Westmont News

Westmont music professors have brought back the popular Select House Concert Series, performing four chamber concerts on Saturdays, March 21, April 25, May 30 and June 20; all at 3 p.m. in homes to be announced once tickets have been purchased.

“Still Dreaming: Race, Ethnicity and Liberal Arts Education,” the 19th annual Gaede Institute Conversation on the Liberal Arts, gathers a national audience to explore how the liberal arts can promote more inclusive teaching, scholarship and institutional practices Feb. 27-29 at Westmont. The plenary sessions are free and open to the public.

The Westmont Music, Theater, and Art Departments join forces for the love of the arts to offer the first Valentine’s Arts Soiree, “A Fairy Tale,” on Valentine’s Day, February 14, beginning at 5 p.m. at Westmont’s Porter Theater. The magical evening includes delicious catered food, a silent auction and a romantic concert by the Westmont Orchestra.

The Westmont men’s and women’s basketball teams, who are both in first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference and ranked fourth nationally, host Arizona Christian University (ACU) on Thursday, January 30, and Ottawa University of Arizona (OUAZ) on Saturday, February 1.

Guest artist Nita June Davanzo directs “Love and Information,” a kaleidoscopic play exploring contemporary issues about knowledge, technology and communication, and our capacity for love, on January 30- February 2 in

One of the world’s most important thinkers, Daniel Kahneman has made a profound impact on many fields, including economics, medicine and politics. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for his influential work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making and behavioral economics. His groundbreaking book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” is an international bestseller.

Kahneman speaks at the 15th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast on Friday, March 6, from 7-9 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. The President's Breakfast has sold out.

Westmont’s talented music faculty will perform the Spring Faculty Recital on Friday, January 24, at 7 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Westmont Music Department at (805) 565-6040.

The 18th annual Westmont Pickle Tree Lighting, a unique Christmas season tradition that attracts hundreds of alumni and community members, is Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 5 p.m. on Kerrwood Lawn. This event is free and open to the public.

Maya Davis, a sophomore from Ontario, Calif., was always interested in joining the military, even when she enrolled at Westmont.  So, when representatives of UC Santa Barbara’s ROTC Program were on campus, she knew the time was right.

Westmont hosts its 15th annual Christmas Festival, retelling the Christmas story by weaving narration with music from the Westmont Orchestra, College Choir, Chamber Singers and Choral Union on Friday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 14, at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3 p.m., all at First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave. Tickets cost $15 each and go on sale Thursday, Nov.

This year, Westmont students can get involved on campus through more than 40 different clubs, which cultivate the willingness and ability of students to lead and learn in all areas of life.

March 1, 2003

English Professor Paul Willis' 24-page chapbook, “The Deep and Secret Color of Ice,” was selected as the winner in an annual national competition sponsored by Small Poetry Press in Concord, Calif.

Chosen from 300 entries and 13 finalists, Willis will receive a $1,000 prize and 100 free copies of the chapbook, to be published March 1.

March 1, 2003

Westmont officials are aware of the devastating fires that are ravaging Southern California. So far, the conditions in Santa Barbara County have been such that there is no imminent danger of fires near the college. However, we are in frequent contact with local fire officials, and we would activate our preparedness plan if a fire threat approaches the campus.

February 13, 2003

Mozart's “Requiem” and Vivaldi's sparkling “Magnificat” will highlight Westmont's Third Annual Masterworks Concert, 8 p.m. Feb. 7 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State St. in Santa Barbara. Admission, by donation, is $10 for general audience and $7 for students and seniors.

The concert will feature the College Choir, directed by Steve Hodson, and the college Chamber Singers, directed by Grey Brothers. Augmented by faculty and alumni, the College Choir will explore the intrigues of Mozart's “Requiem” with soloists and full orchestra.

Four exceptional high school seniors have been offered full-tuition scholarships to Westmont after they successfully competed against 26 others during the college’s recent Scholars Day.

The winners are Bryce McFerran of Encinitas in Orange County, Jennifer Murphy of Eagle River, Alaska, Neil Bezdek of Centennial, Colo., and Julie Lockwood of San Carlos in the San Francisco Bay Area. The scholarships are for all four years of study, which today would be valued at nearly $100,000.

February 1, 2003

“The Mariner,” an original piece of visual theatre inspired by Homer’s great epic poem “The Odyssey” will be presented by the Westmont College Repertory Theatre 8 p.m. Feb. 21, 27 and 28 in Porter Theatre.
There will be matinee performances at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 and March 1. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors and $10 for general audience.

January 31, 2003

“Educating for Justice: Liberal Education and the Development of Just Members of Society,” is the focus of Westmont’s third annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts, Jan. 31 through Feb. 1.

Representatives from 30 colleges and universities will attend the sessions,

Limited seating is available for faculty and staff in the plenary sessions.

January 29, 2003

Yale University Professor Lamin Sanneh is one of two esteemed scholars scheduled to speak at Westmont this academic year in the college’s World Christianity Lecture Series, a new series sponsored by the college’s history and religious studies departments, among others.

Sanneh, the D. Willis James professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School, with a concurrent appointment as professor of history at Yale College, will appear at several events Oct. 3 and 4.

January 28, 2003

Westmont and the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse have received the first installment of a nearly $1.2 million bequest from the estate of Virginia Perle, which will be split evenly between the recipients.

A public lecture by the artists will be 3 p.m. Jan. 30, followed by the opening reception from 4-6 p.m., both in the Art Center. The show runs through March 7.

January 27, 2003

“Precious in His Sight,” a service of healing and racial reconciliation open to the greater Santa Barbara community, will be 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at Page Hall on the upper Westmont campus.

Sponsored by the Inter-Faith Ministers’ Alliance in partnership with Westmont, the service is the second in a series of three intended to promote relationships of healing and reconciliation, and draw attention to the fact that all people are God’s people, no matter their ethnicity or race.

“Photographs and Artifacts: A Southwestern Chronicle,” featuring works by Raymond Reid and Henry and Mary Weaver, opens Jan. 27 in Reynolds Gallery.

A public lecture by the artists will be 3 p.m. Jan. 30, followed by the opening reception from 4-6 p.m., both in the Art Center. The show runs through March 7.

The exhibit includes images of Native American life and the environment in which Native Americans live. The objects and artifacts range from traditional baskets and blankets to rarer beaded pouches and carved pipe bowls.

January 20, 2003

Andrew Walls, the second scholar participating in Westmont’s World Christianity and Global Encounters of the 21st Century lecture series, will discuss “Conversion and Proselytism in a Multifaith, Multiethnic World” 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara. The event is free and open to the public.

Scholars Cecil Mel Robeck, professor of church history and ecumenics at Fuller Theological Seminary, and Anthea Butler, assistant professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University, will respond.

January 15, 2003

John Nava, the painter who designed the tapestries in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, will discuss the cathedral tapestries 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.

For the cathedral, Nava created 25 tapestry panels that depict 135 men, women and children of faith, ranging in age from 9 months to 90 years. Towering an average of 10 feet each, together they form a “Communion of Saints.”

January 11, 2003

Award-winning pianist Sam Rotman, who earned two degrees from Juilliard, will present a free recital at 8 p.m. Jan. 13 in Porter Theatre on the Westmont campus.

While at Juilliard, he received nine awards in the form of grants, scholarships, and prizes. Subsequently, he has been among the winners in five piano competitions, both in the United States and Europe, including that of Laureate Winner in the 4th International Beethoven Competition in Vienna, Austria.

January 1, 2003

The John Stauffer Charitable Trust, based in Pasadena, has awarded Westmont $400,000 to purchase much-needed chemistry equipment that will enhance students’ ability to do first-rate research.

Westmont, a liberal arts college similar to Pomona and Claremont-McKenna, has a long tradition of fostering undergraduate research in the sciences, a feature that ensures acceptance for many of our graduates into the best graduate schools in the country.

April 29, 2011

Westmont has joined nearly 300 other institutions in launching the nation’s first prepaid tuition plan for private colleges and universities: the Independent 529 Plan.

The plan is similar to state-sponsored “529” prepaid tuition plans, but is unique in that it can be used at independent institutions throughout the nation. The program allows families to pay today’s tuition for certificates that will be redeemable years from now at any of the member institutions.

November 20, 2002

Westmont has scheduled two community conversations about its Campus Master Plan Update followed by tours of the plan site from 9 to 11 a.m. Nov. 16 and Nov. 23.

The informative gatherings will be in Page Hall, on the upper campus. Those who would like to attend should follow the signs from the campus’ main entrance off La Paz Road. Optional tours of the plan site will follow.
In addition, the Montecito Association has offered to sponsor a moderated Community Forum after the first of the year.