Blog Posts by Westmont

Local volunteers are heading back to Santa Barbara after working the past several days in Louisiana and Texas aiding victims of Hurricane Katrina. Twenty-one volunteers from Hope Community Church, Westmont and the community worked through the day Wednesday, Sept. 14, in Houston before driving back to the West Coast. The group is expected to arrive in Santa Barbara Friday night, Sept. 16, at about 6 p.m. They left Westmont last Saturday morning and arrived in Shreveport early Monday morning.

More than 90 volunteers from Westmont will put on sunscreen and work gloves Saturday morning. They’ll spend the day volunteering at several charitable organizations in Santa Barbara County as part of United Way’s Day of Caring. More than a thousand people are expected to take part in the county-wide effort, painting, gardening and sorting for over 40 charitable organizations. Last year, Westmont sent a team of 52 people. This year, thanks to a huge student response, Westmont is expecting 93 volunteers.

Westmont has honored two students with the Intercultural Leadership Award for the 2005-06 academic year. Jamie Gates and Gloria Tebelman will each receive a $3,700 award for their work on campus diversity.

Westmont established the award to develop and encourage student leaders who are committed to promoting diversity on campus. Applicants are required to encourage student interest, support and participation in intercultural activities. They must also organize an original intercultural campus activity.

A Westmont professor and a student researcher may be closing in on a cure for rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Eileen McMahon has discovered a strain of mice that spontaneously develops arthritis after about 50 days of age and may represent a new model of rheumatoid arthritis. Student Joel Wilcox will present some of the findings as part of A Celebration of Student Research at Westmont, this Thursday, Sept. 8, from 4-6 p.m. at the Founders Dining Room.

Santa Barbara crews will soon begin loading up supplies in preparation for a week-long hurricane relief effort in northwest Louisiana. A team of about 17 local volunteers will be leaving from Westmont’s Murchison Gym early Saturday morning.

Volunteers are expected to arrive in Shreveport, La., Sunday, and will work in area shelters and a distribution center to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Thanks to a $50,000 matching grant, the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont will reach out to underserved students this fall through an innovative Liberal Arts Ambassadors program. The collaborative project between Westmont and the University of La Verne involves college students from underserved groups engaging with prospective students in junior high and high schools.