Michael Towbes to Receive Westmont Medal
Michael Towbes, one of Santa Barbara’s leading philanthropists will receive the Westmont Medal at Commencement, which returns to the college’s newly renovated Russell Carr Field Saturday, May 8, at 10 a.m. Last year, new construction and rebuilding from the Tea Fire forced the graduation ceremony off campus.
Towbes, chairman of both The Towbes Group and Montecito Bank & Trust and chief financial officer of The Towbes Foundation, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University who attended graduate school at MIT.
The Westmont Medal honors those whose lives embody the very principles associated with the Judeo-Christian character of the college. These men and women give substance and credence to our beliefs and serve as effective role models for our students.
As a community leader, Towbes has served and chaired innumerable local non¬profit boards. He was president of the Santa Barbara Foundation and served on the board of Cottage Hospital for 27 years, including five years as its chair. He has made multi-million-dollar gifts to create the Granada Performing Arts Center and to assure the continued presence of the classical music radio station KDB.
Richard J. Foster, author and founder of Renovaré, presents the Commencement address, “The Humiliation of the Word in Our Day,” a title taken from Jacques Ellul’s “The Humiliation of the Word.” Foster, best known for his book “Celebration of Discipline,” co-authored “Longing for God: Seven Paths of Spiritual Devotion” with Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe.
Commencement will feature 330 graduates this year, 119 with honors. Among the students graduating with honors will be Colleen Atkinson, Westmont administrative assistant to the campus pastor and chapel coordinator for more than eight years. Atkinson has had a lifelong desire to complete the college education she began more than 40 years ago. This aspiration will culminate with her walking with her class as a religious studies major.
Three Monroe Scholars will graduate: Elri ten Brink, a biology major from San Diego, Calif., Daniel Wendler, a double major in Spanish and economics and business from Carlsbad, Calif., and Andrea Owen, a Spanish major from Dallas, Texas. The Monroe Scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition scholarship offered to a few exceptionally high-achieving first-year students each year. It is the highest academic honor an incoming student may receive.
Commencement is free and open to the public. However, there is no parking available on campus. Guests will need to park their cars at Santa Barbara City College and use Westmont’s free shuttle service to campus for the ceremony.