Westmont College
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Westmont College |
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| Motto | Christus Primatum Tenens (Holding Christ Preeminent) |
| Established | October 29, 1937 |
| Type | Christian, Private |
| Endowment | $66 million (June 30, 2006) |
| Chancellor | David K. Winter |
| Dean | Warren Rogers |
| Faculty | 90 |
| Staff | 213 |
| Undergraduates | 1,328 |
| Location | Santa Barbara, CA, USA |
| Address | 955 La Paz Rd |
| Telephone | 805-565-6000 |
| Campus | Suburban (111 acres) |
| Colors | Maroon & White |
| Nickname | The Warriors |
| Mascot | Warrior |
| Affiliations | Western Association of Schools and Colleges; California State Board of Education; NAIA |
| Website | www.westmont.edu |
Westmont College is a Christian liberal arts, residential, and exclusively undergraduate college in Santa Barbara, California.
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[edit] History
The school's mission is to "provide a high quality undergraduate liberal arts program in a residential campus community that assists college men and women toward a balance of rigorous intellectual competence, healthy personal development, and strong Christian commitments." The school was established in 1937 in Los Angeles by Ruth Kerr, who owned the Kerr Mason Jar Company with the establishment of the Bible Missionary Institute (later renamed the Western Bible College). In 1940 Ruth Kerr and the other founders realized that a liberal arts curriculum was the best direction for the school. The college was renamed Westmont by Dr. Wallace Emerson, the first president, and he began to envision a Christian liberal arts college that would take its place among the best colleges in the nation.
By 1944, Westmont College had outgrown its facilities in downtown Los Angeles. After a failed attempt to move the campus to Altadena in early 1945 the desperate search for a new campus led Mrs. Kerr and the trustees to the former Dwight Murphy estate in Montecito with its 125 acres. Westmont purchased this property and moved to the Santa Barbara area in the Fall of 1945.
Set in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, Westmont’s wooded and scenic acres provide an environment for a residential college. The campus includes buildings and land from two former estates and the historic Deane School for Boys. The grounds still feature the pathways, stone bridges, and garden atmosphere typical of Montecito, a suburb of Santa Barbara.
While Westmont has sought to preserve and use the original structures, it has also built new facilities, including the Roger John Voskuyl Library, the restored Westmont Art Center, the Whittier Science Building, the Murchison Gymnasium Complex, and the Ruth Kerr Memorial Student Center. They are currently anticipating the addition of the Winter Hall for Science and Mathematics, and the Adams Center for the Visual Arts, pending the (currently disputed) approval and completion of the Master Plan.
In 1997, the college celebrated 60 years of growth in this distinctive and consistent heritage. They offer a nationally recognized liberal arts education for a new generation of men and women who apply their competency and their personal Christian faith to the challenge and complexity of today’s world.
[edit] Academics
Westmont offers 26 majors. The student/faculty ratio is 13 to 1; percentage of faculty with doctorates is 79%[1]; average class size is 18.5[2]. The students come from 25 states, 11 countries, and 33 Christian denominations. Graduation rate in 4 years is 69%.
The majors are not impacted, therefore students are able to change majors easily. Students aren't required to declare their major until the end of their sophomore year so as to graduate on time.
[edit] Athletics
Westmont is in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC), a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
The college competes in twelve intercollegiate sports.
[edit] Athletic Teams
- Basketball
- Cross Country
- Soccer
- Tennis
- Track and Field
- Volleyball (only women)
- Baseball (only men)
The women's soccer team has won the NAIA national championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
There are also a variety of intramural sports programs that include beach volleyball, bowling, sailing, rugby, soccer, water polo, softball, and flag football.
[edit] Campus
Westmont College is located a few miles off of U.S. 101 just to the east of Santa Barbara. The city of Santa Barbara is on the central Californian coast and is 100 miles north of Los Angeles and 250 miles south of San Francisco.
The campus itself resides in the hills of Montecito and features 110 acres of hills, gardens, and trees. A small creek runs down the campus often dry during summer and autumn and typically full during the rainy spring months and has even flooded campus buildings in El Nino years.
The campus has five on-campus dorms. The two freshman dorms are Page and Clark which are located at the upper corners of campus. Armington is at the lowest point on campus, and is usually the sophomore dorm. Emerson (formerlly known as New Dorm and Everest), the newest dorm, is at the top of campus and has ocean views in many of its rooms. Van Kampen, the most popular dorm for upper-classmen, is located in the center of the campus and was recently renovated and modernized in the summer of 2006. This renovation included rooms with new windows and cabinets. The bathrooms were competently updated and the kitchens added marble counter tops and large community refrigerators. The most exciting additions are the 60-inch plasma screen and a regulation size shuffleboard table. Another option for upper classmen students is the Ocean View Apartments, a college owned apartment building on the east side of Santa Barbara.
[edit] Off-Campus Programs
Westmont also offers a significant number of off-campus programs. These programs are run with a faculty member and include Europe semester, England Semester, Westmont in Mexico and the San Francisco Urban program. Westmont is also a member of the Christian College Consortium and there exists the opportunity to study at other Christian colleges including Seattle Pacific, Gordon and Houghton. Additionally, many students may participate in other qualifying programs, including semesters in Washington D.C., Chile, Italy, France and Lithuania. Students benefit from these programs which provide transferable credit while at the same time exposing them to a different area. Students may decide to do an internship while they are off campus, and many choose Washington DC or the San Francisco Urban program for this purpose. Some students may also go abroad to study a language or another culture as well. Another popular off campus program is in Italy, where students go to study art. Clearly, off campus programs are an important part of the Westmont experience with over 60% percent of students participating in a program during their time studying at Westmont.
[edit] Spring Sing
Westmont hosts an annual event entitled Spring Sing. This event is a competition between the dorms with eight minute musical comedy skits. The dorms are further divided by gender into male and female houses (with the exception of the Emerson dorm).
The skits incorporate an average of four or five clips of popular songs with altered original lyrics. The lyrics are usually changed to reflect a humorous progression of the skit's main story.
Each Spring Sing house is lead by one or two directors. It is the directors' responsibility to lead their respective house in creating their Spring Sing skit. A director's job typically consists of helping coordinate the skit’s script, lyrics, props, side-mics (to bring clarity to the lyrics), dance choreography, and any other snag that the production may encounter. The directors are typically seen guiding their house during the skit dressed in amusing costumes.
[edit] Trivia
- In October of 2006 Westmont received a donation of $75 million. This was the second largest donation gifted to a liberal arts college. [3]
- The gender ratio for the 2006-2007 school year is 60% women and 40% men.[4]
- On Feburary 14, 2007 Westmont officially completed its presidential search selecting Dr. Gayle Beebe, the current president of Spring Arbor University, as the college's eighth president.[5]
- Although Beebe is a graduate of George Fox University he was a consortium student to Westmont in 1980 as an undergraduate to take classes under Robert Gundry.
[edit] External links
Official website: Westmont College
Westmont business professor, Dr. Newton, on CNN discussing entrepreneurship and the liberal arts.
| Members of the Christian College Consortium |
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| Asbury • Bethel • George Fox • Gordon • Greenville • Houghton • Malone • Messiah • Seattle Pacific • Taylor • Trinity International • Westmont • Wheaton |
