Campus Life Policies, Forms & Resources

Free Speech & Peaceful Assembly Form

Only college departments and official student organizations/clubs may publicize and promote events, issues, and internship/employment/ministry opportunities. A college department or official student organization/club that is considering an issue forum or inviting a guest speaker to campus, including political candidates, must plan in accordance with the Guidelines for Inviting Outside Speakers policy.

Posting on Campus

• To begin the poster approval process, please complete this form
• You will be required to review and sign the Westmont Posting Policy which guides where, when and how posters can be displayed.
• You will be notified within 2 business days (Mon-Fri) whether or not your poster is approved
• If approved, Campus Life will apply an electronic stamp and date on the document and return it to you electronically for printing.

Westmont Posting Policy 

• Any flier or sign must represent an activity or event sponsored, facilitated or approved by an official Westmont College Department, Student Organization, or Club.
• The sponsoring group must be clearly printed on the sign.
• All fliers and signs sponsored by student organizations or clubs must be approved, stamped, and dated by the Campus Life office before posting. This includes but is not limited to: all advertisement in public spaces, campus buildings, and residence halls.
• The college will not allow the posting of any materials that advocate or encourage conduct that is contrary to the Community Life Statement.
• Posters, fliers and signs may only be placed in the appropriate locations. These locations include residence hall bulletin boards, the kiosk above the DC, the Mail Center posting area, the Kerr Student Center posting board, Winter Hall bulletin boards, and other clearly marked bulletin boards on campus. Posting on the exterior of any campus structures such as buildings, bridges, posts or walls including painted, metal, or glass surfaces is not permitted.
• Posters and fliers may not be stapled or taped to trees or other natural features on campus. Any property damage that occurs as a result of posting may result in a fine to the responsible individual or group.
• Posters, flyers and signs may be adhered to surfaces with sticky tac, blue painter's tape, or scotch tape. Masking tape, packing tape, or duct tape are never to be used on any surfaces as they leave residue.
• The maximum size for posters is 18" x 24"
• Posters, fliers and signs must be taken down by the date indicated on the "Westmont Approved" stamp. If signs and posters are not removed by that date the responsible individual or group may be charged a fine.
• All approved signage for the Dining Commons must be freestanding. No tape may be used on any surface inside or outside the building, EXCEPT blue painters tape may be taped to the front hardwood table edges.
• The Director of Library and Information Services must approve any postings in the library.

All Student Emails must adhere to the following guidelines.

Guidelines

1. All student e-mails may be sent by Westmont faculty, staff members and student organization leaders.
2. To send an all student e-mail simply type in the address line "allstudents@westmont.edu"
3. The allstudent e-mail list is managed by the Campus Life Office staff. Messages are reviewed and sent daily Monday- Friday during business hours.
4. Generally, only one message is permitted per event. If messages inform students about a lengthy application or process one additional reminder message can be sent.
5. Messages can be no larger than 500K (generally messages with large images exceed this limit).To reduce the size of the message reduce the size of the original image and re-attach the image.
6. The format for the subject line of allstudent e-mails is as follows. Messages with subject lines not in this format will be returned for editing.

[Department or Organization in Brackets] Followed by a concise description of the subject

Here are a few examples:

[Athletics] Women's Basketball Game Tonight 7pm
[WCSA] Take a Professor to Lunch Format Change
[Career Development & Calling] Alliance Wealth Strategies Recruiters at DC Tomorrow

Student organizations and campus departments can utilize the digital displays located in the Dining Commons.

Submission requirements are as follows:

• Must submit at least three working days in advance of the request posting
• Accepted formats: .jpg, .png, .ppt(x)
• Resolution should be 1920p x 1080p
• Image must be "ready to post" when submitted
• Student slides can be in rotation for a maximum of two weeks
• Screens are intended for communication to the student body. Slides directed at individuals or small groups of people will not be displayed.
• Events may have no more than two slides in the rotation.

Submit a DC Screen image here!

The two recruiter tables (used to highlight ministry/internship/job opportunities during lunch) outside of the entrance to the Dining Commons are available during the dinner hours. College departments and official student organizations/clubs that wish to reserve these tables during dinner may do so by contacting Career Development & Calling (x6031 or careerdev@westmont.edu). Tables located inside the Dining Commons to the right after the welcome kiosk are available for department and official student organizations anytime during dining common hours on a first-come, first-served basis. Clubs that desire to use the tables located inside the Dining Commons need to submit an event proposal to host a table. These tables are not to be moved from their original locations and should not impede the flow of traffic

College departments and official student organizations/clubs may use sidewalk chalk to advertise an approved event. The organizing group must provide a sketch of the advertising/announcement to the Campus Life Office for approval. Only water-soluble materials may be used to create sidewalk announcements. The only approved locations for chalk promotions include the pathways immediately in front of the Dining Commons, the patio area in front of Murchison Gym and the patio area in front of the Library. Advertising may appear on sidewalks four days prior to the event, and can remain three days afterwards. A cleanup fee will assessed if the chalk was not water-soluble or if the announcement remains after three days.

Only campus departments, organizations, and student clubs are eligible to plan campus events.Individual students with event ideas may submit them to the Westmont Activities Council for consideration.

Campus Departments

Campus departments may sponsor events that flow from the scope of their focus and they oversee these events. Students wishing to propose events connected with a campus department may approach the respective area for consideration.

Student Organizations

Student organizations will work with their organizational advisor for event approval and implementation.

Student Clubs

Student clubs must work with their advisors and the WAC Clubs Coordinator to submit an event proposal form through the club management website.

For student clubs, a campus event meets one or more of the following criteria:

• expects attendance of 50 or more people
• invites people outside the scope of the club's membership (as indicated in the membership portion of the club database)
• invites a non-Westmont speaker or organization (see policy on inviting outside speakers )

School-Wide Dances

All school-wide dances must be sponsored and implemented by the Westmont Activities Council (WAC). WAC will sponsor up to four school-wide dances each year. Students, departments, or campus organizations wishing to propose an idea for a school-wide dance can submit ideas through the event idea form located on the WAC website. As in all college activities, the expectation for on- and off-campus dances is that they will be God-honoring. WAC will oversee event logistics such as security, and music, and will ensure that students comply with Westmont behavioral standards in accordance with the college’s community life statement, mission, and purpose. Dances are open to persons from the college community who are directly associated with Westmont College (e.g., students or employees). Dates or friends of students or employees are welcome by invitation only. No non-Westmont or off-campus groups are to be invited (e.g., groups of friends, youth groups).

Background

As a liberal arts college, Westmont attempts to provide an education that is broad, synoptic and integrative. An effective means by which this occurs is through healthy and robust dialogue: the bringing together of diverse ideas and people, both to understand the range of possibilities, and to counter the natural tendency towards parochialism or limited perspective.

As a Christian college, Westmont attempts to provide an education that helps students understand the rich applicability and varied implications of the historic Christian faith to all of life. An effective means by which this occurs is through an appreciative and critical exploration of our Protestant evangelical heritage: seeking to discover what it means to be true to our own biblical heritage in new and challenging circumstances, to examine diverse perspectives, to incorporate new insights and dislodge old errors while remaining true to the central verities that shape and give direction to our Christian faith.

Therefore, we encourage our community to engage and grapple with diverse ideas in order to more fully appreciate and pursue what is true and good and beautiful. Our goal is to engage in stimulating community dialogue about a diverse range of issues and concerns in a manner that enhances the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of our students.

For these reasons, the College has a practice of inviting speakers to campus or sponsoring events that help us better understand and assess our evangelical heritage, or that offer diverse viewpoints about current societal issues. If a request has been made that a highly controversial speaker or group be brought to campus, then an invitation has generally been extended only if an equally articulate speaker or group with an opposing (or significantly different) viewpoint appears at or very near the same time.

Policy and Procedures

The Provost's Office and the Office of Student Life have primary responsibility for the educational programs of the college and the authority to invite and sponsor external speakers for college events in the advancement of the college’s educational mission. By extension of this authority, staff and faculty departments may extend invitations to external speakers for departmental-related campus events.

Student clubs may propose external speaker events using the Club Event Proposal form. Campus Life will consider for approval only student club event proposals made in this format. All other students may propose external speaker events using the Westmont Activities Council Idea Proposal form.

The Provost and/or Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students in consultation with the President will resolve any disputes or controversies regarding the suitability of an external speaker for a campus event.

WCSA will publish and uphold its own election policies, which includes campaigning for student offices. The college welcomes political candidates that have been invited by a college department or official student organization. If the desire is to have the candidate address an audience, those planning must do so in accordance with the Guidelines for Inviting Outside Speakers policy that is available in the Provost’s office and the Office of Student Life. College departments and official student organizations/clubs that wish to publicize or promote political candidates or campaigns may reserve the two recruiter tables during dinner by contacting COVE (805.565.6031 or careerdev@westmont.edu). Tables located inside the Dining Commons after the welcome kiosk on the right are available for department and official student organizations anytime during dining common hours on a first-come, first-served basis. Clubs that desire to use the tables located inside the Dining Commons need to submit an event proposal to host a table. These tables are not to be moved from their original locations and should not impede the flow of traffic. Candidates without a department or official student organization as a sponsor may purchase advertising space in the student newspaper, The HORIZON. Westmont College reserves the right to ask candidates and/or campaign workers to leave campus for good cause.

David K Winter Servant Leadership Award