Westmont News

Tucked between mountain peaks and the Pacific Ocean, Westmont College secures a prominent place selected among the nation’s 40 most beautiful campuses in a new report from U.S. News & World Report. The publication that annually releases a top 40 list, ranks Westmont as No. 5 and praises the college’s historic buildings, serene gardens and picturesque coastal backdrop.

An energetic crowd of more than 100 gathered for the Oct. 1 public kickoff of the Sacred Stories Project, a five-year initiative, that aims to create spaces for young adults in their 20s to share and celebrate stories of faith, vocation and identity. Guests gathered outdoors at Westmont Downtown | Keith Center to connect over charcuterie and view featured artwork by young alumnus Diego Castañeda ’26.

Saturn, a first-quarter moon and the distant Owl Cluster take center stage during Westmont’s free monthly public viewing on Friday, Oct. 16, starting at 7 p.m. at the Westmont Observatory.

What kind of education prepares graduates not just for a first job, but for a lifetime of meaningful leadership? A compelling new book, “Leadership and the Liberal Arts: An Education to Last a Lifetime,” edited by Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe, makes the case for the enduring power of the Christian liberal arts.

Westmont College has received a $457,745 grant to expand its efforts to integrate intellectual, moral and spiritual formation directly into classroom instruction and campus culture. Administered through the Educating Character Initiative, a project of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, which aims to catalyze a national movement placing virtue and character at the center of higher education. The 2026 Educating Character Initiative Institutional Impact Grants support 44 projects directly impacting 49 institutions nationwide. 

Westmont welcomes alums, families and friends back to campus for a weekend packed with community celebrations, class reunions, academic showcases and traditions during Homecoming Oct. 16-18. Highlights of the weekend include the 15th annual Westmont Classic Golf Tournament raising funds for student scholarships, dynamic talks led by alums, student research displays, and the annual Alumni Awards Celebration Brunch honoring distinguished graduates. 

Encounter Virginia Woolf, a lonely puppet, a curious opossum and two worms who fall in love all in a single evening as the Westmont College Theatre Arts Department stages an eccentric, fast-paced slate of short-form storytelling. Performances of “The Future is Short,” set in a variety of site-specific locations in and around Porter Theatre, take place Oct. 16-18 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Organizers strongly recommend advance reservations due to the intimate staging, which limits seating. Tickets cost $20 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors.

Summer training gave the Westmont women’s swimming program a profound new purpose this year. Head coach Jill Lin, her nearly five-year-old son, Caden, and 10 swimmers, including three recent graduates, traveled to Northern Thailand for a historic outreach trip July 30-Aug. 16.

Clinical psychologist Andrea Gurney leads a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Invisible in Plain Sight: Reclaiming Love and Connection in an Age of AI,” on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at Westmont Downtown | Keith Center, 29 W. Anapamu St. The free lecture addresses how modern technology affects human relationships in an era defined by constant digital access. No tickets or reservations are required; seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Engineering professors Dan Jensen and Kristin L. Wood lead an interactive Westmont Downtown lecture, “Having Fun with Everyday AI and Robotics: Life Implications,” on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at Westmont Downtown | Keith Center, 29 W.

Inside Montecito Covenant Church Gym, the energy is undeniable, even during just the third practice in program history. Thick mats cover the floor as student-athletes refine precision passes, practice jump sequences and coordinate intricate tosses. For Westmont, this gathering is far more than a routine training session, it represents the unfolding of a historic new chapter in Warrior athletics. 

Westmont College continues its rise among the nation’s premier institutions, climbing six spots to No. 109 (tied) among National Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. For more than two decades, Westmont has maintained its standing as the No. 1 Christian liberal arts college in California and the Western U.S. while remaining one of the top two nationally ranked members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

Nearly 200 people attended the Sept. 3 opening reception of “Haptic Knowing,” a new exhibition at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art showcasing five artists whose work explores touch not merely as a physical action, but as a form of inquiry and a way of thinking, learning and understanding the world. Students, faculty and staff gathered at the opening while wearing festive painted garments of high-density fibers by artist Lea Feinstein. The exhibition runs through Nov. 7.

Westmont invites the community to explore the cosmos during a free public stargazing event Friday, Sept. 18, starting at 7 p.m. and lasting several hours. Held in conjunction with NASA’s International Observe the Moon Night, the evening unleashes the power of Westmont’s Keck Telescope alongside high-powered instruments from the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit to bring deep space into sharp focus.

When Ethan Ish ’29 arrived at Westmont as a first-year student, he saw a wealth of possibilities in the engineering department, but he wanted a direct, immediate way to engage with his passion for aerospace. Guided by a desire to build professional connections, he turned to the internet to find opportunities. 

Westmont Theatre Arts unleashes “Momentum! A Musical Revue,” an exhilarating showcase celebrating the courage to leap into the unknown, chase ambitious dreams and embrace life’s unexpected turns. Directed by Samantha Eve, Westmont instructor of theater arts and artistic director of Out of the Box Theatre Company, the show features dynamic performances that highlight the choices shaping human character. Performances run Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept.

Driven by the belief that collective collaboration far outweighs individual effort, nearly 20 theater professionals from across the country gathered at Westmont College on August 13–14 to launch the Association of Christian Theatre Schools (ACTS). Funded by a grant from the Lilly Network, the new initiative helps faith-based drama faculty grow spiritually, artistically and vocationally together.

Five tenure-track professors, including a returning alumnus and an international design expert, join the Westmont faculty this fall, bringing a shared commitment to integrating faith with academic excellence. The new tenure-track appointments include Stephen Owusu (economics and business), Gregg Ten Elshof ’92 (philosophy), Demetrius Tucker (English), Jarrett Walbolt (kinesiology) and Kristen Wood (engineering). 

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art presents “Haptic Knowing,” a new exhibition showcasing five artists whose work explores touch as a way of thinking, learning, and understanding the world.

The Westmont Observatory opens to the public for a near total lunar eclipse on Thursday, Aug. 27, beginning at 8:30 p.m. with the max eclipse set to happen at 9:12 p.m. Members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit will also attend with telescopes to share. 

Westmont’s first nursing cohort to graduate during the summer term honored 19 new registered nurses at a traditional pinning ceremony Aug. 20 at Montecito Covenant Church. The Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing Program has quickly expanded to include three cohorts studying each year.

About 400 new students arrive at Westmont for Orientation and Warrior Welcome from Aug. 26-30. First-generation students and international students, including dual citizens, missionary and third-culture students, arrive early on Tuesday, Aug. 25, for First Connections. The pre-Orientation program emphasizes the cultural transition and interpersonal connections vital to thriving in college.

A multi-year initiative launched at Westmont College grew into a vibrant climate advocacy network across Christian higher education. Faith.Climate.Action., a program funded jointly by Westmont and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, concluded its three-year run following a national retreat this summer on the college’s leafy Santa Barbara campus.

High school students from across the country converged on Westmont this summer to measure the speed of light, characterize electroplated copper through an electron microscope, and contemplate how faith, philosophy and history shape scientific discovery.

Building on a decade of successful summer youth programming, Westmont launches a year-round community music school designed for every age and skill level. Joanne Kim, who teaches clarinet at Westmont and Santa Barbara City College, directs the Westmont Music Academy (WeMA), which begins its inaugural session Aug. 28 on the Montecito campus. 

A longtime Westmont theater professor helped create a process encouraging college students to develop short plays. In the past 13 years, the Hive has yielded 120 plays by MFA playwrights from various universities, providing eclectic and diverse material for Westmont’s annual Fringe Festival.

Making the transition from higher education to the professional workforce can be daunting for college graduates. Westmont’s Center for Applied Technology Lab (CATLab) rewrites that narrative by creating a direct bridge to the tech sector.

Westmont alumnus Michael Hemmett ’25 has received a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship to support his pioneering work in marine geology and geophysics.

When her growing art career collided with domestic life, Josephine Tournier Ingram ’00 decided to secure a dedicated gallery space. The surging demand for her abstract acrylic paintings led to canvases crowding her home.

The Martin Institute and the Dallas Willard Research Center at Westmont have given Grace Hamman’s “Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life” (Zondervan, 2025) the Dallas Willard Book Award for 2026.

The rapidly accelerating world of artificial intelligence often fuels a modern culture of anxiety, but Santa Barbara tech executive and author Zack Kass believes humanity stands on the precipice of its greatest era yet. The audience of about 300 people reacted to his lively talk with applause on several occasions and gave him a standing ovation at the end.

The energy was electric as the athletic department gathered for the second annual WESPYS on April 26 at Westmont's Murchison Gym. Celebrating a historic year of transition and triumph, the evening honored the resilience, passion and camaraderie of the Warrior community. From dramatic, hard-fought victories to the

A grant of nearly $100,000 from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) will fund a strategic, institution-wide Westmont program encouraging students to explore potential careers early in their college experience.

This summer, Westmont’s picturesque campus with state-of-the-art facilities becomes a vibrant hub of activity, welcoming young participants to traditional sports camps while showcasing newly launched, cutting-edge academic camps for high schoolers.

The Santa Barbara Unified School District’s Program for Effective Access to College (PEAC) held its annual PEAC Foundation Awards Night celebration at UC Santa Barbara, marking an inspiring night for college bound students as their college and university destinations were announced. It’s an evening of grand celebration recognizing the PEAC scholarship recipients who are often the first in their families to go to college.

Westmont invites the local community to explore the night sky during its monthly free public stargazing event on Friday, June 19, beginning at 8:45 p.m. and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. 

The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara held its annual scholarship award ceremonies awarding $8.4 million in scholarships to 2,300 students, including a record 75 Westmont students, at the Sunken Gardens at Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

Westmont honored a number of employees for their outstanding contributions at the May 14 Faculty and Staff Appreciation Brunch, an annual ceremony that recognizes individual work anniversaries and accomplishments. President Gayle D. Beebe and members of the college’s executive team selected the recipients from a peer-nominated pool. An endowment set up by the late Bruce and Adaline Bare fund the faculty awards; he was longtime college trustee. 

The Santa Barbara Independent recognized Westmont's production of “Antigonick” by giving a coveted Indy Award for Set Design to recent graduate Ily Litonjua ’26. 

About 200 art enthusiasts flowed through the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art and the surrounding umbrella-covered patio for the opening of the Tri-County juried exhibition, “Altered Realities,” on May 22. 

Westmont host its 12th annual LEAD Where You Stand conference, “Leadership, Human Flourishing and Artificial Intelligence,” from June 4-5 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.

Westmont highlights the talent of regional artists in the 2026 Tri-County Juried Exhibition, “Altered Realities,” from May 21-June 20 in the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. 

Westmont honored some of its graduating seniors in front of the community, parents and guests on April 17 at the annual Academic Awards Celebration in Murchison Gym.

Twenty-two members of the seventh cohort of the Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing program were pinned at a special ceremony to honor their accomplishments on May 7 at Montecito Covenant Church. The group included the college’s first nursing fast track graduate, who earned two bachelor’s degrees in just four and a half years.

The Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) and Westmont College excitedly announce a $2.4 million award to launch a new residency program providing tuition funds for students seeking a teaching credential and position in California public schools. Each student will receive a $33,000 stipend for tuition at Westmont and other living expenses, providing a yearlong, classroom-based pathway to the teaching profession.

Led by bagpipes under a blanket of traditional May weather’s fog, 356 Westmont graduates made their Last March from Kerrwood Hall to Thorrington Field, where they enthusiastically walked across the stage to get their diplomas at Commencement on May 9. 

The Westmont Women’s Leadership Council, dedicated to educating, enriching and empowering women, held its annual luncheon with keynote speaker Anja Manuel, co-founder and principal, Rice, Hadley, Gates and Manuel, LLC and an author, former diplomat, speaker and sought-after adviser to Fortune 50 and Silicon Valley CEOs. Several hundred supporters attended the event on April 24 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. 

Henrietta Holsman Fore, a recognized leader in business, corporate boards, the U.S. government, the United Nations and nonprofit organizations, speaks at Westmont Commencement on Saturday, May 9, at 9:30 a.m. at Westmont’s Thorrington Field. President Gayle D.