Westmont Magazine It’s My Westmont Now!

Miles Morrow ’23 describes his first visit to campus as eye-opening. “I didn’t realize college could be like Westmont,” he says. “It felt different than any other college visit. Everyone was smiling and welcoming and willing to help even when you don’t ask for it,” he says.” He visited as a junior in high school and stayed overnight to learn more about the community. Even though his parents are alums, he made the decision to make Westmont his home on his own.

Undecided about a major, Miles is considering economics and business, drawn by an interest in sports marketing. He played basketball in high school and has joined the scout team for women’s basketball at Westmont, playing against them several days a week during their practices. “It’s intense,” he says. He enjoys the experience, which helps him work on his game, as he may try out for the men’s team next year. For now, he’s focusing on his challenging classes.

Miles has attended some Black Student Union meetings and is thinking about joining the cooking club. He likes to cook, encouraged by his father, who cooks a lot for the family.

“Westmont encourages us to develop our own faith, and no one forces ideology on us,” he says. He appreciates chapel and the openness of the campus pastor in addressing difficult issues. “I like the way people at Westmont encourage us to be our own person and not just fit into the crowd.”

Miles’ mother, Sally Hartman Morrow ’82 says Westmont spoke to her when she visited. An early art student, she created her own major focusing on graphic design. She had always wanted to play for a soccer team, and her husband David encouraged her to try out. She developed strong friendships with some of the players. Sally later completed a second degree at Art Center College of Design and has worked as a graphic designer throughout her career. She started at a design firm in San Francisco, where she created materials for the city’s opera, ballet and zoo, as well as for corporate clients. The Morrows then moved to Portland, Oregon, and Sally spent 14 years with an ad agency, Sandstrom Partners, working her way up to creative director and partner. She founded her own business, Sally Morrow Creative, in 2013.

David Morrow ’84 majored in economics and business and played basketball, recruited by Chet Kammerer and Randy Pfund. John Moore (now head coach for men’s basketball) graduated just before he came and gave David his first tour of Westmont. Following Sally to San Francisco, David worked at Esprit, developing effective processes for tracking inventory and managing people before doing something similar for AutoDesk. In Portland, he joined a startup creating automatic voice recognition software, and he established a customer service department with big corporations as clients. One of them, Nike, offered him a job, and he managed a large department that created marketing materials from design through delivery. The Morrows moved to the Bay Area for three years while David worked for another startup setting up wireless networking for small businesses. He then joined the design agency where Sally worked, and he now manages Sally Morrow Creative.

“Westmont gave me such a wonderful foundation,” Sally says. “I connected easily to people in the community and always felt supported.” She appreciates Westmont’s size, as her daughter, Sophia, enrolled first at a large, impersonal university before transferring to a small college, where she has thrived.

“We love hearing Miles’ enthusiasm for Westmont,” Sally says. “We knew it would be a challenge, and he was ready for it and is excited about it.”

Share a story about your student by emailing the magazine editor. Know some students you think would benefit from Westmont? Send their names and contact information to admissions@westmont.edu.