Tag archives: college
About 400 new incoming students, including the Grotenhuis Nursing cohort of ‘24, arrived at Westmont to begin their first week of Orientation, Aug. 21-25, and the start of the fall semester, Aug. 26. Nineteen percent (70) of new students are first-generation and joined their parents beginning Aug. 20 for a First Connections Pre-Orientation program, which […]
“Dropping in three, two, one.” Then a drone, flying 150 feet high, released a plastic, hexagonal safety pod housing a blinking computer chip, amusing dozens of people gathered to watch one of two final presentations by the engineering design team on Lovik Field at Westmont. The craft, trailed by a parachute, hit the grass, and […]
Westmont honored a number of employees for their outstanding contributions at the May 9 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 […]
The gray skies and light drizzle were no match for the warm hearts and sunny disposition of the 320 members of Westmont’s class of 2024 and their loved ones. The ceremony, replete with prayer and songs of thanksgiving, offered a stark contrast to other college graduations across the country that have been canceled or marred […]
Two Westmont juniors, Rachael Todd of Nipomo and Levi Wicks of Huntington Beach, won David K. Winter Servant Leadership Awards for showing selflessness and humility as effective leaders. Angela D’Amour, dean of student engagement, introduced the 24th annual awardees on April 10 in Westmont chapel. The award recognizes the late David K. Winter, who served […]
About 324 graduates will participate in Commencement on Saturday, May 4, at 9:30 am on Thorrington Field with 147 graduating with honors. About 50 Golden Warriors, who graduated in 1974, will march in the procession to celebrate their 50th reunion. Eleven nursing graduates will participate in the ceremony, two days after their pinning ceremony on […]
Westmont has become an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution with more than 23 percent of students identifying as Latino or Hispanic. The designation is a result of local partnerships, improved outreach efforts, and the addition of several key college employees. “Westmont is nearing the 25 percent undergraduate enrollment threshold it needs to be recognized as a Hispanic-Serving […]
Westmont jumped 16 spots in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Colleges national liberal arts rankings – the college’s largest rise since 2010. For the 19th straight year, Westmont, ranked at No. 107 (tied), is one of only two national liberal arts colleges in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and remains […]
Westmont welcomes four excellent new tenure-track professors to campus this fall. Sam Cole (economics and business), Linghui Han (economics and business), Paul Mena (communication studies), and Anna Jordan (‘07; English) each bring a deep Christian faith and a desire to challenge students to think deeply while learning broadly. “Westmont is distinct because our faculty are […]
Dunn School’s Kalyan Balaven, head of school for the private co-ed college prep boarding and day school in Los Olivos, had no idea of the floodgates that would open when he decided to find a way to help a student from the Ukraine who early last year was initially only seeking a few extra days […]
Westmont hosted a community event with education and financial representatives exploring the best ways low-income students can fund a college education on November 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. “Education is the most powerful and transformative […]
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 […]
The Winnie the Pooh characters Tigger and Eeyore normally wouldn’t come up in a conversation about sexual assault and consent. But at Standing Together to End Sexual Assault (STESA), any method that helps the nonprofit reach youth to achieve its goal of eliminating all forms of sexual violence is worth trying, including referencing the beloved […]
Happy new school year! From interviewing people for this column, I have learned a lot about what it means to be a young person, and I have learned a lot of what it means to be a student. In honor of the new academic year, this edition of Dear Montecito is for the new college […]
New national rankings and economic indicators establish Westmont as one of the top Christian liberal arts colleges in the U.S. once again. Westmont, in its 85th anniversary year, improved its overall score and rose in five other ranking categories to remain in the top tier of the 2023 U.S. News & World Report’s National Liberal […]
From the day our children are born, we begin the process of teaching them everything they need to know so that one day they can leave home. And then, they do. Little ingrates! Like so many parents, I took my firstborn daughter to college last week. I flew across the country and dropped her off […]
It is well known that most industrialized countries have universal healthcare, good public transit, and free public college education. Why doesn’t the U.S. have these things? A hundred years ago socialism was seen positively in much of the world as a way to share in the productivity of modern industrialization. President Franklin Roosevelt and his […]
About 320 first-year students and a record-setting 70 transfers begin arriving at Westmont for Orientation (August 25-28) and the start of the fall semester (August 29). “We’re thrilled to welcome the class of 2026 and the largest group of transfer students in Westmont’s 85-year history,” says Irene Neller, Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing and Communications. […]
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. “Since your arrival, we have all been very moved, very touched by your work — always thoughtful, always documented — and by […]
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. “Teaching is […]
