Warrior Welcome 2025 College Greets High-Achieving, Multicultural Incoming Class

About 400 first-year, transfer and nursing students arrive at Westmont for Orientation and Warrior Welcome on Aug. 27-31. Off campus, 38 students begin the Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing program, joining two other cohorts of students enrolled in the accelerated 16-month Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

Most of the 71 first-generation students (18% of the incoming class) and their parents come Tuesday, Aug. 26, for the First Connections Pre-Orientation program, which emphasizes the cultural transition and interpersonal connections vital to thriving in college. Twenty-six international students, one of the highest totals in school history, will also attend with their families. New students represent 23 U.S. states and 24 countries with 12% from Santa Barbara County.

The incoming class is 43% percent men and 57% women, which aligns with last year’s statistics for enrolled undergraduates but bucks national trends for male student enrollment. Forty-nine percent represent multicultural, multinational diversity with 27% identifying as Hispanic. Sixty-four transfer students enroll this fall, the second largest transfer class in school history.

Westmont awarded four-year academic scholarships ranging from $15,000 to nearly $41,000 each year to more than 95% of entering new students. Sixty-two high-achieving, first-year students selected as Augustinian Scholars have received grants ranging from $28,000 up to 75% of tuition.

Westmont attracted and enrolled an incredibly accomplished incoming class with an average GPA of 3.9.

Students have expressed the most interest in majoring in economics and business (16%), kinesiology (12%), biology (9%) and psychology (7%). Sixteen percent have yet to specify a possible major.

New students include 127 athletes, the largest recruited class in Warrior history. The men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball teams began practicing earlier in the month, preparing for NCAA DII competition in the PacWest Conference. Men’s soccer kicks off its season with an exhibition on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. at UC Santa Barbara. Women’s soccer begins Sept. 4 on the road before returning to Thorrington Field on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 4 p.m. against CSU Los Angeles. Volleyball starts its season Sept. 5 on the road with its first home match on Sept. 17.

President Gayle D. Beebe greets students individually as they arrive at the entrance to campus, part of Westmont’s storied hospitality and care.

 Families also benefit from athletic teams pitching in to help move their students into residence halls by emptying cars of boxes and bedding as they arrive at their student’s new home. Parents and families rave about the first-class service they receive. The Welcome Session, an opening event on Wednesday, August 27, begins at 3:30 p.m. in Murchison Gym and includes a celebratory hand-off from the Admissions team to the faculty and Student Life staff with an official welcome from President Beebe, now in his 19th year, and an introduction to this year’s Orientation Team representing Student Life, professors and staff.

The Service of Commitment, a formal ceremony with robed professors welcoming students to the Westmont community, takes place Thursday, Aug. 28, at 3:30 p.m. beginning in Murchison Gym. Following the service at about 4:30 p.m., the bagpipe fanfare, a longstanding Westmont tradition, will lead new students on their First Walk through the Formal Gardens to Kerrwood Lawn, anticipating their Last Walk that occurs at their Commencement service from Kerrwood to Thorrington Field.

Most of the first-year students were born in 2007, when Apple first introduced iPhones. That year, Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House of Representatives, the final Harry Potter book arrived, Bob Barker hosted his final episode of the Price is Right, the Virginia Tech shooting left 32 dead, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to increase public knowledge about climate change, Twitter users created hashtags in social media, and Gayle Beebe became Westmont’s eighth president.

All returning students arrive shortly after Orientation begins, bringing total enrollment up to 1,300 for students studying both on and off campus.