The Graduates of 2006

The warm, sunny days of June 16-18 reverberated with the festivities, dreams and exhilaration that always characterize graduation weekend. On Sunday, the 405 graduates of the Class of 2006 marched in PUC’s Commencement Grove, concluding their undergraduate experience.

The weekend was packed with family, receptions and ceremonies, and an inspiring array of speakers. The addresses were provided by Fred Kinsey, assistant to the president for communication at the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and former chair of the communication department at PUC; Jose Rojas, director of volunteer ministries and of the Office of Young Adult Ministries for the North American Division; Lieutenant Colonel Consuella B. Pocket, chief nurse from Travis Air Force Base; and Jonathan Gallagher, United Nations liaison director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Gallagher, who represents the Adventist Church at UN assemblies and interfaces with ambassadors, diplomats and staff of the UN, spoke for Commencement on Sunday. “I want you to wake up in the morning curious,” he told the graduates. Gallagher stressed the importance of asking questions and observing and analyzing everything for oneself. “The God who invented curiosity will make us curious to find him,” he said, referring the class to Jeremiah 29:13 and the assurance that “if you seek God you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart.”

Academic Dean Ileana Douglas and President Richard Osborn conferred 420 degrees on Sunday, with nursing and business administration majors taking the lead in numbers of graduates per department. In addition, 101 academic distinctions and honors were presented.