A Historic Moment

In a program complete with bell-ringing, the school song, and a telephone conversation with a 99-year old gentleman, PUC celebrated its rich history in a special colloquy on October 21.

Faculty and staff who were once PUC students gathered on the stage and led in an animated rendition of the PUC school song. Snippets of PUC history followed, along with a personal interview of president emeritus Malcolm Maxwell, a special music (also with historical significance), and religion professor Myron Widmer’s sharing about his journey, as a PUC student, from “an inherited religion” to “an owned religion.”

One of the classic moments of the program was when President Dick Osborn made an on-stage phone call to Ray Fowler, the oldest living PUC president. Dr. Osborn experienced some confusion as to the dialing procedure; Dr. Maxwell went up to assist, and together the two presidents spent several moments intently trying to figure out how to make the call—while the student body enjoyed the moment fully! The ensuing conversation with Mr. Fowler was a pleasant conclusion to the incident.

The colloquy program, which concluded with the ringing of the historic Healdsburg Bell, was coordinated by PUC student Morgan Wade, one of the college’s most devoted and passionate historians and archivists. Some students had anticipated a rather dull colloquy, but found instead a spirited program that gave them a glimpse of PUC’s larger picture and a sense of pride in their school.