Spring 2020 955 Newsletter
Greetings Westmont Alumni,
I’m writing to you from my home in Santa Barbara, several miles from Westmont’s campus. Odds are, you're reading this note from home as well. My husband, two sons, and I are learning a new rhythm of life together. With the new realities affecting us all, alumni like you have been on my heart. Perhaps you're juggling new, complicated schedules with work and family. Perhaps you face uncertainties with your job or health. I'm praying for you. In this strange crisis, love for our neighbors compels physical distance for their safety. It makes me grateful for our bond through Westmont; we have a context to share life, worship, and service and to encourage one another.
I feel honored to be part of the Westmont community. In this difficult time, I know you set an example of love and service to your neighbors, and you'll creatively and persistently seek to be a blessing. As we help students mature and prepare to make their mark on the world, we can point to you who've gone ahead of them.
As you may know, Westmont has shifted to remote instruction for all students along with most schools throughout the country, and the world. Our students feel a sense of loss at the cancellation of Spring Sing and other memorable Westmont traditions. As professors teach their courses virtually, students are learning to adjust. Seniors are experiencing the most surreal season with Commencement postponed to a later date. We eagerly look forward to celebrating this wonderful class when we can. Students and families may face unanticipated financial issues from this disruption. Please pray for God’s grace, our ability to support students, and their resilience. Westmont is also dealing significant unplanned expenses.
This crisis may be affecting you as well. Please tell us how you are doing and how we can pray for you. You'll find details below about how you can share prayer requests with a team praying daily. Please let us know how we can serve and support you now and in the days to come.
Warmly in Christ, 
Sarah Camp
Interim Senior Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
“You’ve Never Backed Down from a Challenge.” A Special Word to Alumni from President Gayle D. Beebe
Please click on the link below to hear a special word from our president, Dr. Gayle D. Beebe. We hope you'll be able to set aside each Tuesday at 6 p.m. PDT to hear the updates and progress occurring on behalf of our students and other related college news from President Beebe. Please join in remotely on Tuesday, April 9, and email your questions to questions@westmont.edu
Please join the event conference five minutes before the start time using the information below:
Phone number (United States) 323-794-2558
Phone number (Canada) 800-289-0459
Participant Passcode: 438235
Westmont Livestreams Steve Bell in Concert
Thursday, April 2, 12:15 p.m. PDT
Westmont College is delighted to 
join with Steve Bell, a Canadian Christian songwriter and storyteller, to offer a free virtual concert to the Westmont community. When the concert goes live on April 2, you can watch it here.
Share Your Prayer Requests
Do you have a prayer request? Members of the Westmont staff and Westmont Parents Council have committed to pray for you. Send your prayer requests to prayers@westmont.edu, and the team of prayer warriors will pray for them. In the midst of our efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s press into the Lord in prayer.
Spring Sing 2020: Online!
During these unusual times, the goal for Spring Sing 2020 (with the theme In Your Dreams) is to continue what Spring Sing strives to do every year: bring our community together. Spring Sing 2020 will strive to be a live, online show that showcases the creativity and resourcefulness of our students.
On April 25 at 6:30 p.m., the Spring Sing Committee will livestream the show, complete with appearances by our emcees, Rebecca Boa and Lizzy Green, and video side acts. During this livestream, the Spring Sing Committee will simultaneously begin an Instagram live on @westmontspringsing to accompany the show and create a virtual space for our community to watch together, comment, and cheer on the performers.
Watch Live Mini Chapel on Instagram
Thanks to Pastor Scott Lisea, Westmont holds Live Mini Chapels Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:30 a.m. PDT. Everyone is welcome to participate. Follow @westmontpastor on Instagram to join these live events. The sessions last about 20 minutes and feature one or two worship songs, interactive prayer, and a brief message of encouragement from Scripture.
Gaede Institute Hosts Zoom Talk
"Dear Doctor: What Doctors Don't Ask, What Patients Need to Say"
Dr. Marilyn McEntyre
Friday, April 3, 3:30 p.m. PDT
Join us (from your porch or bedroom, with a sandwich or coffee, wearing shoes, or not) for what promises to be an excellent and timely public talk by Marilyn McEntyre this Friday afternoon.
Dr. McEntyre taught English for some years at Westmont before taking a position at UC Berkeley, where she specializes in medical humanities. She'll share from her new book, "Dear Doctor: What Doctors Don't Ask, What Patients Need to Say." The Pre-Health Club and the Westmont English Department sponsor the lecture, and you can join it via Zoom using this link.
In the next few weeks, the Gaede Institute will host a series of online discussions to draw concrete lessons from our recent Conversation on the Liberal Arts, "Still Dreaming: Race, Ethnicity, and Liberal Arts Education." Look for more information about those events soon.
Warrior Basketball Teams Win Championships
The No. 3 Westmont women's basketball team won its fifth straight Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on March 7, defeating No. 4 The Master’s 76-67 at Murchison Gym. The Warriors had already won the GSAC Regular Season Championship. The team then earned the No. 1 seed for the first time ever at the NAIA National Tournament, which was cancelled.
The men’s Warrior basketball team won the GSAC Regular Season Championship. Junior guard Abram Carrasco was named GSAC Player of the Year, and Coach John Moore received the Coach of the Year honors for the third time. The team received the No. 2 seed in the NAIA National Tournament, their highest ever.
Lead Where You Stand Conference Postponed
To keep our community and guests safe, we’ve rescheduled the Lead Where You Stand conference to June 2-4, 2021. We look forward to sharing more details with you about this excellent event.
$50,000 Matching Gift for COVID-19 Emergency Relief
Many of you have asked how you can help Westmont address the extraordinary unplanned expenses the rapid spread of COVID-19 has generated. In response, Westmont has established the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. The college has faced numerous challenges in the past, but the scale of these unplanned expenses in unprecedented. Thankfully, donors have banded together to provide a generous $50,000 match toward gifts given to Westmont's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Your gift will be doubled up to the total of the match. We're deeply grateful for each and every gift.
You can learn more here.