Westmont News

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  • Musical Talent Shines at Guild Competitions

    March 22, 2023

    The Westmont Music Department awarded large scholarships to instrumentalists and singers as part of its annual guild competitions, attracting stellar young musical talent to the region.  Aaron Wu, a cellist from Glendale, won the 11th annual Instrumental Guild Competition Feb. 25 and will receive more than $10,000 in annual music scholarships (more than $40,000 for four years). Each finalist will receive $10,000 in annual music scholarships.

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  • Goodwin Offers Historic Perspective on Ukraine

    March 16, 2023

    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.

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  • Talk to Examine Faith, Racial Violence

    March 6, 2023

    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.

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  • Montecito Home to Inaugural Student Film Fest

    March 1, 2023

    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.

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  • Conference Examines Liberal Arts, Climate Change

    February 28, 2023

    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.

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  • Talk Explores ‘Street Art Now’

    February 22, 2023

    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.

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  • Denu to be Installed as Provost, Dean

    February 15, 2023

    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

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  • College Hosts Competition of Mathletes

    February 15, 2023

    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 9-10th grade and 11-12th grade.

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  • Stargazing Features Great Nebula

    February 14, 2023

    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.

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  • Teens to Match Wits in Math Contest

    February 10, 2023

    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.

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  • Orchestra Tour Features French Romantics

    February 9, 2023

    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.

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  • College Hosts Nursing Open House

    February 7, 2023

    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.

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  • Study Examines Suffering, Feelings of Religious Doubt, Abandonment

    February 3, 2023

    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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  • Pratt Takes Leading Role in Filmmaking

    January 31, 2023

    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.

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  • Goodwin Returns to Speak at Breakfast

    January 17, 2023

    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.

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  • Spring Opera Offers Double Bill of Humor

    January 11, 2023

    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.

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  • December Skies Offer Starry Viewing

    December 14, 2022

    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.

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  • The Need for Speed: Engineers Put Creations to the Test

    December 7, 2022

    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.

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  • Westmont’s History in a Mason Jar

    November 29, 2022

    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.

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  • New Matching Gift Doubles Westmont Fund Donations Through Friday

    November 29, 2022

    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.”

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  • Guiding Low-Income Students to College

    November 22, 2022

    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.

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  • A Kerrwood Christmas: 'Let There be Light!'

    November 22, 2022

    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. 

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  • Workshop Inspires Christians to Climate Action

    November 17, 2022

    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.

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  • Jazz Ensemble Gets Swinging

    November 14, 2022

    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. 

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  • Talk Offers Biblical View on Environmentalism

    October 19, 2022

    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.

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  • Westmont Moving Forward in Faithfulness

    October 18, 2022

    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.

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  • World-Renowned Scholar Gives Insight into MLK’s Legacy

    October 7, 2022

    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.

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  • Honoring Ridley-Tree, Her Incredible Generosity

    October 4, 2022

    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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  • Sharing a Wealth of Writing, Film Knowledge

    September 14, 2022

    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.

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