Academics

Back by popular demand, musician and orator David Anthony Johnson returned to PUC’s Colloquy Speakers Series on April 30. Johnson, an alumnus of Oakwood University, has won multiple awards during his 30-year musical career, and has shared the stage with many names of note, including Rosa Parks, Johnnie Cochran, Maya Angelou, Take 6, Brian McKnight, Julian Bond, and others. Johnson’s Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Colloquy on January 8 featured his oration talent, imitating the style and manner of the eloquent equal rights activist. This time, however, Johnson spoke as himself, his speech entitled, “The Greatest of These.” After President Heather J. Knight introduced Johnson, he began by singing a song called “Ordinary People.” Johnson then shared his story of when he was a probation corrections officer in San Bernardino County. Johnson explained that in this role, he didn’t want to come across as soft, so he tried to hide his Christian faith from the inmates and the rest of the officers. “I tried to do everything that the world would do,” he said, as he explained that his “tough” act was only a false front. Johnson said he realized his pride was not allowing him to minister to the...

As part of the biennial Pacific Union College Heubach Lectureship series, Kendra Haloviak Valentine, Ph.D. will present a lecture entitled “God on the Move: The First Gospel and the Advent Movement” in Angwin on Saturday, May 30, at 4:00 p.m. Valentine is an associate professor of New Testament studies at the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School at La Sierra University in Riverside, California. She has published in journals, magazines, and books. Recent publications include “The Book of Revelation” in The Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics (2011), Signs to Life: Reading and Responding to John’s Gospel (2013, and Worlds at War, Nations in Song (2015). The lecture will take place in Paulin Hall Auditorium on the Pacific Union College campus. Admission is free. For more information, please call the PUC office of public relations at (707) 965-6303....

Pacific Union College’s alumni family numbers over 26,000 people,and each individual makes an important impact in their own community. Eachyear, Honored Alumni awards are given to graduates who demonstrate the best ofthis Pioneer Spirit. Though they finished their college experience in differentgenerations, each Honored Alumnus had something central in common: a passionfor answering God’s call to be a light in the world.On April 17 to 19, 2015, alumni and friends of Pacific UnionCollege gathered at “Our College on the Mountain” in Angwin, Calif., for aspecial and unique Homecoming Weekend recognizing the trails of service blazedby the many dedicated graduates of Pacific Union College. During a weekend fullof special events, eight individuals were recognized for their exemplaryservice with Honored Alumni and Honored Pioneer awards at a Friday eveningdinner in their honor.The 2015 Honored Pioneer recipient was Adu Worku, M.A.,M.S.L.S. Worku received the award, which is given to a non-graduate forexceptional service to the college, in recognition of his exceptionaldedication to the power and freedom of education. The director of libraryservices at PUC since 1985, Worku’s path to the Nelson Memorial Library beganin northwest Ethiopia, where his parents taught him an agrarian life. It took afreak accident to break the cycle of...

A group of Pacific Union College students enrolled in the Film & Television program traveled to La Sierra University in Riverside, Calif., for the annual SONscreen Film Festival on April 2-4, 2015. Students stayed busy by attending workshops, viewing film screenings, and meeting talented students from other Adventist colleges and universities as well as industry professionals. At the awards ceremony that wrapped up the festival, PUC’s own Mark Soderblom won the Jury Selection Award for his film The Pilot. PUC represented the largest group attending the festival with a total of 30 students. The 2015 SONscreen not only had keynote lectures and film screenings, but a mini-movie challenge as well. The students had a strict two-hour time limit to shoot and edit a film in teams. Featured speakers included Rik Swartzswelder, director and costar of Old Fashioned, and Jason Sutterland, director of The Record Keeper. In addition to the lectures, the professionals also held Q&A sessions with the students. Winning the Jury Selection Award was an “exciting moment for PUC,” said Soderblom, a sophomore. Soderblom’s documentary, shot entirely on his iPhone, is a showcases his brother and fellow PUC student Bryan Soderblom. Like many other students, Bryan was unsure of...

During the 2015 tax season, students in PUC’s Individual Taxation class put their knowledge to practical use on a community service project. 22 PUC students went to the Up Valley Family Center in St. Helena to help people earning less than $53,000 prepare their tax returns. Because of this collaboration between the college and the Up Valley Family Centers, these students were able to not only put classroom theory into actual practice, but were also helping the community in a tangible way. Professor of Business Administration Rodney Hardcastle introduced the service-learning project to his Individual Taxation class last year, and the results warranted the program be revisited this year as well. “PUC has been very fortunate to be able to forge a partnership with the St. Helena and Calistoga Family Centers to provide the community with free tax preparation services,” says Hardcastle. “The Family Centers provide this fantastic service to low-income taxpayers while PUC students taking the Individual Income Tax course are fortunate to be able to gain real life experience with individual income tax preparation.” From 2014 to 2015, the number of student participants nearly doubled. The students participated in a program called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)—a free...

Junior Laura Helms, Senior Daniel Moore, and Senior Carlo Péan presented original work to the international Sigma Tau Delta conference March 18-21. The group travelled to the conference in Albuquerque New Mexico with Professor of English Maria Rankin-Brown. The three English majors submitted papers to the English honors society earlier in the school year. About 30 to 40 percent of the total submissions were accepted to the student conference, during which process each piece underwent review by several experienced readers, usually college professors. Those whose work was accepted to the conference then had the option to travel to the international convention to present the piece in front of a specialized panel. Rankin-Brown mentioned that in the eight years she’s been at PUC, no one from PUC has attended the conference. This year, the PUC delegates represented not only the college, but also Sigma Tau Delta’s Western region, as the West Coast had the fewest attendees to this year’s conference. In addition to the students’ presentations, the PUC representatives were recognized at the conference award ceremony and received a commemorative plaque congratulating the PUC Alpha Delta Delta chapter for its 20-year anniversary. Rankin-Brown was one of the founding officers of the...

Stanley G. Payne is a respected historian, prolific author, and one of the leading authorities on the study of modern Spain and European fascism. On April 21, Payne will give a lecture as the Walter C. Utt Visiting Scholar. The free public lecture in Scales Chapel, entitled “Secular Religion and Millennialism in the Modern Age,” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Everybody has heard of politicized religion, which might show up in mild forms, such as the “social gospel” and the “religious right,” or in more virulent forms, including Muslim terrorist movements. But what about the opposite—“religionized” politics? Payne will be examining those political movements that “transpose millennial longings to seek to create a kind of utopia on earth.” Payne graduated from Pacific Union College in 1955 with a degree in history; inspired by PUC Professor Walter C. Utt, Ph.D., Payne pursued the life of an academic, taking his master’s at Claremont University. After receiving his doctorate at Columbia University, Payne shared his considerable knowledge as a lecturer and professor at multiple universities, including Columbia, Hunter, UCLA, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he retired as Professor Emeritus in 2005. Payne has written over 20 books, as well as many...

The Wedgwood Trio’s folk sound and songs celebrating the Gospel made them a favorite in the 1960s and 1970s. Now, Bob Summerour (guitar and banjo), Jerry Hoyle (string bass and harmonica), and Don Vollmer (Guitar) are returning to Pacific Union College for their first concert in decades as part of the Homecoming Concert Series. Joining the Trio are special guests Mark Bond and Christina Thompson. The free concert will take place on Saturday, April 18, at 5:30 p.m. in Dauphinee Chapel in Winning Hall. A blend of folksy tunes and Gospel music offered by the Wedgwood Trio has led to an interesting and storied career for the ensemble. The Trio began playing together in 1964 when they attended Newbold College in England. After being “discovered” by Pastor H. M. S. Richards of the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast, the group began performing as part of an evangelistic series in Texas, and their fresh appeal brought in an influx of youthful viewership. This would eventually launch the Wedgwood Trio the hearts of the Seventh-day Adventist music world. After years of concerts and tours, and a few significant changes to the ensemble itself, the original Wedgwood Trio reunited in the 1990s and...

The first Colloquy Speaker Series of spring quarter introduced Lloyd Best, M.A., associate professor of mathematics, as the Pacific Union College 2015 Educator of the Year. During the April 2 presentation in the PUC Church Sanctuary, students, staff, faculty, and administration celebrated excellence in teaching and honored the over 30 years Best has served PUC and its students. Best, who specializes in math education, joined the faculty of PUC's department of mathematics in 1988, and served as department chair from 1988-1996. Later, he served as chair of the departments of computer science, mathematics, and physics from 2004-2012. Before becoming a part of the math department, Best worked as the director of the Educational Computer Facility at PUC from 1978-79. The educator is known for his kindness and patience, skills he honed teaching math and science at several Seventh-day Adventist academies for 14 years and as a principal for three years. The Educator of the Year is an award given entirely by student vote, and the identity of each year’s recipient is a highly kept secret. Professor of Business John Nunes, Ph.D., last year’s titleholder, gave a short speech before revealing the recipient of the 2015 award. “You have brought so...

Walking through the Nelson Memorial Library, groups huddled around tables and students filling up library cubicles are indicators that spring quarter is underway. For students at PUC’s Angwin campus, a busy library where concentration may waiver is not the only option. Instead, students can explore the multiple department lounges that not only offer a place to study, but also provides a chance to take a break and interact with fellow majors. Most recently, Stauffer Hall, home to the department of English, renovated a seminar room into a welcoming, cozy study space. Eric Anderson, a former professor of history, generously donated the lounge’s furniture to the department to create a study lounge for students. Department Chair Cynthia Westerbeck describes the study lounge in Stauffer as “a nice central location for both students and faculty to get tea, enjoy conversation, and study.” It is named after the most famous poet and novelist to graduate from PUC, Arna Bontemps, whose name fittingly means “good times.” Bontemps was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance and became acquaintances of other active renaissance men and women such as Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. The department of visual arts lounge fosters a...