Observatory to Zoom in on Comet Lovejoy
January 8, 2015

The Fletcher Jones Foundation has awarded a $750,000 grant to Westmont toward the renovation of the college’s biology and chemistry labs. The grant will improve classroom and lab spaces inside Whittier Science Building, which opened in 1985.
The Westmont Observatory is closed this evening due to poor visibility. Please check back next month for another free, public viewing on Friday, Jan. 16.
Thomas Whittemore, Westmont physics instructor, will operate the powerful Keck Telescope, a 24-inch reflector, while several members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit offer celestial views with additional smaller telescopes.
Four academic departments welcomed new tenure-track professors this fall. The five professors are Timothy VanHaitsma (kinesiology), Sarah Jirek (sociology), Enrico Manlapig (economics and business), Meagan Stirling (art) and Meredith Whitnah (sociology).
VanHaitsma, a graduate of Calvin College, earned a Master of Science at Indiana University and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Utah.
The Westmont Office of Alumni and Parent Relations hosts a unique venture to the Bajío region of Mexico for alumni and parents June 27-July 6. The trip, led by Mary Docter, Westmont professor of modern languages, includes stops at several UNESCO World Heritage Sites where Westmont in Mexico students live and learn.