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Dwight Nelson, the longtime Seventh-day Adventist pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church, recently retired after 40 years there. Yet, retirement hasn’t dimmed his passion. Instead, he is focused on living on the brink of eternity, the soon return of Jesus, and the undeniable challenges facing America—specifically, religious liberty and the dangerous rise of Christian nationalism.“I’m grateful to be coming to PUC—because I believe young adults are the strategic key to waking America up to this critical moment in history,” Nelson said in an interview. “We as a nation are fractured on practically every level of life and culture—racially, spiritually, economically, politically, socially—and I’m convinced the young are God’s essential endgame move to bring healing to America.”On March 1-2, Pacific Union College hosted the Northern California Conference’s (NCC) annual Religious Liberty Summit. The event centered on three powerful messages from Nelson and breakout workshops featuring several prominent presenters, including two Superior Court judges, a community organizer, the chief of staff for a California state senator, and a historian. The weekend event culminated in a panel discussion, fostering thought-provoking conversations on pressing religious liberty issues.NCC has sponsored religious liberty events for several years—three annually on this vital cause. These include the spring...

Pacific Union College recently announced that it received state approval for a new nursing training partnership with Adventist Health Sonora. The PUC education center will further the college's goals of growing its nursing program and help meet the rising need for highly qualified healthcare professionals in the Tuolumne County area. “In order to expand nursing education to rural areas, hospitals must partner with nursing schools,” said Kimberly Dunker, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at PUC. “Because of the long-standing history between our Adventist organizations, we are able to not only partner but share the same values and beliefs for nursing education and talent acquisition.”The Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) program will be open to Adventist Health employees and prospective students in the area looking to move into the nursing field. Pre-nursing classes will begin in April. The nursing program will commence in September.The California Board of Registered Nurses (BRN) and the Education Licensing Committee (ELC) approved the addition of 18 students to PUC’s nursing program at the Sonora site. This hard-won achievement results from a two-year collaborative effort by PUC and Adventist Health to establish a new nursing education center in an underserved area. Though California will...

Thanks to two recent grants, Pacific Union College’s Department of Visual Arts will begin this spring to construct a new and innovative media center.The Tonge Media Center in Fisher Hall will house an advanced audio and video studio with state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The center will provide high-quality video and audio production access to the entire campus community. Other components of the center will include an office, kitchen, dressing room, and various equipment storage rooms.The primary objective of The Tonge Media Center is to offer film majors invaluable hands-on experience with the latest technology and methods. The center also addresses a longstanding need at PUC for a streamlined content creation process.“The Tonge Media Center will allow Fisher Hall to become the heart of all media created and produced on PUC’s campus,” said Rajeev Sigamoney, chair of the visual arts department. “Not only will film students in visual arts benefit from the state-of-the-art technology, but every department, student, and employee on campus will have the ability to create and publish professional-level media with much greater ease than in the past.”Many other PUC departments frequently seek to produce polished videos for their web pages or social media platforms. Until now, they’ve had...

Pacific Union College alumni Andrew Fay, Drielly Martins, and Eva Yankee, all biology graduates, are currently pursuing medical education at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. They attribute their early success in medical school to the solid foundation established during their time at PUC.Each one praised the guidance and educational support provided by PUC’s biology department and professors and said their courses equipped them with the necessary skills and knowledge they would need to navigate the challenges of medical school.The three students graciously answered questions and shared valuable advice for current PUC students regarding study habits and personal growth.What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?Drielly Martins, originally from São Paulo, Brazil, attended Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo. Her interest in medicine was kindled in high school during a biology class when they studied the human body. “I was also drawn to a career in health care for the opportunity to serve others,” she said. “I specifically chose to pursue an MD degree because of the more intensive training and learning that comes with being a physician.”Andrew Fay grew up in Redlands, California, and attended Redlands East Valley High School. He said his grandfather, a neurologist, influenced him...

Sean Brizendine’s path toward the ministry had an unexpected beginning—a treasure hunt at Pacific Union College.In 2007, a campus-wide email presented Sean with an intriguing challenge: "Find the Top 20 Reasons To Be a Student Missionary and Receive $20." The task was straightforward—locate all the reasons scattered around PUC's campus, then present them at the chaplain's office.Sean wasted no time. He dashed from building to building, meticulously searching until he found all the reasons and wrote them down—ultimately clinching the prize as the first to complete the mission.As he claimed his reward from then-PUC Chaplain Anita Davies, a question lingered in Sean’s mind. “‘You’ve kind of piqued my curiosity,’” Sean recalled saying, “What do I need to do to become a student missionary?”Davies explained that he would need to complete a required form and be a Seventh-day Adventist.Sean was captivated by the proposition. He was a devout Christian who believed in the seventh-day Sabbath and attended PUC, but he was not a Seventh-day Adventist.Sean grew up in Modesto, California. His parents had Adventist backgrounds, met at Andrews University, and married in the Alpena Seventh-day Adventist Church. However, they later left the church after enduring several trials, including the loss of...