Blog Posts by Westmont

David Spainhour, who retires this month as chairman of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, will receive the Westmont Medal during graduation ceremonies 10 a.m. May 8 on Russell Carr Field.

The Westmont Medal is given each year to recognize those in our community whose lives embody the very principles associated with the Christian character of the college: integrity, service, compassion, responsibility, faithfulness, discipline and generosity.

Christian philosopher and Yale Professor Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff will speak at Westmont’s 2004 commencement 10 a.m. May 8 at Russell Carr Athletic Field on campus.

Wolterstorff’s speech, entitled “Called or Occupied?” will explore choosing between looking for an occupation and looking for what you are called to do.

“When students leave college and look for a job, do you just look for an occupation, or do you look for what you might be called to do? In short, how do you choose?” Wolterstorff said.

Westmont has received a $3 million gift from the estate of a former professor and his wife.

Dr. Kenneth Monroe, who died in 1987, and his wife, Peggy, who died in February of this year, left assets of more than $3 million to the college. The money will fund scholarships for Monroe Scholars, up to four exceptional students who receive full-tuition assistance each year. The bequest will also create a new endowed chair in a discipline to be named.

The Westmont Theatre and Dance Department presents a New Works Festival, with performances of works by professors and students, 8 p.m. April 30 and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. May 1 in Porter Theatre. Admission is $5.

The festival will feature the Westmont Theatre Arts Repertory Co. and Westmont Windancers.

“Original works are the emphasis, including original theatre pieces, mime, music and dance,” Professor Erlyne Whiteman explained.

The Jazz Ensembles, directed by adjunct music professor Ron McCarley, will perform 8 p.m. April 24 in Deane Chapel on Westmont’s lower campus. Admission is free.

The ensembles with perform “Move” from “Birth of the Cool” by Miles Davis; “Whisper Not”; “Yardbird Suite”; “Anthropology”; “Here's that Rainy Day,” sung by Alicia Burns; “Moonlight Serenade,” sung by Sarah Stockton; “It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing”; “Red Clay” and others.

Rev. Dr. Craig Bartholomew of Redeemer University College in Toronto will speak on “Athens and Jerusalem: Ingredients in Theological Interpretation” 4 p.m. April 16 in Hieronymus Lounge, in Kerrwood Hall on the upper campus.

The lecture, sponsored by the Erasmus Society, is free and open to the public.

Bartholomew will discuss how the postmodern era has created a renewal of interest in theological interpretation of the Bible.