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Given the current political landscape, David Gergen offered a voice of optimism as he spoke to 170 people about his experiences as former adviser to four U.S. presidents on Nov. 20 at the Coral Casino. The luncheon was part of the Mosher Foundation’s series on Moral and Ethical Leadership in American Society.

��������app kicks off the Christmas season with the 14th annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Kerrwood Lawn on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m. Following caroling and the annual Pickle Address, a mystery tree lighter will throw down the massive switch that lights a 150-foot redwood tree, affectionately known for the past 10 years as the Pickle Tree. The event is free and open to the public.

The 11^th annual ��������app Christmas Festival, a popular family tradition in Santa Barbara, features early and contemporary holiday music Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. all at First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave. The Saturday evening concert has already sold out.

Tracy McKenzie, , examines how Americans remember their national heritage on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 3:30 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge at Kerrwood Hall.

Tickets to the 11th annual ��������app Christmas Festival go on sale Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5 p.m. This year’s performance, "I Will Give you as a Light to the Nations," will be Dec. 4-5 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. all at First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave.

The ��������app Fall Dance Concert, “Just Dance!” featuring more than 20 student dancers and choreography by faculty members Susan Alexander and Christina Sanchez, is Friday, Dec. 11, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., all in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which cost $10 for general admission; $7 for students, seniors or children, may be purchased online at westmont.edu/boxoffice or by calling (805) 565-7140.

��������app students will perform many of the funniest, most moving and memorable songs of the musical theater canon Friday, Nov. 13, at 9 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. in Porter Theatre.

(Friday Update 9 a.m.)  Thanks to the incredible efforts of firefighters and air crews
yesterday, the situation with the Gibraltar Fire continues to be
stable. All classes and activities at ��������app, including Preview Days, will
proceed as usual.

Beginning in fall 2016, ��������app will award scholarships covering $140,000 for four years of study to 30 applicants each year. An extraordinary gift from a generous donor will fund the new . By 2019, 120 Augustinian Scholars will benefit each year from significant financial assistance and challenging coursework.

��������app alumna ’09, who graduated from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015, has written two plays being produced Oct. 16-24 at ��������app. “Good Day,” directed by Mitchell Thomas, ��������app associate professor of theater, is Oct. 16-24 at 7 p.m. in Porter Theatre.

Mark Sargent, , and Cynthia Toms, , will dissect the challenging issues of our food economy and the lives of farmworkers after a screening of the film “

The first clue that this is no ordinary crowd of sulky teenagers comes when the instructor asks those who’ve invested in the market to raise their hands. Most hands go up. As a financial planner explains the benefits of investing, one boy interrupts. “What do you suggest investing in right now?” asks Liam Whitfield, 18, a senior at a private Seattle high school, with swooping bangs and a shaggy sweater. The speaker, from a local investment firm, suggests a standard mix of 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds. Whitfield looks disappointed.

The ��������app Observatory will host an informal gathering to view the lunar eclipse on Sunday, Sept. 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m. However, the blood moon will be too low in the evening sky to use ��������app’s telescopes.

Franciscan Friar Junípero Serra, joined by a Native American companion, walked from San Diego to Mexico City for an unannounced visit with Viceroy Antonio Maria Bucareli y Ursúa in 1773. Another friar had told him of a soldier who had raped two native women. Father Serra, nearly 60, was so outraged he decided he was going to do something about it, according to archeologist Ruben Mendoza.

The ��������app Music Department jumps into a new season with a free faculty recital featuring original music on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in Deane Chapel. For more information about the Fall Faculty Recital, please contact Michelle Starrh at (805) 565-6040.

��������app jumped three spots and is ranked in the by U.S. News & World Report for the seventh straight year. “America’s Best Colleges, 2016 Edition” lists ��������app as tied for No. 93 out of the nation’s 245 liberal arts colleges.

Four new talented professors joined the ��������app faculty this fall. Donald Patterson (computer science), Ronald See (psychology), Amanda Silberstein (chemistry) and Sameer Yadav (religious studies) arrived in August and have begun teaching.