Westmont College

The Westmont College women's volleyball team defeated Southern California College, 15-10, 15-11, 3-15, 15-5, Tuesday night in the NAIA District 3 season opener for both. The Vanguards are 0-3 overall.

Her final pep talk wasn't a pep talk at all. Kirsten Moore was beyond pep. Her final pep talk, given while surrounded by her Westmont College women's basketball team before the NAIA national championship game, was her chance to say thanks. Moore thanked her team for keeping her soul alive. She thanked them for sitting in the third row for her husband's funeral, for playing with her infant daughter in the third row of the team bus, for sharing her pain and embellishing her joy. She thanked them for their patience when she was weeping at an unseen memory, or staring blankly into an uncertain future, or disappearing just before tipoffs to nurse her child.

Westmont College defeated Chapman Wednesday, 2-1, in a nonconference men's soccer team at Westmont. Westmont's Paul Howda scored the game's opening goal but the Panthers' John Long tied the score at 1-1 on an assist by Rick Snyder at the 37-minute mark. The Warriors' Dan Pilcher thenscored the winning goal with 77 minutes elapsed. Chapman is 2-2.

Bobby Braswell, the basketball coach at Cal State Northridge since 1996, is out as coach. The school announced that it would not renew his contract. Brandon Martin, the school's new athletic director, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon, "I want to thank Coach Braswell for his 17 years of service and contributions to our men's basketball program and the university community at large. I wish Coach Braswell and his family all the best moving forward. " Braswell, a Northridge graduate, had been the coach for 17 seasons, compiling a 251-258 record.

Westmont College, an evangelical Christian school near Santa Barbara, has inaugurated Stan D. Gaede as the seventh president of the 60-year-old school. Gaede, who replaces David Winter, has been working in the post since July. Winter retired after a 25-year stint as head of the college. The new president is a graduate of Westmont, where he finished in 1969 before earning a doctorate in sociology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 1974.

Westmont College, the 1,200-student Christian university that was damaged in last week's disastrous Tea fire, announced Wednesday that none of its current students were involved in the incident that sparked the blaze. On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said the fire that damaged or destroyed 219 homes was ignited by a group of 10 students who had built a bonfire and abandoned its smoldering remains. The department, however, did not say which school the suspects attended, raising speculation among some residents that the students attended Westmont.

Choosing material for student theatrical productions carries its own unique opportunities and pitfalls. A young cast, unburdened with tradition, can bring fresh, even exhilarating energy to familiar landscapes. But a time-honored classic can also exceed the repertoire of student performers--especially if it deals with subjects outside their life experiences.

Send in the clowns--and the fairies, and the snake charmers. So might the theme song go if 18th-Century Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi were plying his trade today. A master synthesist, Gozzi combined some of the leading theatrical traditions of his time.

Her final pep talk wasn't a pep talk at all. Kirsten Moore was beyond pep. Her final pep talk, given while surrounded by her Westmont College women's basketball team before the NAIA national championship game, was her chance to say thanks. Moore thanked her team for keeping her soul alive. She thanked them for sitting in the third row for her husband's funeral, for playing with her infant daughter in the third row of the team bus, for sharing her pain and embellishing her joy. She thanked them for their patience when she was weeping at an unseen memory, or staring blankly into an uncertain future, or disappearing just before tipoffs to nurse her child.

Officials at Westmont College in Montecito announced Friday that the school had received a $75-million gift -- one of the largest donations ever made to a liberal arts college in the U.S. With just 1,200 students, the Christian-oriented school probably will use the bulk of the money to construct several long-planned buildings on its leafy campus, said President David K. Winter.

When Melissa Durkee was in her senior year at Westmont College, her grades were outstanding, she was fielding offers from top law schools ? and she was stricken by fear. "I was terrified that I'd be found out as someone dating a woman and that I'd be expelled," said Durkee, who went on to Yale Law School and a New York law firm. Durkee is one of 31 gay and lesbian Westmont alumni who earlier this month roiled the Christian college in Montecito with an open letter in the college newspaper that spoke of the "doubt, loneliness and fear" they felt on a campus where homosexuality is taboo.

Westmont College, the 1,200-student Christian university that was damaged in last week's disastrous Tea fire, announced Wednesday that none of its current students were involved in the incident that sparked the blaze. On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said the fire that damaged or destroyed 219 homes was ignited by a group of 10 students who had built a bonfire and abandoned its smoldering remains. The department, however, did not say which school the suspects attended, raising speculation among some residents that the students attended Westmont.

Harrison Hill kicked through the smoke of uncertainty, the soot of fear, finding the back of the net with a solid right foot on a spotless white ball. He kicked the first goal, the only goal his Westmont College team would need, then he turned and ran. He ran past the teammate who, at this moment, owned only the uniform on his back. He ran past a teammate who had prepared for the game by searching Craigslist for a place to sleep.

Reports continue to pour in on the extent of the damage from the Tea fire in the Montecito area. Hard hit was Westmont College, which posted this on its website Friday morning: "Westmont has lost eight structures, four buildings in Clark halls (F,G,M,S), the physics building, the old math building and the two Quonset huts. The [latter] three structures were scheduled for demolition soon. "Fourteen faculty homes in Las Barrancas have burned; there is damage to trees and wooded areas on campus, but much of the formal gardens remains intact.

The Westmont College gym was itchy hot and getting hotter. Eye-burning smoke seeped inside, despite the blue duct tape covering the cracks between the double doors. As campus officials repeatedly assured about 800 students and faculty that this sturdy, cinder-block gym was the safest place to be, some evacuees formed prayer circles on the wooden floor. Others made frantic cellphone calls to family and friends. One played a guitar and sang.

Officials at Westmont College in Montecito announced Friday that the school had received a $75-million gift -- one of the largest donations ever made to a liberal arts college in the U.S. With just 1,200 students, the Christian-oriented school probably will use the bulk of the money to construct several long-planned buildings on its leafy campus, said President David K. Winter.

When Melissa Durkee was in her senior year at Westmont College, her grades were outstanding, she was fielding offers from top law schools ? and she was stricken by fear. "I was terrified that I'd be found out as someone dating a woman and that I'd be expelled," said Durkee, who went on to Yale Law School and a New York law firm. Durkee is one of 31 gay and lesbian Westmont alumni who earlier this month roiled the Christian college in Montecito with an open letter in the college newspaper that spoke of the "doubt, loneliness and fear" they felt on a campus where homosexuality is taboo.

Roger Voskuyl, 95, president of Santa Barbara's Westmont College from 1950 to 1968, died Wednesday in Santa Barbara, the college announced. During his tenure, the 1,200-student Christian liberal arts college was accredited in 1958, added eight major buildings and increased enrollment from 218 to 700. Born in Cedar Grove, Wis., Voskuyl graduated from Hope College and earned a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University.

Westmont College will spend $400,000 over three years to boost minority enrollment and broaden curriculum on cross-cultural and global issues. The Campus Diversity Program will make the evangelical Christian college "a place that is hospitable to ethnic minorities," Provost Shirley Mullen said. Of 1,238 students, about 85% are white and 15% are members of minorities.