Westmont News

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and bestselling author, drew parallels between the United States’ response to aid Britain in the early years of World War II and the U.S.’s partnership with Ukraine in its war with Russia at the 18th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast March 10.

Malcolm Foley, pastor and religious historian at Baylor University, where he directs Black Church Studies at Truett Seminary, examines how Black Christians resisted and advocated against racialized lynching in a free, public lecture, "On Love and Lynching: Racial Violence and Its Black Christian Opponents," Thursday, March 23, from 3:30- 5 p.m. in the Page Multi-Purpose Room.

Westmont launches the inaugural Montecito Student Film Festival to showcase the impressive work of undergraduate students from California colleges and universities with screenings throughout the day March 25 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Porter Theatre. A jury of industry professionals and special guests will judge and award the top prizes while audiences will be polled regularly to determine the winner of the Audience Award.

The 21st annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts explores how a liberal arts education can prepare us for the future, March 2-4 at the Global Leadership Center. “Educating for the Unknown: Liberal Arts in the Age of Climate Change,” sponsored by the Gaede Institute, attracts teachers, administrators, and students from around the country.

G. James Daichendt, art critic, curator, art historian and dean of the colleges at Point Loma University, examines how street art is changing the art world and how we engage art in a free, public lecture, “Street Art Now” on Thursday, February 23, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.

Kimberly Battle-Walters Denu will be officially installed as provost and dean of the faculty at Westmont on Friday, March 31, from 10:30-11:20 a.m. in Murchison Gym. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP here. 

La Cañada High School ran circles around the competition in Westmont’s 34th annual Mathematics Field Day on Feb. 11 in Winter Hall. About 100 regional high school students matched math wits in the event on the eve of Super Bowl, but it was La Cañada that was the Overall Winner for 9-10^th grade and 11-12^th grade.

This month’s Stargazing at the Westmont Observatory features a diverse celestial menu of planets, Messier objects, open clusters and double stars on Friday, February 17, beginning about 6 p.m. and lasting for several hours. The observatory, home of the powerful Keck Telescope, is open to the public every third Friday of the month and held in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit (SBAU) whose members bring their own telescopes to share with the public.

About 100 high school students will compete at Westmont’s 34th annual Mathematics Field Day on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 1-5:15 p.m. in Winter Hall. Team and individual awards will be handed out at a banquet, featuring Erik Lucero, site lead of Google Quantum AI in Santa Barbara, from 5:30–6:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center.

The Westmont Orchestra performs at several locations as part of a Presidents day weekend tour February 16-18. These concerts are open to the public and free. The orchestra The orchestra will perform “Amazing Grace,” Bizet's “Carmen Suite” and Franck's Symphony in D minor on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in San Marcos High School (4750 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara); Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church (1825 Alamo Pintado Rd., Solvang); and Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.

Westmont hosts an information session for its accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (ABSN) program on Wednesday, February 15, from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. at Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing, 26 West Anapamu Street. The open house will be an opportunity for prospective students to meet faculty, admissions and financial aid representatives and tour the downtown campus that houses the nursing program.

A study of chronically ill U.S. adults suggests that people who experience greater degrees of suffering also experience greater degrees of religious uncertainty and struggle. The research, which examines the link between the depth of suffering and feelings of religious turmoil, including doubt, abandonment and uncertainty regarding God’s love and power, also suggests the more religious the individual, the more acute the struggle.

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The Santa Barbra International Film Festival was a small local event when Sean Pratt began working for it two decades ago. Pratt, SBIFF managing director and Westmont adjunct professor, Roger Durling, SBIFF executive director, and their team have grown the festival from one featuring adventure-sport and nature films into one of the top 10 in the country.

A Westmont music professor participates in a community conversation about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Paul Mori, whose grandparents and parents were all incarcerated under President Franklin D.

The Westmont College Festival Theatre brings Santa Barbara’s treasured cinematic history to the stage in a world premiere. “Diamond to Dust: a Flying A Fantasy,” directed by Westmont’s John Blondell and written by local actor, educator and playwright Michael Bernard, explores the silent film industry and its historical significance.

Brandon Rickabaugh, known for his work at the intersection of metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and Christian spiritual formation, speaks about “Mechanizing Ourselves to Death:  The Human Soul and Cultural Disillusionment,” on Monday, January 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, speaks at the 18th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on Friday, March 10, from 7-9 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Tickets cost $125 per person and are on sale now at westmont.edu/breakfast. Seating is limited, and tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Westmont performs an ambitious operatic double bill of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Trial by Jury” and Rossini’s “The Silken Ladder” Friday, January 27, and Sunday, January 29; both at 7 p.m. in Center Stage Theater. To purchase tickets, which cost $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors or military members, please visit the Center Stage box office at centerstagetheater.org.

David Vander Laan, Westmont professor of philosophy, has won the American Philosophical Association’s 2022 Alvin Plantinga Prize. Coincidentally, the prestigious award honors Vander Laan’s doctoral adviser, one of the most influential people shaping Christian philosophical thought during the past 50 years.

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features two artists whose work responds to climate change.

Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope will zoom in on a several celestial objects Friday, December 16, from 6-10 p.m. at the Westmont Observatory. Westmont hosts the monthly viewings, held on the third Friday of the month, in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit whose members bring their own telescopes. Visitors are asked to enter the Westmont campus through the main, upper entrance, since the kiosk at the Colds Spring Entrance will be unmanned.

Westmont’s junior engineering students were revved up for the annual remote control car competition on Dec. 8 in front of Kerrwood Hall. The students spent the last 10 weeks working in teams to assemble hundreds of parts to create their race cars, which count for 5 percent of their overall grade in the Machine Design course.

Westmont celebrates the life of its founder Ruth Kerr on National Mason Jar Day on November 30. Following the death of her husband Alexander, Ruth became president of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company in 1930. Kerr became one of most recognizable American mason jar brands.

Inspired by Giving Tuesday, a new donor has stepped up to double every gift made Wednesday through Friday, November 30 at 5 pm PST to the Westmont Fund, up to a total of $50,000.

“This anonymous donor has a personal passion for ensuring students have the financial resources to thrive and grow by attending Westmont.” says Jonathan Thomas, Senior Director of Annual Giving. “The donor hopes to encourage others to give any amount, as they are able, to set students on the lifelong trajectory of significance God has for them.”

Westmont hosted a community event with education and financial representatives exploring the best ways low-income students can fund a college education on Nov. 15. About 100 underprivileged high school students and their families attended “Affording Your Dream College,” which was held in partnership with several county education initiatives.

Westmont kicks off the season of Advent with a festive, family-friendly ceremony, "Let There be Light!" on Wednesday, November 30, from 5-7 p.m. on Kerrwood Lawn.

Photos with Santa Claus begin at 4:30 p.m. in Kerrwood Hall with the line forming in the President's Patio near the fountain. Families and children are encouraged to bring their own cameras for a memorable photo with Santa.

The evening begins on Kerrwood Lawn with treats, Christmas carols and entertainment, culminating into the ceremonial lighting of Kerrwood Hall. 

Westmont is equipping evangelical students from across the nation who care deeply about the environment to lead their communities in answering God’s call to steward creation wisely. The college will be hosting "Faith. Climate. Action: A Workshop on Christian Climate Advocacy" attracting about 40 students and faculty from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), and 10 InterVarsity student leaders to campus June 25-July 2, 2023.

Westmont Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Eben Drost, will perform classic jazz pieces and more contemporary compositions on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the music department at (805) 565-6040. 

A large, enthusiastic crowd in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center welcomed Clayborne Carson, the world-renowned and acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. scholar and director of the King Papers Project. He spoke about “The Lives and Shared Legacy of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr.,” as part of a Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership luncheon November 4.

David Hunter’s 2017 research on umpire consistency continues to garner national attention. Hunter, Westmont professor of mathematics, devised a metric for consistency of home plate umpires that others have relied on to grade Major League Baseball umpires.

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art shares the deep trove of art collected by the late Barry Berkus, an architect, urban planner, watercolor artist and author, in “A Bold and Unconventional Collector: Highlights from the Barry Berkus Family Collection,” which will be on display from Nov. 17- Dec. 12. The public is invited to a free, opening reception Thursday, Nov. 17, from 4- 6 p.m.

Sandra Richter, Westmont's Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies, speaks about “Down to Earth: A Biblical Perspective on Environmentalism” Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5:30 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden Street. The Westmont Downtown Lecture is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required.

The 18th annual Westmont Christmas Festival, “The Prince of Peace,” returns to Santa Barbara’s famed Granada Theatre Saturday, December 3, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, December 4, at 3 p.m. Tickets, which cost $22 each, are on sale at westmont.edu/festival. For ticket information or to purchase tickets by phone, please contact the Granada box office at (805) 899-2222.

On the heels of two consecutive record-breaking fundraising years, Westmont has launched its largest fundraising campaign ever, Forward in Faithfulness. Through generous gifts from alumni, parents, foundations and friends of the college, including the two largest gifts in the history of the college, the campaign has raised more than $197.1 million of the $250 million goal.

Westmont dedicated its new accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (ABSN) program, naming it Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing on Oct. 14 at 26 West Anapamu Street. David Grotenhuis, an alumnus of the college, and his wife Anna were inspired to give generously to the program by Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, who died earlier this month.

Clayborne Carson, the world-renowned and acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. scholar and director of the King Papers Project, speaks at Westmont’s Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership luncheon on Friday, Nov. 4, from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Simmons Center of Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. Carson will present “The Lives and Shared Legacy of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr.” A limited number of tickets, which cost $50 per person, are available for purchase at westmont.edu/mosher-event.

The Westmont community mourns the passing of Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, whose generosity made a profound impact on the college and touched the lives of many people and organizations in the Santa Barbara community. She personified what it means to be a true philanthropist.

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Tim Van Haitsma, Westmont associate professor and chair of the kinesiology department, is a lifelong runner who will speak about mental strength training on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara.

Steve L. Porter, a longtime professor of spiritual formation, theology and philosophy, is the new senior research fellow and executive director of Westmont’s Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture.

Wendy Eley Jackson brings more than a quarter century of experience in film and television to Westmont as the theater department’s new artist/scholar-in-residence for justice, reconciliation and diversity. Jackson, a native of Atlanta, is teaching Documentary Filmmaking, Screenwriting, and Creative Writing this semester for the theater and English departments.

Five new accomplished, tenure-track professors have joined the Westmont faculty this fall.

New national rankings and economic indicators establish Westmont as one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in the U.S. once again.

The Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Research Center (MIDWC) at Westmont have chosen “Relational Spirituality: A Psychological-Theological Paradigm for Transformation” by Todd W.

A Westmont professor has received a prestigious fellowship to serve at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI). The Lady Davis Fellowship Trust selected Ronald See, professor of psychology and neuroscience, as the Marie and Matthew Heller visiting professor in medicine at the Institute of Medical Research.

About 320 first-year students and a record-setting 70 transfers begin arriving at Westmont for Orientation (Aug. 25-28) and the start of the fall semester (Aug. 29).

Adam Belt explores the point where art, science and spirituality converge in an exhibition, “Adam Belt: Wish You Were Here,” Sept. 1 – Nov. 5 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A free, public opening reception takes place Thursday, Sept. 1, from 4-6 p.m. in the museum.