Barry Schoer, president and longtime driving dynamo of Sanctuary Centers, is walking me around the half-completed structure on west Anapamu. This capstone project has been a long time coming. What does “long time” mean,exactly? The A-Team (remember Mr. T?) made its splashy TV debut the same year Barry Schoer’s ideas began coalescing – a marker […]
Wendy Eley Jackson, assistant professor of English and film studies at Westmont, recently joined the board of directors for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara. She was instrumental in bringing Leah Weber King, the widow of Dexter Scott King, to serve as keynote speaker for MLKSB’s 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. […]
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Zack Kass has been at the forefront of the rapidly emerging field of artificial intelligence for nearly 20 years, entering the field shortly after graduating from San Marcos High School in 2005. After several jobs in the machine learning field, Kass joined OpenAI in 2021 as one of the first 100 employees. He served OpenAI […]
Patrick Uretz (‘14), who won two national championships with Westmont’s club polo team in 2013-14, is leaving professional polo for a career in construction. But until he rides into the sunset, he remains a formidable opponent. Patrick contributed seven goals in USA’s triumph in the II Federation of International Polo (FIP) Arena World Championship in […]
Christine Seibert, Westmont’s new assistant director of environmental studies, brings a rare blend of scientific training, deep Christian conviction, and a contagious enthusiasm for helping communities care for God’s creation. Her journey into sustainability began unexpectedly in high school, when she encountered a small booklet, Loving the Least of These, published by the National Association […]
I’m having a conversation with Rabbi Chaim Loschak – founder with his wife Mushkie of Montecito Chabad – and it’s impossible not to notice that he is bouncing his right leg at a frequency suggestive either of two strong cups of coffee, or the anticipatory effect on his physiology of a frenetic day ahead. I’m […]
Many people know of Jane Goodall as the woman who lived with the chimps and changed our understanding of animals and ourselves. But her work didn’t stop there. From the very beginning, Jane saw her work as a way to serve a greater vision – one that involved caring for all creatures on the planet […]
Someone unwisely humblebrags about their artistic skills and you take the bait. When they obligingly doodle a horse on the back of an envelope, it looks like a spider scrawled with the wrong hand by a tilt-a-whirl drunk wearing a blindfold. You nod and fail to sound convincing, which you later regret. “Wow. Now that […]
“If I can survive death, I can probably survive anything.” – Ashleigh Brilliant[9 December, 1933 –24 September, 2025], Pot-Shot® # 805 A footloose former teacher with the unlikely name Ashleigh Brilliant grabs his portable microphone, bullhorn, and milk crate and bounds down the stairs. The date is May 21, 1967 – yeah, “The Summer of […]
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Alumna Kailie Grinder (‘16), who earned a doctorate in intercultural studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, has returned to campus as Westmont’s intercultural programs (ICP) interim director. A student leader in ICP during her college years, she created spaces where all students, including students of color and those from international backgrounds, could feel they belonged. “God […]
Seventeen-year-old Santa Barbara High School senior Hannah Hedrick was volunteering at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church following the Palisades Fire when she had an epiphany. Sorting through donated clothes and books for victims of the fire that burned down an entire community, including her cousins’ and aunts’ houses, she had a sense that she could make […]
1974. The Oscars. The place is packed with Old and New Hollywood cognoscenti. Groucho Marx and Tatum O’Neal are breathing the same air, though likely from separate tables. Henry Mancini (Henry Mancini!!) is in the pit conducting the Academy Awards Orchestra. Now Burt Bacharach and the amazing Ann-Margret are at the dais – Burt in […]
I recently reconnected with an old friend from Crane Country Day School, Blake Ladd. We both entered Crane at the same time and had the same unfettered enthusiasm for the arts and creative energy. For this week’s Dear Montecito, I bring you an update on one of Montecito’s greatest – a great actor, entrepreneur, and […]
Last week Leonie H. Mattison EdD reached out to me regarding her personal experiences on immigration and the recent July 15 Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting regarding the same. Mattison is currently transitioning from her three-year contract with Pacifica Graduate Institute as its CEO. She explained that during this time of reflection for […]
