Archives

During the 2010 General Conference World Session in Atlanta Georgia, the Hope Channel featured Pacific Union College President Heather Knight and PUC Outreach Chaplain Norman Knight on a special edition of “World of Hope.” The episode, taped on July 2 in front of a live studio audience in the World Session exhibit hall, focused on Knight’s appointment as PUC’s first female and black president and the couple’s ability to balance a high profile careers and family. Show host Kandus Thorp started the interview by asking how Heather manages such a hectic life as an administrator, pastor’s wife, and a mother of a large blended family. “Well, one thing I do believe is that when God calls on you to do something, he also empowers you and equips you to get the work done,” said Heather, who has worked in education for more than twenty years. Heather also stated that most important is to “start each day with prayer and you really have to ask God for wisdom.” The couple, who married in 2003, also shared how they raised eight children—all of whom are college graduates or completing their college degrees—by building a corporation of sorts with their family. “We put...

It's a June day in Atami, Japan, and a group of students and professors are getting a new lodging experience at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn where they sleep on mats on the floor, wear yukata (casual summer kimonos), and eat traditional food. While memorable, the ryokan experience is just one of many adventures on a ten-day trip introducing these 15 Pacific Union College students and three professors to Japan — modern and traditional — for two classes, an Asian seminar history class and a political science class on U.S. foreign relations. History professors Ileana Douglas and Hilary Elmendorf led the trip and taught the classes, and biology professor Aimee Wyrick went along just for the experience. The students met for several class periods on campus before departing; while on the trip, the learning took place almost entirely on the go, with some meetings or debriefings on buses between tour sites. Each student journaled the experience and chose a topic for a follow-up research paper. They started in Tokyo, exploring three shrines and a blend of modern and traditional culture. Then they visited ancient capitals Kamakura and Kyoto, spent time in a national park where they could view Mt....

Joining tens of thousands of Adventists from around the world in Atlanta, Georgia, Pacific Union College is represented at the 2010 General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Joining scores of other church organizations in the exhibit halls, PUC hosts a booth featuring service projects run by current students and alumni. President Heather J. Knight is one of the PUC administrators and staff representing the college at the session, and she was asked to write a "Voices in the Dome" piece for the Adventist Review, reflecting on a Sabbath service at the session. In the article, she writes, "We saw and experienced the beloved community of Christ, a people in one accord worshipping on the Sabbath day. This was beautiful to see—women and men adorned in their colorful native dress from so many countries around the world, yet there seemed to be no strangers there."...

At the center of academic success at Pacific Union College is the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). The TLC provides students with comprehensive academic support, helping students develop competencies that directly enhance their success in the classroom. Jennifer Wareham Best, TLC director, envisions what is necessary for student success. "My role is multifaceted and has an arm in student persistence, academic support programs, and academic problem-solving," she says. Wareham Best heads a TLC team that offers services such as academic mentoring and advising, group and individual tutoring sessions, and workshops and services catering to frustrated learners and students with learning disabilities. It is Wareham Best’s job not only to devise programs to support her vision to help students succeed, but also to hire people who love students and have a passion for their success to run these programs. “The things I like best about my job,” she says, “are strategic planning for student success and seeing the light come on in students’ eyes when these strategies work for them.” Valerie Yingling, TLC tutoring coordinator, is responsible for hiring and training student tutors who facilitate group study sessions for a wide variety of classes and also work one-on-one with students who...

In a ceremony held at the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Debra Winkle, the director of Med Tech/LVN to RN programs for Pacific Union College, was made an Honorary Commander of the 60th Medical Group’s Inpatient Operations Squadron at David Grant USAF Medical Center. Winkle coordinates the nursing program for PUC that allows Licensed Vocational Nurses to complete a degree and become Registered Nurses, and she runs a branch of this program for medical technicians at Travis. It's the only on-base nursing program in the Air Force, and it's given many Med Techs a chance to complete a degree — despite full-time jobs, families, and deployments — which has the potential to move their careers forward, both in and out of the military. So on April 15, when Colonel Lynne Taylor, 60th Inpatient Operations Squadron commander, presented Winkle with the squadron flag and Commander's pin, 60 IPTS personnel gave Winkle a standing ovation. The goal of the Honorary Commander program is to nurture a link between civilian supporters and senior leadership at Travis AFB. According to the program guide, Honorary Commanders can be nominated from a variety of community affiliations to "assure an exchange of...