Summary

Westmont College, founded in 1937, is an interdenominational Christian liberal arts college in Santa Barbara, California.[1]

History

Ruth Kerr, owner of the Kerr Mason Jar Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute (1937), later renamed the Western Bible College (1939). During these early years, Ruth and the other founders decided that a liberal arts curriculum was the best direction for the school. In 1940 Dr. Wallace Emerson, the first president, renamed the school Westmont College, named for the fact the school was located at WEST Moreland and VerMONT in Los Angeles, envisioning a Christian liberal arts college that would take its place among the best 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 (51 ha). 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 Voskuyl Library, the restored Westmont Art Center, the A. Nelson Science Building, the Murchison Gymnasium Complex, and the Ruth Kerr Memorial Student Center. In 2008 Westmont broke ground for the construction of the Winter Hall for Science and Mathematics and the Adams Center for the Visual Arts.

In 2006, Westmont received a gift of $75 million from an anonymous donor, the second largest gift ever to a national liberal arts college at the time.[2][3] In September 2009 Westmont was informed that the donor withdrew the pledged $75 million gift which caused the college to put off construction of two new buildings.[4]

In 2008 Westmont and the surrounding Montecito community was devastated by the Tea Fire that burned numerous structures on the campus, including dormitories and faculty housing. Luckily there was no loss of life on the steep and wooded campus which has numerous oaks and eucalyptus trees and semi-arid vegetation.

Westmont emphasizes the intellectual, social, and spiritual growth of students.[5] With approximately 1300 undergraduate students, Westmont attempts to provide a rigorous academic program along with a personalized, residential Christian undergraduate experience.[6][7]

On November 13, 2008 the campus was heavily damaged in the Montecito Tea Fire, which started in the hills near Montecito. No injuries were reported on the campus.[8] The Physics Lab, Psychology Building, Math Building, and many of the faculty homes were destroyed. The Clark residence hall was severely damaged.[9] Clark units which were severely damaged include F, M, and S. A corner of the roof on G suffered minor damage. The Quonset Huts were also destroyed. Much of the campus's foliage and landscaping was burned.

Flames were spotted above upper campus around 5:30 pm on November 13. Students were led to Murchison Gymnasium where they remained until the situation outside was safe. Doors and openings were sealed with masking tape to prevent smoke entry and a ventilation system was activated. The American Red Cross provided blankets and pillows to the hundreds of Westmont students, neighbors, and Preview/Visiting students. In the early morning after the immediate danger had passed, students were allowed to access their cars in certain parking lots and leave the campus. Others remained in the gym until they found a ride off campus. Friends, family, local churches, and other sources provided temporary housing to refugees.[10]

Classes resumed December 1 with the semester ending, as originally planned, on December 19, 2008.[11]

Academics

Westmont is ranked #90 in the US News & World Report "America's Best Colleges 2012" list of liberal arts colleges.[12] The Templeton Foundation has recognized Westmont as one of the nation’s top 100 colleges committed to character development.[13]

Westmont offers 26 majors, including: alternative major, art, biology, chemistry, communication studies, computer science, economics and business, education program, engineering physics, English, history, European studies, kinesiology, liberal studies, mathematics, modern languages (English, French, German, and Spanish), music, philosophy, physical education, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, social science, sociology / anthropology, and theatre arts.[17]

The student/faculty ratio is 12 to 1; 96 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty have earned terminal degrees.[18] The average class size is 18 students.[19] The students come from 25 states, 11 countries, and 33 Christian denominations. The graduation rate in 4 years is 87 percent.

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.

The weekly student newspaper is the "Horizon." It can be found online on its website.

Each summer, Westmont hosts a number of summer programs including the Summer Science Program, which teaches astronomy to high school students. The Westmont campus features a 24-inch telescope.

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.

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 330 miles south of San Francisco.

The campus itself resides in the hills of Montecito and features 110 acres (45 ha) of hills, gardens, and trees. A small creek runs though the campus. It is often dry during summer and autumn months and typically full during the rainy spring months. It 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 (formerly known as New Dorm and Everest), 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. Some upper classmen students live in the Ocean View Apartments, a college-owned apartment building on the east side of Santa Barbara.

The campus was heavily damaged during the Tea Fire in the Montecito hills, though no injuries were reported on the campus.[23] Westmont is located in a high fire area with limited access via narrow winding roads. As a condition of approval of their Master Plan Westmont agreed to the controversial “shelter in place” also called “stay and defend” procedure in case of a wildfire.[24][25] During the fire, students who were on campus were evacuated to the Gymnasium, which was considered fireproof. The Physics Lab, Psychology Building, Math Building, and many of the faculty homes were destroyed. Two of the residence halls in Clark residence hall were severely damaged, along with the RD cottage.[26] With the recovery phase initiated over the weekend, faculty and staff were allowed back on campus November 17, but the school was scheduled to remain closed to students until December 1.[27]

Off-campus programs

Off-campus programs are an important part of the Westmont experience with over 60 percent of students participating in a program at some point in their studies. Westmont offers a number of off-campus programs. These programs are run with a faculty member and include the Europe semester, England Semester, Westmont in Mexico, and the San Francisco Urban program. Some students choose to participate in semester exchanges at one of the colleges in the Christian College Consortium, such as Gordon College, Houghton College, Seattle Pacific University, and Wheaton College (IL). Additionally, many students participate in other qualifying programs, including semesters in New Zealand, Belize, Washington DC, Chile, Italy, France, and Lithuania. Students receive transferable credit while they live and study abroad in these different programs. Some students work in internships while they are off campus, and many choose Washington DC or the San Francisco Urban program for this purpose.

School traditions

Westmont hosts a popular annual student event entitled Spring Sing, which in past years has been held at the Santa Barbara County Bowl or UC Santa Barbara auditorium. 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 and original choreography. The lyrics are usually changed to reflect a humorous progression of the skit's main story. The dorm that wins has bragging rights for the next year.

Past sweepstakes winners have been Van Kampen Men (2011) and Armington Men (2010).

Another very popular program is Potter's Clay. Many students travel during spring break to Ensenada, Mexico for this ministry program. Students interact with the local population and churches to help with construction, Vacation Bible School, and medical work.

Student Life Statement

Westmont College, an openly Christian education facility, asks all incoming students, trustees, administrators, faculty, and staff to sign a Community Life Statement.[28] In it a member of the Westmont Community will find a guide regarding what is to be expected of their lifestyle and behavior while at Westmont. While living up to these guidelines might be found difficult, one school administrator explained, "I would say, as with all students, we want to care and love them along the way." [29]

A recent letter cited the "doubt, loneliness and fear" that some gay and lesbian students have felt. After alumni added their support to the same letter, a Westmont representative responded saying, "I would love for us to be a safer place to talk about those questions than we are," Also pointed out was the school’s diversity statement, an excerpt of which reads "Westmont does not tolerate racial, ethnic, religious or gender slurs, or other forms of verbal abuse; threatening behavior or threatening messages; the creation of a hostile environment; or any form of harassment." [29]

In evidence of the respect being shown, the same administrator also stated "We're hoping to do a better job of talking to and loving each other and holding true to our scriptural principles."[30]