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South Coast College Gets More Than $15 Million In Gifts

Westmont College has announced receiving $15 million in gifts, including one allowing the college to buy this downtown Santa Barbara building.
Brad Elliott
/
Westmont College
Westmont College has announced that it has received $15 million in gifts, including one gift that allows the college to buy this downtown Santa Barbara building.

A pair of gifts are the largest in Westmont College's history.

A South Coast college has received the two largest gifts in its history.

Montecito-based Westmont College received a total of more than $15 million.

Ed and Mollie Miller gave Westmont $8.2 million. The couple’s daughter went to Westmont more than three decades ago, and Ed Miller served on the college’s Board of Trustees.

The money is intended to expand an endowment established by the family years ago which has provided financial aid to hundreds of students.

Meanwhile, Celeste and Robert White gave the college $7.25 million. The money paid for the purchase of a downtown Santa Barbara building, which will help with the expansion of Westmont’s business and nursing programs. Celeste White is a current trustee for the college.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.