Event Planning

Selection Principles

The central purpose of the Westmont Conference Center is to support and further the mission of Westmont College. Hospitality is a core value of Westmont’s Christian identity, and so we welcome a very wide variety of conferences to our campus. Still, our educational and religious values do give rise to principals that guide our choices among the many organizations seeking to hold their programs at Westmont.

We especially welcome organizations whose work furthers work Westmont is engaged in:

• serving the academic community, especially the liberal arts community and Christian higher education
• providing educational opportunities to the broader society, especially those reflecting our Christian liberal arts identity, including academic, artistic, spiritual, and physical development
• strengthening the Christian church, especially in ways that involve an educational aspect and that promote the integration of Christians’ spiritual and intellectual lives
• serving the needs of the broader society, especially its educational and spiritual needs

Because we seek balance in our overall program we may occasionally choose not to host programs in areas where the overall program is already very well represented.

Though we often welcome those whose work may not reflect one or another aspect of Westmont’s core identity as a Christian liberal arts institution, we may choose to decline those whose work, in our estimation, pursues goals inconsistent with the College’s mission and identity.

As we invite others to our campus, we do so trusting that principals of hospitality guiding the relationship between host and guest will prevail, especially with respect to possible differences between the values of the organization or its program participants and those of the Westmont community. For our community this means showing hospitality characterized by a willingness to encounter what is unfamiliar with grace.  For our guests this means respecting the values of the Westmont community and living in ways consistent with those values while they are with us.

For more information on the mission of Westmont College, please see the section What is Westmont? in the College Catalog.  For more information on the values that guide our community life please see the Community Life Statement on the Residence Life web site.

Westmont Conference Center • 955 La Paz Road, Santa Barbara, 93108 • Phone: 805.565.6045 • Fax: 805.565.6401 • E-mail: conferences@westmont.edu