Warriors Return to Campus for Fun and Inspiring Homecoming Events
The annual Alumni Awards Celebration Brunch during Homecoming in October honored Alumnus of the Year Rob Ring ’90, Alumnae of the Year, sisters Alexis Bennett Otterlei ’05 and Leah Pillsbury Otterlei ’00, Young Alumnus of the Year Spencer Dusebout ’15 and Global Service Award winner Lindsey Connolly ’08.
Ring serves as CEO of London-based Kaerus Bioscience, which explores treatments for patients with rare genetic syndromes causing intellectual disability, autism and epilepsy. He earned a doctorate in molecular neurobiology at the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences. “I’ve carried this Warrior mentality my whole life,” Ring said at the brunch. He also spoke in chapel October 17, where the college announced that alums had donated $5,507,565 in the past year.
Bennett and Pillsbury founded Orka Health and Wellness, providing compassionate, client-centered care through teletherapy and support services by a team that includes licensed therapists, a registered dietitian, a clinical nutrition coach, a psychologist, a parent coach and a spiritual coach. Both sisters are Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers who have earned a Master of Social Work.
Dusebout co-founded Hands4Others (H4O) when he was 16, bringing clean water to more than 250,000 people in 17 countries. He’s built and advised a number of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies that span business intelligence, automation and machine learning.
Connolly co-founded the non-profit Destined for Grace 17 years ago to educate and improve the lives of children in Haiti. Through donations and funds raised at their Goleta thrift stores, the non-profit has established a school and garden in Mirebalais that feeds and teaches the children. She serves as interim head coach for the track and field team during Russell Smelley’s sabbatical.
The 14th annual Westmont Golf Classic, known for many years as Will’s Tourney in memory of alumnus Will Wiersma ’06, raised $44,000 for student scholarships. Under sunny skies with temperatures in the 80s, about 30 foursomes of golfers teed off at Santa Barbara’s Glen Annie Golf Club.
Later that evening, alums packed into the newly renovated Deane Chapel for a concert with accomplished musicians Jon Hughes ’94 and Roy Schenkenger ’00, who presented a special acoustic performance.
The college also honored four members of the first varsity women’s team: the 1973 volleyball squad. Shelley Bourland Ekstrom ’77, Jayne Presnell ’78, Cindy Vanderdussen Hardeman ’78 and Kathy Perkins McGuigan ’77 received Trailblazer Medals before the Friday night volleyball game to honor their pioneering efforts.
Saturday afternoon, more than 200 alums and their families enjoyed a free lunch and Rori’s Ice cream
outside Murchison Gym at the All-Alumni Tailgate, which included a climbing wall and fun carnival games. Women’s soccer netted two goals in the second half to give them a thrilling 2-1 victory over Biola in front of a large Homecoming crowd at Thorrington Field.
Dan, Andy ’05 and Joel Patterson, the sons of Ben Patterson, former campus pastor, presented an 18-minute short documentary, “All Things Metal,” featured in Rolling Stone magazine, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival. It highlights a family of metal workers performing heavy metal music as a coping mechanism for Tourette’s syndrome.
In a talk for alums, Amanda Sparkman ’03, professor of biology, and two wildlife conservation experts discussed Colossal Biosciences’ work to bring back extinct animals.
President Gayle D. Beebe and Provost Kim Denu spoke at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Center for Engineering to celebrate engineering’s recent ABET accreditation (see page 12).
Alums enjoyed gathering at the Biltmore Wall above Butterfly Beach for a fun event featuring a glorious Santa Barbara sunset.