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As the academic year draws to a close, the ���ϰٿ� music department is set to showcase a global repertoire in a series of final concerts and recitals. The season’s highlights include two major choral performances that celebrate Latin American traditions and serve as a formal send-off for the college’s upcoming international tour.

Fourteen graduating art majors will present their capstone projects in an exhibition that reencounters their cultural identity, family history and patterns, and art historical traditions from April 9-May 9 in the ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. There will be a free, public opening reception for “Reencounter” on Thursday, April 9, from 4-6 p.m. in the museum. 

Kim Denu, ���ϰٿ� provost and dean of faculty, serves as the keynote speaker for the annual Good Friday Breakfast, “Keeping Hope Alive,” on April 3 beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the . Tickets, which cost $70 each, may be purchased at .

It was a night full of laughs and surprises March 28 at the as ���ϰٿ� celebrated its 65^th year of Spring Sing, where students from each residence hall produce musical skits to compete for prizes and bragging rights. Spring Sing, the longest running ���ϰٿ� tradition, involves hundreds of students who use song, dance and faculty/staff appearances to tell a comedic story about this year’s theme, “That’s Classic!”

The ���ϰٿ� Women’s Leadership Luncheon, an inspiring community event dedicated to educating, enriching and empowering women, features keynote speaker, renowned author, former diplomat and trusted advisor to Fortune 50 companies, on Friday, April 24, from 12–1:30 p.m., with check-in beginning at 11:30 a.m., at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.

A ���ϰٿ� Downtown Lecture will explore AI's real-world implications on Thursday, April 23, at 5:30 p.m. at ���ϰٿ� Downtown | Keith Center,

Members and supporters of the ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art experienced California’s Owens Valley and the Sierra Nevada on a unique trip Feb. 27-28 with stops at , the and nearby ancient petroglyphs.

About 120 junior high and 40 high school students enjoyed a special matinee performance of “Little Women” by the ���ϰٿ� Theater Arts Department on March 5 in Porter Theatre. The event, made possible through a grant from the Towbes Fund for the Performing Arts, brought students from La Colina, Santa Barbara and La Cumbre Junior Highs as well as Santa Barbara High to a live performance, many for the first time. 

Violinist Nathan Schafer of Highland won the ���ϰٿ� Music Department’s 14^th annual Guild Scholarship Competition and was awarded the $15,000 annual Guild Scholarship on March 7 in Deane Chapel.

Student filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit their work for the fourth annual Montecito Student Film Festival, taking place Saturday, Nov. 14, at ���ϰٿ� in Montecito. The festival’s call for entries opened March 1, and submissions will be accepted through midnight on June 1.

World-renowned journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist emphasized the importance of global stability for economic prosperity, criticized the decline in civics education and stressed the irreplaceable value of a liberal arts education at the 21^st annual ���ϰٿ� President’s Breakfast on Feb. 27.

More than 100 people packed into the ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art on Feb. 24 to hear , an architectural and design historian, analyzes Los Angeles architecture through photographs Ansel Adams took on assignment there in the 1940s. The talk, “,” contrasted Adams’ iconic nature photos with those he captured of Los Angeles' industrial landscape. 

���ϰٿ� ecologist Laura Drake Schultheis shares her research about plant flammability and defensible spaces in the face of climate change in a ���ϰٿ� Downtown Lecture on Wednesday, March 11, at 5:30 p.m. at ���ϰٿ� Downtown | Keith Center, . The talk, “Rooted in Resilience: Adaptive Planting Strategies in Wildland-Urban Interfaces,” is free and open to the public.

�±���ٳ��DzԳ�’s Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Research Center have announced the finalists of their annual book award. The winner of the Dallas Willard Book Award, which was created in 2015 to highlight the intellectual legacy of Willard, will be announced in May or June. Willard was a best-selling author and beloved philosophy professor at USC.

The ���ϰٿ� Alumni Office launched its first Alumni Day of Service for alumni, students and staff with more than 50 volunteers serving on Feb. 7 across five different sites.

The ���ϰٿ� Observatory opens to the public for a rare lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 3. This will be the last total eclipse that will be visible in Santa Barbara for at least the next three years. The observatory will open at 3 a.m. and will remain available until about 5 a.m. when the moon dips below the horizon. March's full moon, named a worm moon, will slowly turn into a blood moon, as the Earth's shadow completely covers the moon, filtering sunlight through our atmosphere and turning the lunar surface deep red or coppery brown. 

Here is a of the video. 

Mercury and Saturn are expected to make an appearance at this month’s free stargazing event Friday, Feb. 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and lasting several hours at the ���ϰٿ� Observatory.

Madeline Fanton remembers the first chapter book she read as a child: “Little Women.” Now, the visiting professor of theater arts directs �±���ٳ��DzԳ�’s production of the novel by , adapted by Kate Hamill, on Feb. 27-28 and March 6-7 at 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 28 and March 7-8 at 2 p.m., all in Porter Theatre.

���ϰٿ� senior Ashley Clark, an English and theater arts double major from Henderson, Nevada, participated in the ’s competitive five-month filmmaking program. During that time, she wrote a screenplay, “Deus Ex Machina.” The festival paired her with UC Santa Barbara international student Can Basoglu, who directed the short film that premieres during the festival Saturday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre.

More than 60 exceptional mathletes from seven Southern California high schools matched wits in the 37th annual ���ϰٿ� Mathematics Field Day at the Montecito campus. The event included a variety of activities, including group problem-solving, individual math presentations, called Chalk Talks, hands-on construction of 3-D models, and the popular and sometimes stressful College Bowl with Jeopardy-like buzzers.

William Morris, a faith-based climate activist, shared his journey of growing up near an oil refinery in Torrance to his current work in environmental justice. The lecture was the first of a new series about careers in environmental studies hosted by Sustainable ���ϰٿ� and stemming from the college’s new environmental studies major.

shares snapshots of personal stories and lessons learned from nearly four decades in college athletics in a new book, “.”

Two ���ϰٿ� engineering students presented their research findings at the (ASME) Annual Meeting in November at Memphis.

���ϰٿ� has partnered with the (HCA) to guarantee graduates have a path to a bachelor’s degree. The Santa Barbara Unified School District approved the memorandum of understanding that guarantees academy graduates, who meet specific academic criteria, admission to ���ϰٿ� along with a minimum of $15,000 in institutional aid.

, English professor emeritus and former poet laureate of Santa Barbara, hosts the 17^th annual William Stafford Reading on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m. at the First Crossing Day Use Area in Los Padres National Forest, across from the old Los Prietos Boys Camp, 3900 Paradise Road. This is the former site of the Los Prietos Civilian Public Service Camp, where Stafford served as a conscientious objector during World War II.

Wendy Eley Jackson, assistant professor of English and film studies at ���ϰٿ�, recently joined the board of directors for the .

The ���ϰٿ� Observatory will highlight several celestial objects, including Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, the Pleiades, Jupiter and Orion's nebula at its monthly stargazing event Friday, Jan. 16, beginning about 6 p.m. and lasting several hours.

Emerging artist and ���ϰٿ� alumna ’18, who delicately illustrates wildlife and flora with a gentle, compassionate reverence, opens a solo exhibition, “Habitual Curiosity,” in the ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s downstairs gallery through June 20.

The ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art offers a groundbreaking exhibition that reveals a little‑known chapter of America’s most celebrated photographer in “Beyond the Wilderness: Ansel Adams in 1940s Los Angeles,” from Jan. 15-March 28. The museum hosts a free, public, opening reception for the exhibition on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 4-6 p.m.

Get ready for a morning of inspiration and stimulating insights at the 21st annual ���ϰٿ� President’s Breakfast, featuring world-renowned journalist and Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist . The annual early morning event will transform the Grand Ballroom into a vibrant epicenter of ideas and conversation on Friday, Feb. 27, from 7–9 a.m.

The ���ϰٿ� Opera Orchestra and more than a dozen cast members will sing, dance and swashbuckle their way through “Pirates of Penzance,” a hilarious story of adventure, danger and romance on Friday, Jan. 23, and Sunday, Jan. 25, both at 7 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which cost $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors, may be purchased online at westmont.edu/boxoffice.

���ϰٿ� celebrated the accomplishments of 25 new graduates of the ���ϰٿ� Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing program at a pinning ceremony Dec. 18 before a standing-room only crowd at Montecito Covenant Church. This is the sixth cohort to graduate from the 16-month accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program, housed at 26 W. Anapamu.

Christine Seibert, �±���ٳ��DzԳ�’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.

�±���ٳ��DzԳ�’s powerful Keck Telescope zooms in on the rings of Saturn on Friday, Dec. 19, beginning about 6 p.m. and lasting several hours at the ���ϰٿ� Observatory.  In case of cloudy weather, please call the Telescope Viewing Hotline at (805) 565-6272 and check the observatory website to see if the viewing has been canceled.

�±���ٳ��DzԳ�’s inaugural cohort of theological leadership students celebrated their graduation during a special dinner Dec. 4 in Hieronymus Lounge. This was the final event for the eight students who each shared a personal story about the impact of the program before they received their .

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a nearly $5 million grant to ���ϰٿ� for the college’s Sacred Stories Project, which will uncover, share and celebrate the vocational journeys of Christian young adults.

���ϰٿ� engineering’s fifth annual remote-control (RC) car showdown was packed with crashes, flips, stalls, missed turns—and, for the first time, a three‑car championship race. When then dust finally settled, the team of Ben Mandani and Isaac Silva, who launched their car, named NESI, more than five feet off a ramp to win a one-jump playoff, hoisted championship trophies Dec. 5 on Kerrwood Lawn.

Local artists Dane Goodman and Dug Uyesaka will speak about their works in the current exhibition on Monday, Dec. 15, from 4-5 p.m. in the ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The event, which includes refreshments, is free and open to the public.

The nation’s fastest-growing female sport comes to ���ϰٿ� in fall 2026. Since its NCAA Division II debut as an emerging sport in 2023, STUNT has blended the athleticism of cheer, dance and gymnastics into a high-impact competition celebrating teamwork, precision and power.

“We’re excited to create another thriving athletic program that attracts amazing student-athletes who want to succeed at ���ϰٿ�,” says Athletic Director Robert Ruiz. “We can become a strong regional competitor and take it to the highest level of NCAA DII.”

�±���ٳ��DzԳ�’s junior engineering students are revved up to battle it out in a three-part competition that includes racing around cones and distance jumping off a ramp on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 1:15 p.m. in front of Kerrwood Hall. Students use the 500-piece remote-control (RC) car they’ve made as part of their Machine Design class.

Thanksgiving is more than a holiday marked by turkey, pumpkin pie, and family gatherings—it is a reminder that gratitude begins the moment we recognize we are not owed anything, yet we have been given everything. In my Moral and Spiritual Psychology class at CS Lewis, I invite students to practice gratitude not as a fleeting habit but as a way of being, encouraging them to keep a weekly gratitude journal that thanks God for five things each week.

���ϰٿ� celebrates Advent with “Let There be Light!” a festive gathering, treats and ceremonial lighting and an opportunity to take photos with Santa on Tuesday, Dec. 2, from 4:30-6 p.m. on Kerrwood Lawn. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public.

, ���ϰٿ� professor of biology and director of environmental studies, has released the third volume in the “California Wild Neighbors” series, “,” with illustrations by ���ϰٿ� professors, staff, students, alums, children and others in the community.

The 21^st annual ���ϰٿ� Christmas Festival offers an unforgettable celebration of Advent with the college’s orchestra and choirs creating a magical atmosphere at the Granada Theatre Santa Barbara. Tickets, which cost $30 each, are selling quickly for both performances on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3 p.m. Purchase tickets at westmont.edu/christmas-festival or by phone at (805) 899-2222.

Alastair Su, ���ϰٿ� assistant professor of history, speaks about “Tariff Nation: Examining the Rise, Fall, and Return of America’s Most Contentious Tax” on Monday, Dec. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at the , 631 Garden St., in downtown Santa Barbara. The ���ϰٿ� Downtown Lecture is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations required.

About 70 art lovers braved the wet weather for the opening of “Between Planes: Exploring Sculpture Through Print” on Nov. 13 at the ���ϰٿ� Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The unique show examines prints made by sculptors, offering a glimpse into artistic thought process of an artist prior to creating a sculpture.

The spirit of “lucecitas” — glimmers of light — shone brightly on the ���ϰٿ� campus as nearly 200 enthusiastic students and their families gathered for the powerful fourth annual event, Affording Your College Dream on Nov. 1.