winners of speech and debate will each receive a top prize of $500 following Westmont’s Tournament of Expressions: Finals in Debate, Great Speeches, Persuasive Speeches, and Biblical Recitation.

John Blondell, Westmont professor of theater arts, will lecture about “Born in the USA: William Shakespeare and the American Theatrical Tradition” Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m. at Hieronymus Lounge in Westmont’s Kerrwood Hall. The Phi Kappa Phi Paul C. Wilt Faculty Lecture is free and open to the public.

Lawrence Stager, Dorot professor of the archaeology of Israel at Harvard, will present a free lecture “The Mysterious Philistines: Excavations at Ashkelon Cast New Light on Their Origins, Language, Religion and Daily Life,” in a lecture co sponsored by Westmont and UC Santa Barbara Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in North Hall 1006 at UCSB.

The Westmont Theatre Department presents “Anon(ymous),” an adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” by Naomi Iizuka, Feb. 22, 23 and 29 and March 1 at 8 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Admission is $15, $7 for students and seniors. The public is also invited to hear Iizuka talk about her work at a keynote address Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Porter Theatre.

HIGH SCHOOLERS COMPETE IN MATH CONTEST

Westmont hosts its 21st annual mathematics contest for high schools students Saturday, Feb. 9. Participating this year will be Bishop Garcia Diego High School, Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, Cate School, Dos Pueblos High School, Santa Barbara Family Schools, Oaks Christian High School, San Marcos High School, Santa Barbara High School, Olive Grove Charter School and Thacher School.

Two Westmont professors will discuss Fareed Zakaria’s book, “The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad,” as part of Westmont Downtown: Conversations About Things that Matter. The event is free and open to the public, Thursday, Feb. 21, at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St., at 5:30 p.m.

Nicholas Price, Westmont graduate and administrator to the college’s art department and Reynolds Gallery, will soon see his own art on display downtown. He garnered the 2007 Individual Artist Award for solar plate, monoprint, and monotype printmaking from the Santa Barbara Arts Fund for his colorful six-foot long prints. The juried award honors artists who enrich the city’s cultural and creative life.

The Westmont Office of Admission announced that 620 first-year students were offered admission through early action to the class of 2012 .The early action application, with a deadline of Nov. 1, is a non-binding process that allows students to apply to other colleges and universities.“With all the confusing and restrictive application processes, this non-restrictive application opportunity is the best of all options,” says Joyce Luy, dean of admission.

The Westmont Chamber Orchestra presents An English Evening Friday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, and Sunday, Feb. 10, 7 p.m. at First United Methodist Church at Anapamu and Garden Streets. These performances are made possible in part by the generous support of Prudential California Realty.

Dr. Earl Rosenthal, a professor emeritus of the history of art at the University of Chicago who died last year, donated more than 250 books to Westmont, some to be kept in the college’s rare book collection. Susan Savage, chair of Westmont’s art department, befriended Rosenthal during his retirement years in Santa Barbara. She says some duplicate and specialized books have been shipped to UC Santa Barbara and UCLA.

Before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier more than 60 years ago, blacks were only allowed to play in the Negro Baseball League. Author Byron Motley will talk about this fascinating era in American sports history at a free lecture, “The Negro Baseball Leagues: An American Legacy,” Friday, Feb. 1, at 3:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Founders Dining Room Lounge. Refreshments will be served at 3:15 p.m.

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria to be at 3rd Annual Event

Fareed Zakaria, one of the world’s leading journalists and commentators on international affairs, will speak at Westmont’s third annual President’s Breakfast, Feb. 25, at 7 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort.

Westmont theatre students will present Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” Friday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Created by seniors Suzanne Galletly and Lynne Martens, this design-based production is free and open to the public.

Conceived as a culmination of their theatre education, the play is “a very avant garde sort of piece” according to Martens, who designed the costumes. “My designs play with gender issues, disguise, and the inability to maintain disguise.”

The Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge will honor David Newton, Westmont professor of entrepreneurial finance, with one of the 31st Annual Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Awards for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education at the March 7-8 Leavey Summit and Awards Dinner in Pennsylvania. Newton was the only winner this year in the college and university category.

Local college professors, publishers and fans will remember poet William Stafford at a public gathering Saturday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. in the Los Padres National Forest. The second annual Remembering William Stafford: A Community Reading will be held at the First Crossing Day Use Area on Paradise Road off of Highway 154 and across the road from the Los Prietos Boys Camp at 3900 Paradise Road.

The event is free and no day use fees are necessary to attend the reading.

Professors will practice what they teach in the Westmont Art Faculty Show on display in Reynolds Gallery Thursday, Jan. 17, through Friday, Feb. 29. An opening reception Jan. 17, 4-6 p.m., is open to the public.

Westmont students will present a fanciful production of Stephen Sondheim’s fairytale musical “Into the Woods.” The family-friendly show will run Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25 and 26 and Feb. 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. with a matinee Sunday, Feb. 3, at 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame School, 33 E. Micheltorena in downtown Santa Barbara. Admission is $12 for adults, $5 for children and $7 for students, and will benefit the choir’s May tour in Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Westmont will connect the past to the present with a free multimedia presentation about the civil rights movement Wednesday, Jan. 16, through Friday, Jan. 18, in Monroe Dining Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. “From Past to Present: A Civil Rights Walk Through in Honor of Martin Luther King Day” will feature posters, writings, artwork, speeches and a continuously running film, “Eyes on the Prize.”

Multiracial people constitute the fastest-growing racial category in the United States. Paul Spickard, professor of history, Asian American studies, and religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will discuss “What Are You? Multiracial People Negotiating the Identity Issue” at a free lecture Friday, Jan. 11, at 3:30 p.m. in Kerrwood Hall’s Hieronymus Lounge. Refreshments will be served at 3:15 p.m.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderle reaffirmed the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ 5-0 vote in February approving Westmont’s Master Plan. After a hearing this afternoon, the Santa Barbara County judge denied a petition by opponents who filed a law suit against the county and Westmont in March.

Westmont biology professor Jeffrey Schloss has been awarded two grants to research complex issues related to science and faith. Westmont is one of 20 institutions awarded a $20,000 Science and Transcendence Advanced Research Series (STARS) grant. Schloss will study the effects of religious worship on the human bonding hormone, oxytocin.

Professors will practice what they teach in the Westmont Art Faculty Show on display in Reynolds Gallery Thursday, Jan. 17, through Friday, Feb. 29. An opening reception Jan. 17, 4-6 p.m., is open to the public.

Four student venture teams from Westmont’s entrepreneurship class presented their start-up business plans to a panel of outside reviewers, but in the end, one team ran away from the competition. Zipperz LLC, an innovative new trend in the casual shoe industry, claimed first place at the competition in Hieronymus Lounge in Kerrwood Hall Dec. 6.

Four student venture teams from Westmont’s entrepreneur class will present their start-up business plans to a panel of outside reviewers Thursday, Dec. 6, at 5:30 p.m. at Hieronymus Lounge in Kerrwood Hall. The 18th annual Westmont Collegiate Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition is free and open to the public. Networking and refreshments will begin at 5 p.m.

A group of Westmont students brought attention to World AIDS Week by placing hundreds of small signs depicting children on Kerrwood Lawn, Monday and Tuesday Nov. 26-27. The placards represented the 600 children orphaned by AIDS every day.

Ron Enroth, Westmont sociology professor, has been interviewed for a television program which airs on A&E, Sunday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m.

Westmont students organized a silent auction that raised more than $5,000 for after-school programs for low-income Santa Barbara youngsters. The money from Auction for Eastside Alternatives goes to the Montecito family YMCA, whose territory includes the Lower Eastside.

The Westmont Jazz Ensemble will present an eclectic night of original and traditional jazz in a free recital Friday, Dec. 7, at 5 p.m. in Deane Chapel on lower campus.

The program will include several challenging bebop-era chestnuts, including Miles Davis's "Little Willie Leaps," Bud Powell's "Hallucinations," and Clifford Brown's "Daahoud," as well as a funky version of Herbie Mann's "Memphis Underground" and Mongo Santamaria's foot-tapping Latin-jazz standard, "Come Candela (Eat Fire)."

Westmont’s computer science department has awarded three students National Science Foundation scholarships. Junior Michael Gardner and sophomores Sarah Coburn and Jonathan Tropper each received $6,000.

“The scholarship is a great help, allowing me to continue studying at Westmont,” says Gardner. “It also encourages us to be involved more in the computer science major.”

Westmont biology students will teach local teens during a free, interactive exhibition of research projects Friday, Dec. 7, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in Whittier Science Building, room 102. Biology Bash is limited to the first 20 high school students who sign up.