Westmont News

Tickets to the eighth annual Westmont Christmas Festival went on sale Nov. 8 and quickly sold out. Westmont is allowing the public to attend a free dress rehearsal of the program on Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. The doors will open for the dress rehearsal at 7:15 p.m., and no reservations are required. Please do not arrive before 7 p.m. if you wish to attend the dress rehearsal.

Westmont in San Francisco is throwing a party to celebrate its new garden, resting atop the roof of the Clunie house on Sunday, Nov. 18, from 4-6 p.m. at 301 Lyon Street in San Francisco. The dedication is free and open to the public.

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The fire department quickly suppressed the Cold Fire, which broke out northeast of campus about noon today. Fire officials described it as a two-acre, slow-growth vegetation fire at the top of Cold Spring Trail. Favorable weather conditions, including little wind, have helped firefighters.

The fire department has lifted all evacuation orders, and all roads are now open. Cold Spring Road was closed for several hours to keep people out of the mandatory evacuation zone, which was northeast of campus.

Westmont student composers, vocalists and instrumentalists showcase their talents in several concerts this November. All performances are free and open to the public.

Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider will answer questions from Westmont students in a chapel service discussion about poverty and homelessness on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 10:30 a.m. in Murchison Gym.

World-renown guitarist Mak Grgić returns to Westmont for the Rising Star Concert Series on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The suggested donation at the door is $10; Hotel Santa Barbara sponsors the performance.

Volunteers will be planting more than 40 fruit trees, providing a variety of campus-grown produce for Westmont’s dining services. Alumnus Anthony Waldrop ’11 will lead the planting on Friday, Oct. 26, from noon until 3 p.m.

Golfers and disc golfers will play together at the Montecito Country Club for the 5th annual William Wiersma Golf and Disc Tournament on Monday, Oct. 29, beginning at 1 p.m. The tournament benefits the William Wiersma Memorial Scholarship Endowment at Westmont.

Lauren Kahea Moriarty, a retired U.S. ambassador, explores the role of being an international diplomat at a free, public lecture, “Adventures in Diplomacy: Making a Difference,” Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 4 p.m. at Westmont’s Kerrwood Hall in Hieronymus Lounge.

As part of the college’s 75th anniversary celebration, Westmont Festival Theatre features the work of seven alumni in William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” Oct. 26 at 8:30 p.m., Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Nov. 1-3 at 8 p.m., all in Westmont's Porter Theatre.

The Westmont Orchestra, back from its tour of China in May, opens its seventh season, performing the Fall Orchestra Concert on Friday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. in the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall and Sunday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m. in First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave.

Westmont hosted a special dinner to honor Montecito resident and philanthropist Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree on Sept. 29 at the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel.

The Ring Nebula, M57, will be the star attraction at a free, public viewing with Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope Friday, Sept. 21. The monthly viewing, held in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, begins after 7:45 p.m. and lasts several hours.

Westmont alumnus Jerry H. Gill ’56, adjunct professor of philosophy, religious studies and humanities at Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz., explores the relationship between faith and reason in a free, public lecture, “Faith and/or Reason,” Friday, Sept. 14, at 3:30 p.m. in Adams Center 216.

Carmel Gabriel Saad, who joins Westmont this fall as an assistant professor of psychology, is an Egyptian-American whose research focuses on bicultural identities and is interested in studying dual non-cultural identities and creativity.

Westmont is ranked in the top 100 for the fourth straight year in this year’s listings of the best liberal arts colleges according to U.S.

Members of the music faculty at Westmont present a recital featuring the works of Mendelssohn, Bach and Stephen Sondheim on Friday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Westmont and Sodexo, the college’s dining service, open the doors to an enhanced Dining Commons as students arrive for the fall semester Monday, Aug. 27.

Workers are busy modernizing the lobby of Westmont’s Murchison Gym, upgrading the lighting, ceilings and walls, and installing two, 70-inch monitors to show video and photos of Westmont Hall of Fame athletes and other information. Maple hardwood flooring, dating back to the construction of the gym in the late 1960s, was removed during a 2008 renovation and has been recycled for use on the lobby walls.

Twenty first-year Westmont students met on campus Aug. 9 before trekking through the Sierra backcountry north of Yosemite. Inoculum is a unique, 12-day orientation program that introduces students to Westmont and earns them two units of academic and physical education credit.