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The first Sabbath of the PUC school year was highlighted by two significant events: the first meeting of ONE Church and the installation of new lead pastor, Mark Witas. Although Pastor Witas has been preaching at PUC since June, the September 28 installation service was a ceremonial occasion, memorializing the beginning of a new school year and solidifying Witas’ position as part of the PUC church staff. A warm, inviting presence filled the sanctuary as the peals of the Healdsburg Bell vibrated in the air. Community members, side-by-side with college students and professors, listened as President Heather J. Knight welcomed the congregation to ONE Church. The college chorale, conducted by Bruce Rasmussen, provided worship in music alongside the praise team. Wendy Witas, new family ministries pastor, presented the children’s story, after which Jim Pederson, president of the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, introduced the new pastor. Pederson, who served as the interim head pastor during the 2012-2013 school year, sincerely welcomed Witas to the PUC church staff. For his first sermon as the newly installed lead pastor, Witas chose to kick off a three-part message entitled “What Saves Us.” The first segment of this message centered around the importance...

Eight weeks into their 2013 season, PUC’s Pioneers Women’s Volleyball team has more than doubled their win total from the previous best season record; a significant factor in this winning streak has been the play of senior Lauren Secchitano. Secchitano was awarded the California Pacific Conference Player of the Week for the week of September 30. The Pioneers have won three straight matches, improving their overall record 10-6, with Secchitano totaling 44 digs and 8 service aces. Secchitano, the team’s libero (defensive specialist), currently leads the CalPac Conference in digs with 265. “I am extremely proud of Lauren and she is very deserving of this award. She has been working hard since spring of last year and is always the first one in the weight room and in the gym getting extra reps,” states Head Coach Brittany Brown. “There is a lot of hard work behind the award.” Secchitano is the second Pioneers player to receive the Player of the Week recognition this season; Jenna Glantz, a junior outside hitter, received the award the week of August 25 after her outstanding performance in the lady Pioneers’ four-game win streak at the Mustang Invitational in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “It is always...

Thirty Pacific Union College students will be dedicating their time and talents to God by serving as student missionaries during the 2013-2014 school year. From medical clinics in the Amazon to classrooms in South Korea, these students are answering the call to serve God by serving others. The thirty young men and women are an exciting increase from the eight students who served during the 2012-2013 year. The renewed commitment to service demonstrates an exciting revival of long-term mission service as they join the 1,300 student missionaries that have served from PUC during the college’s history. Robert Henry, a theology major from Riverside, Calif., started his service as a teacher at Indonesian Adventist University on August 1, 2013. “The main reason why I decided to become a student missionary is because I saw the need,” Henry shares. “Last fall Pastor Jose Rojas came to PUC for a midweek vespers speaking on the topic of missions. That night I made the commitment to serve for a year overseas; with God's leading and the assistance of the PUC missions office it has become a reality.” The office of service, justice, and missions is excited that Henry and his classmates have answered the...

The Pacific Union College church was full to capacity for the college’s Convocation ceremony as PUC alumna and para-athlete Erica Davis encouraged the student body to set high goals for themselves and have determination and faith. Davis, who became paralyzed from the waist down soon after graduation, is an accomplished para-athlete and the first paraplegic woman to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. She now works with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, encouraging other athletes with disabilities to reach for their full potential. “There is always a way to figure it out and do something,” Davis said, referring to her determination as she tries new sports from rock climbing to open water jet skiing. “That’s why I don’t like the word can’t.” After sharing her lifelong passion with sports with the gathered faculty, staff, and students, Davis told the audience about the only race she has ever quit: a cross country running race she participated in as a PUC student, a decision she regrets to this day. She then recounted her recent experience at the Paratriathalon World Championships in rainy London; though the slick roads made moving her handcycle challenging and caused other racers to give up, Davis finished in the...

Over 175 students and sponsors from twenty-one academiescame to campus September 3-5, 2013, for PUC’s twenty-third PublicationWorkshop. The annual event is an opportunity for the staff of academyyearbooks, newspapers, and other publications to gain the knowledge andinspiration to plan and execute their best publications.John Osio, a teacher at Pine Hills Adventist Academy inAuburn, Calif., brought a group of yearbook students to the workshop. “Mystudents that attend always walk away with added excitements about elementsthey want to include or improve upon in our yearbook,” Osio explains. “PublicationWorkshop really provides them with those tools.”This year, twenty presenters taught over fifty sessions onvital publication skills. Students learned how to utilize design andphotography software; strengthen writing, design, and photography skills; andedit video yearbooks. Professionals from the publications industry, educators,college student leaders, and recent PUC graduates presented each session.Rajeev Sigamoney, an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter who recently wona $10,000 prize at the 2013 Sonscreen Film Festival, gave the keynote address. Sigamoneyis the director of PUC’s film and television program in the department ofvisual arts.“It isour hope that the Publication Workshop will provide these students withspiritual insight, leadership skills, and the knowledge they need to enhancetheir school publications,” shared workshop directors Milbert Mariano andPatrick Vogelpohl.The closing...

Pacific Union College’s department of advancement and alumni relations has welcomed new staff and set forth a new vision for connecting with PUC alumni and friends. Walter Collins, the recently appointed vice president for advancement and alumni relations, and the department have set forth a mission-minded strategic plan meant to serve and minister to the college’s constituents, including PUC’s 25,000-member alumni family. “We really see ourselves as a catalyst for connection, a catalyst for service, and a catalyst for mobilization,” shares Collins. A product of K-12 Adventist education who attended Conejo Adventist Elementary School and Newbury Park Adventist Academy, Collins received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. He most recently worked as executive director of the California Symphony Orchestra, during which time the orchestra received a National Endowment for the Arts award and doubled its number of donors. Previously, Collins was the president and CEO of United Way of the Wine Country, overseeing a three million dollar organization that was distinguished as the leading non-profit organization in Sonoma County, Calif. “I am simply delighted that Walter Collins has accepted our invitation to join the administrative team,” says PUC President Heather J. Knight. “His extensive experience in fundraising,...

On August 21, Service, Justice, and Missions CoordinatorFabio Maia and ten Pacific Union College students left for an eighteen-dayevangelism mission in Fiji with ShareHim and Quiet Hour Ministries. Eachstudent will be placed in a specific community where they will present thestory of Christ’s love and sacrifice each evening. Many of the students areactive in the college’s praise and worship teams and brought their instrumentsso they can share God’s love through music.Before the group departed, the students gathered inPresident Heather J. Knight’s office for a special blessing prayer led byPastor Mark Witas, the lead pastor of the PUC Church. Pastor Witas includedspecial prayer that God lead the group in doing good in His name. The group alsobonded by sharing a meal together before heading to the airport for theirflight to Fiji.For many PUC students, summer is the perfect opportunity todevote time to ministry and service. While some students work at summer campsor serve as literature evangelists, other groups get the experience of alifetime by sharing the gospel and serving local communities in places aroundthe world. The PUC community is invited to join in prayer for the team travellingto Fiji as well as other student groups currently on short-term mission tripsto Nicaragua...

This summer, the Pacific Union College Church welcomed its new lead pastor, Mark Witas, and pastor for family ministries, Wendy Witas, to the ministry team. Mark Witas will be officially installed as the new lead pastor Sept. 28, 2013. He delivered his first sermon at the PUC Church on June 22, 2013. A 27-year Church employee, Witas was most recently the lead pastor at the North Cascade Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Vernon, Wash. He has also served as a youth pastor, academy men’s dean, Bible teacher and chaplain for college and high school students. Witas has been a guest speaker for universities, academies, camp meetings, and special events worldwide. The author of “Born Chosen” and “Life Out Loud,” Witas’ new book, a youth devotional published by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, will be available in 2014. Witas holds a master of divinity degree from Andrews University, and completed his undergraduate degree in history and biblical studies at Seattle Pacific University. “God created me to teach and preach about His good character,” Witas says. “It's my joy to stand and deliver the good news about God each time we gather to worship in the PUC Church.” Wendy Witas is...

Perched above the Danube River on a Hungarian bridge barely a week after spring quarter finals had concluded, 20 PUC history students were back in class. Their 10-day tour of Eastern Europe, coordinated by the PUC history department, spanned Budapest, Hungary; Slovakia; Krakow, Poland; and Prague, Czech Republic. "This trip brought to life things that I had learned through my coursework,” says Hollie Macomber, history club president and president of the class of 2013. Led by history faculty Dr. Hilary Dickerson and Professor Ileana Douglas, and joined by biology professor Aimee Wyrick, this year’s tour focused on World War II in Europe and the Cold War era. The tour is a graduation requirement for history majors, and past tours include Australia and New Zealand (2012), Japan (2010), and England and the U.S.’s East Coast (2008); the course includes a research paper, five book reviews, and a journal of the sites visited. “The tour pursues the learning experience in historical locations and is an enrichment element to our academic curriculum,” says Douglas. During the 2013 spring quarter, students took two upper-division courses in Eastern European history, covering the causes and results of World War II, to prepare for their education abroad....

Thirteen new student-athletes will join the PUC student body this September, adding new strength and skill to the Pioneers women’s basketball team. “Each of these players brings a significant part of the game of basketball that our program needs,” states head coach George Glover. “I am excited to have the opportunity to coach incoming players that excel in the classroom as well as uphold the character and values of our women’s basketball program.” The incoming players are Victoria Aguilera, De’Ja Conger, Kristian Edwards, Shy’Anne Higa, Verleah Jones, Makana Kaaikala-Caban, Rachel Kaneakua, Alexa Martin, Kyra Navarette, London Robinson, Haley Ryals, Brittany Stegall, and Amber Washington. The new players make up the Lady Pioneers’ largest recruiting class in the history of the program. Four of the student-athletes are joining PUC as college freshmen. Shy-Anne Higa, a graduate of Modesto Christian High School, will major in bio-chemistry with the goal of becoming a physician. London Robinson was a four-year varsity starter for the Oakland Tech High School Bulldogs, and chose PUC because she likes “the campus location and what PUC has to offer.” De’Ja “DC” Conger of Sacramento, Calif., comes to PUC with athletic recognitions that mirror her academic success. “De’Ja is a...