Westmont News

Westmont celebrates the life of its founder Ruth Kerr on National Mason Jar Day on November 30. Following the death of her husband Alexander, Ruth became president of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company in 1930. Kerr became one of most recognizable American mason jar brands.

Inspired by Giving Tuesday, a new donor has stepped up to double every gift made Wednesday through Friday, November 30 at 5 pm PST to the Westmont Fund, up to a total of $50,000.

“This anonymous donor has a personal passion for ensuring students have the financial resources to thrive and grow by attending Westmont.” says Jonathan Thomas, Senior Director of Annual Giving. “The donor hopes to encourage others to give any amount, as they are able, to set students on the lifelong trajectory of significance God has for them.”

Westmont hosted a community event with education and financial representatives exploring the best ways low-income students can fund a college education on Nov. 15. About 100 underprivileged high school students and their families attended “Affording Your Dream College,” which was held in partnership with several county education initiatives.

Westmont kicks off the season of Advent with a festive, family-friendly ceremony, "Let There be Light!" on Wednesday, November 30, from 5-7 p.m. on Kerrwood Lawn.

Photos with Santa Claus begin at 4:30 p.m. in Kerrwood Hall with the line forming in the President's Patio near the fountain. Families and children are encouraged to bring their own cameras for a memorable photo with Santa.

The evening begins on Kerrwood Lawn with treats, Christmas carols and entertainment, culminating into the ceremonial lighting of Kerrwood Hall. 

Westmont is equipping evangelical students from across the nation who care deeply about the environment to lead their communities in answering God’s call to steward creation wisely. The college will be hosting "Faith. Climate. Action: A Workshop on Christian Climate Advocacy" attracting about 40 students and faculty from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), and 10 InterVarsity student leaders to campus June 25-July 2, 2023.

Westmont Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Eben Drost, will perform classic jazz pieces and more contemporary compositions on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the music department at (805) 565-6040. 

A large, enthusiastic crowd in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center welcomed Clayborne Carson, the world-renowned and acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. scholar and director of the King Papers Project. He spoke about “The Lives and Shared Legacy of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr.,” as part of a Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership luncheon November 4.

David Hunter’s 2017 research on umpire consistency continues to garner national attention. Hunter, Westmont professor of mathematics, devised a metric for consistency of home plate umpires that others have relied on to grade Major League Baseball umpires.

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art shares the deep trove of art collected by the late Barry Berkus, an architect, urban planner, watercolor artist and author, in “A Bold and Unconventional Collector: Highlights from the Barry Berkus Family Collection,” which will be on display from Nov. 17- Dec. 12. The public is invited to a free, opening reception Thursday, Nov. 17, from 4- 6 p.m.

Sandra Richter, Westmont's Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies, speaks about “Down to Earth: A Biblical Perspective on Environmentalism” Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5:30 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden Street. The Westmont Downtown Lecture is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required.

The 18th annual Westmont Christmas Festival, “The Prince of Peace,” returns to Santa Barbara’s famed Granada Theatre Saturday, December 3, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, December 4, at 3 p.m. Tickets, which cost $22 each, are on sale at westmont.edu/festival. For ticket information or to purchase tickets by phone, please contact the Granada box office at (805) 899-2222.

On the heels of two consecutive record-breaking fundraising years, Westmont has launched its largest fundraising campaign ever, Forward in Faithfulness. Through generous gifts from alumni, parents, foundations and friends of the college, including the two largest gifts in the history of the college, the campaign has raised more than $197.1 million of the $250 million goal.

Westmont dedicated its new accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (ABSN) program, naming it Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing on Oct. 14 at 26 West Anapamu Street. David Grotenhuis, an alumnus of the college, and his wife Anna were inspired to give generously to the program by Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, who died earlier this month.

Clayborne Carson, the world-renowned and acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. scholar and director of the King Papers Project, speaks at Westmont’s Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership luncheon on Friday, Nov. 4, from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Simmons Center of Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. Carson will present “The Lives and Shared Legacy of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr.” A limited number of tickets, which cost $50 per person, are available for purchase at westmont.edu/mosher-event.

The Westmont community mourns the passing of Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, whose generosity made a profound impact on the college and touched the lives of many people and organizations in the Santa Barbara community. She personified what it means to be a true philanthropist.

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Tim Van Haitsma, Westmont associate professor and chair of the kinesiology department, is a lifelong runner who will speak about mental strength training on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Arts Workshop (CAW), 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara.

Steve L. Porter, a longtime professor of spiritual formation, theology and philosophy, is the new senior research fellow and executive director of Westmont’s Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture.

Wendy Eley Jackson brings more than a quarter century of experience in film and television to Westmont as the theater department’s new artist/scholar-in-residence for justice, reconciliation and diversity. Jackson, a native of Atlanta, is teaching Documentary Filmmaking, Screenwriting, and Creative Writing this semester for the theater and English departments.

Five new accomplished, tenure-track professors have joined the Westmont faculty this fall.

New national rankings and economic indicators establish Westmont as one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in the U.S. once again.

The Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Research Center (MIDWC) at Westmont have chosen “Relational Spirituality: A Psychological-Theological Paradigm for Transformation” by Todd W.

A Westmont professor has received a prestigious fellowship to serve at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI). The Lady Davis Fellowship Trust selected Ronald See, professor of psychology and neuroscience, as the Marie and Matthew Heller visiting professor in medicine at the Institute of Medical Research.

About 320 first-year students and a record-setting 70 transfers begin arriving at Westmont for Orientation (Aug. 25-28) and the start of the fall semester (Aug. 29).

Adam Belt explores the point where art, science and spirituality converge in an exhibition, “Adam Belt: Wish You Were Here,” Sept. 1 – Nov. 5 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. A free, public opening reception takes place Thursday, Sept. 1, from 4-6 p.m. in the museum.

A Westmont professor and recent graduate won the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award from the Mathematical Association of America, the world’s largest community of mathematicians, students, and enthusiasts. David J.

This month’s public viewing of the stars will focus on several exotic Messier objects as the summer Milky Way stretches across the sky from the northeast to the southwest. The free viewing on Friday, Aug. 19, begins at sunset and lasts several hours at the Westmont Observatory.

Westmont’s Center for Applied Technology (CATLab) joins forces with Salesforce to host the Impact Conference on Thursday, Aug. 11, in the Global Leadership Center on campus. Keynote speakers include Peter Coffee, vice president for strategic research at Salesforce, and Lupita Knittel, president of 7Mindsets, an education technology company.

A Westmont researcher has won a grant to further his search for evidence of the presence of mysterious dark matter. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $200,000 grant to Ben Carlson, Westmont assistant professor of physics, to continue his work on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, a particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.

It’s globular cluster season at the Westmont Observatory with this month’s viewing focusing on two conglomerations containing hundreds of thousands of stars. The free, public viewing of the stars is Friday, July 15, beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting several hours. Face coverings will be required at the event.

A tight-knit cohort of five Westmont student teachers shared inspirational stories about their experiences in the classroom at an emotional Celebration of Teaching April 28 on campus. Linda Ngo, Sam Cordes, Hannah Boelter, Simon Janzen and Shae Caragher, who all earned California Preliminary Credentials, spoke at the event, held for the first time since 2019.

Westmont senior Chloe White earned the Etienne Gros Prize for Academic Excellence in Literature this summer after graduating from the French Honors program at the Institute for American Universities (IAU) in Southern France.

Paul Wilt, Westmont professor emeritus of history, died June 23 at the age of 93. He is survived by his wife, Doris, and their four children: Tom, Marilyn ’74, Janet ’76 and Daniel ’84. A memorial service will be held at Shoreline Community Church, 935 San Andres Street, Santa Barbara, on Saturday, July 16, at 10 a.m. He has requested donations to Westmont instead of flowers.

Brad Elliott, Westmont's long-time campus photographer, father of three and grandfather to four, offers this advice for fathers on Father's Day:

Work by four enormously influential Southern California artists and art professors, Ken Jewesson, Ciel Bergman, Irma Cavat and Florence “FiFi” Russell, will appear in three exhibitions July 7 - Aug. 6 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art with a free, public opening reception at the museum on Thursday, July 7, from 4-6 p.m.

Westmont alumnus Ramon Gupta '94, a corporate attorney with an active practice in Santa Barbara, has joined the Westmont Board of Trustees. A partner with Mullen & Henzell LLP, Business & Real Estate Group since 1999, Gupta has taught business law at his alma mater since 2014. He will begin a three-year term at his first meeting in October.

Two Westmont graduates and Augustinian Scholars, John Corbett ’22 and Kyle Mayl ’21, have won Fulbright Scholarships to teach English outside the United States. Corbett will serve in the Czech Republic while Mayl will be in Spain.

Santa Barbara resident Nadya Brown won Best of Show at the opening reception of the annual Tri-County juried exhibition, “Uncanny,” at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum. Brown, who was born and raised in England, won the $1,000 prize for her vibrant, dream-like painting “Kafka and the Snowglobe.”

Nearly 40 local high school students enrolled in an AP physics course visited Westmont May 16 for a hands-on exploration into how the universe behaves. The event, “Understanding Physics from Galaxies to Particles,” was led by Ben Carlson, Westmont assistant professor of physics.

((Due to mostly cloudy skies, tonight's public viewing has been canceled))

Following the breathtaking lunar eclipse earlier in the week, the Westmont observatory opens to the public for its monthly event with the powerful Keck Telescope on Friday, May 20, beginning at sunset and lasting a few hours. Face coverings will be required at the event, which is co-hosted by the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit

Westmont has named its new ABSN Nursing program the Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing program in honor of David and Anna Grotenhuis, who, along with Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, have given generously and played a leading role in partnering with Cottage Hospital to see this dream become a reality.

Commencement speaker Michael Shasberger, between stints of conducting the Westmont Orchestra, told the 2022 graduates they’d attain their greatest happiness when they discovered how to give away what they valued most. Coincidentally, President Gayle D. Beebe introduced Shasberger with news that the Michael Shasberger Student Scholarship Fund for Music.

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate Cynthia Toms, professor of global studies and kinesiology, whose personal experience helped solidify her deep desire to improve global development by keeping people healthy and giving them hope.

Each year, the Westmont community celebrates the many ways that God has gifted our students academically by announcing and honoring the Outstanding Graduate Awards in each department during the Academic Awards Convocation prior to Commencement. The following are the Outstanding Graduates of 2022.

The abundance of accomplished artists from the Tri-County area is on full display at the annual juried exhibition in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Westmont alumnus and hyperrealist painter Robin Eley ’01 juried the show, “Uncanny,” which is available May 19-June 18. A free, public, opening reception for the exhibition is Thursday, May 19, from 4-6 p.m. at the museum. More information is available at westmont.edu/museum/juriedshow2022.

Michael Shasberger, who retires as the inaugural Adams professor of music and worship, delivers the address at Commencement Saturday, May 7, at 9 a.m. on Westmont’s Thorrington Field. Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe presents Westmont Medals to Steven A. and Denice D. Fellows for their tireless service and dedicated leadership in improving the delivery of healthcare.

Graduating political science major and Westmont College Student Association (WSCA) President Hannah Grierson argued her way to the top of the Westmont Debate Tournament and earned $500 on April 23 in the Global Leadership Center. She argued against the topic of the United States implementing a universal basic income. Sophomore Eden Lawson, who recently won the David K. Winter Servant Leadership Award, came in second place, taking home $250.

James E. Taylor and Jennifer Moe Taylor, husband and wife, have teamed up to co-author a new book, “Soul Pilgrimage: Knowing God in Everyday Life” (Cascade Books). The volume takes readers on a sacred pilgrimage to deepen their relationship with God.

Two Westmont students won David K. Winter Servant Leadership Awards for showing vision, courage, humility, integrity and competence as leaders. Angela D’Amour, dean of student engagement, introduced the 22^nd annual awardees, Ebun Kalejaiye ’23 of Rancho Palos Verdes and Eden Lawson ’24 of Redlands, on April 1 in chapel.