New Students Explore, Thrive in Wilderness

Twenty first-year Westmont students met on campus Aug. 9 before trekking through the Sierra backcountry north of Yosemite. Inoculum is a unique, 12-day orientation program that introduces students to Westmont and earns them two units of academic and physical education credit.

Faculty co-leaders Savannah Kelly, instructional services librarian, and alumnus Eric Meyer ’03, a doctoral candidate in theology at Fordham University, will lead one group. For about a decade, Meyer has served as a guide for Sierra Treks, the company that handles the outfitter and guide aspects of Inoculum.

Tom Fikes, professor of psychology and neuroscience, will lead a second group of students. Eileen McMahon, associate director of biology, directs Inoculum this year.

“I’m most looking forward to being in the wilderness without the constant interruptions of technology: cell phones, email and Facebook,” Kelly says. “It’ll be a rewarding opportunity to think deeply, talk with students and sit in silence.”

Students will read two books from Matthew Sleeth, “Serve God, Save the Planet” and “The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book is a Green Book.” They will also read selections from Annie Dillard, N.T. Wright, David Loy and Richard Beck. The trek begins in Bridgeport, Calif., and includes an introduction to rock climbing and peak climbing along the way.

“We learn what it means to be a human person — a biological organism with spiritual aspirations — in a world that seems to de-emphasize both,” Fikes says. “We live intensely and intentionally as a small community, stepping aside from life’s busyness, to bring together our faith and thoughts before starting four years at Westmont.”

Sierra Treks coordinator and Westmont alumnus Dave Willis ’74, who created the program in 1974 and still oversees the mountain end of it, says the experience can be a valuable one. “Participants get to know some other students they can rely on during the toughest first few weeks of school because of what they’ve done together in the mountains,” he says. “It helps students learn to explore, enjoy and protect wilderness. We hope students will get past thinking that wilderness is merely to be survived and finish Inoculum feeling they’ve thrived in the wilderness,” Willis says.