Westmont News

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.”

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.