Blog Posts by Westmont

Hundreds of students, alumni and neighbors donning mittens and scarves will celebrate the start of the Christmas season at the fourth annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Westmont’s Kerrwood Lawn next week. The 70-foot redwood tree on the lawn will come aglow at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 30.

Santa Claus will stop by for free pictures with kids inside Kerrwood hall. Warm apple cider and cookies will also be available.

Westmont alumni are invited to mingle in the president’s office at 4:30 p.m. before the tree lighting ceremony.

Westmont’s Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra will present a joint concert this week on campus. The free, public concert will be Friday, Nov. 18, at Deane Chapel, 8 p.m.

The wind ensemble will be under the direction of new Westmont music instructor Paul Mori. The 20-piece large ensemble is made up of brass, woodwind and percussion players. The large ensemble will feature compositions such as “Ode to Greensleeves” and Alfred Reed’s “Russian Christmas Music.” Trio and quartets from the ensemble will perform pieces by classic masters, such as Debussy and Mozart.

Roger Voskuyl, who served as president of Westmont College from 1950 to 1968, died Nov. 9 in Santa Barbara at the age of 95. The Harvard-educated chemist, who participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II, led Westmont during a crucial time in its history.

Westmont is hoping the allure of slime and liquid nitrogen ice cream will get youngsters interested in science. The college’s chemistry students recently held a Family Science Night at Westmont with another event scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 7-8:30 p.m.

About 35 fifth grade students and their parents came to the first event and made dry ice balloons, methane bubbles and explosions along with slime and ice cream.

Representatives from at least 29 graduate programs from around the country will be taking part in Westmont’s annual Graduate School & Seminary Day Fair. The fair will be held from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on the Magnolia Lawn. In case of inclement weather, the event will move to the Kerr Student Center.

Representatives will speak to students and alums about what their programs have to offer.

For more information, contact Carrie Rydman-Hanley in the career and life planning office at (805)565-7333. For directions to campus, visit the college Web site at www.westmont.edu.

Westmont’s Reynolds Gallery will display the works of California painter R. Kenton Nelson beginning next month in an exhibition titled “Narrative Idealism.” The free exhibit runs Nov. 10-Dec. 16 at the gallery, which is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

There will also be a public opening reception and book signing with the artist, Thursday, Nov. 10, from 4-6 p.m. A new large-scale painting will be premiered at the opening reception.