Institute for the Liberal Arts Named After President Gaede

To honor outgoing Westmont President Stan D. Gaede, the college has renamed the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont. The college has also completed funding toward its initial goal for the institute. David Eaton, who chairs the college board of trustees, made the announcement May 5.

Gaede helped establish the institute six years ago to explore and promote the liberal arts. This approach to education offers knowledge in a broad range of subjects as well as the flexible skills students need to succeed at work and in life, such as critical thinking, character development and communication.

“The institute will serve as a perpetual reminder to us and to future generations of this important legacy of the seventh president of Westmont College,” said Eaton. “Stan, we deeply appreciate your advocacy for the liberal arts and the national dialogue you have established. You will always be a part of us and of Westmont.”

The institute is funded through a $2.18 million endowment. Last year, the Fletcher Jones Foundation gave $500,000 to endow the institute, the lead grant toward an initial $2 million goal. Subsequent grants were made by another foundation in southern California, as well as gifts from other friends and colleagues of the Gaedes and Westmont.

The institute’s annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts brings together administrators and faculty leaders from colleges and universities nationwide to explore challenges and opportunities facing liberal arts education.

Thanks to grants and gifts from the Foundation for Independent Higher Education, the UPS National Venture Fund, Montecito Bank & Trust, and two friends of the college, the institute recently implemented the Liberal Arts Ambassadors program. The ambassadors reach out to prospective students from underserved backgrounds with the message that the benefits of a liberal arts education extend far beyond career preparation. In fact, underserved students who attend liberal arts colleges are more likely to graduate than those who attend public universities.

Gaede will leave Westmont in July after serving as the college president for the past five years. Previously he was provost for five years. He will return to Gordon College as senior scholar-in-residence at the Center for Christian Studies, which he founded. Before coming to Westmont he spent 22 years at Gordon as a professor and administrator. Gaede graduated from Westmont and earned a doctorate in sociology from Vanderbilt University.