Admissions & Aid

The new school year always receives a host of fresh faces. But in the midst of greeting all the bewildered freshmen, don't forget that our faculty list also has a few new names. Nursing experienced a bit of shuffling earlier this year. When Les Stahlnecker left the department, Carol Williams took his place, bringing Joan Hughson to take over her former responsibilities as the skills lab coordinator. Rosemary Garret is the second new member, replacing Carol Clay in pediatrics. While Janet Borisevich pursues her doctorate degree at the University of Northern Arizona, Sandra Ingram will be teaching several ESL classes along with helping out the Dramatic Arts Society. Leo Ranzolin Jr. joins the religion department this year, filling in where John McVay left off, as assistant professor of Biblical Studies. He has studied at Boston University for the past four years and will be teaching classes on the New Testament. Terrence Branster comes to the PUC technology department all the way from Australia, heading the digital media technology program after 20 years of experience working in the field. And finally, but certainly not least, Paul McGraw will be teaching half time for Eric Anderson. During the next year, Anderson will...

The typical college student is up by eight o'clock in the morning, in class by nine, works a few hours, studies, and even manages to squeeze in some hefty socializing before falling into bed sometime near midnight. If only Colleen Daniels could have had it so easy. Two years ago she went back to school, and her life went from full to overflowing. A single mother, Colleen was working 40-plus hours and raising two children. Between work and driving her kids to cheerleading practices, karate, and boy scouts, her life was hectic enough without adding the stress of midterms and papers. Returning to school was an inconceivable option. That is, until three years ago. After 25 years of working in a dental office, Colleen thought she might be ready for a change. After looking into several possibilities she discovered that few businesses were willing to hire someone without a bachelor's degree. "I realized that as long as I didn't finish college, where I was in my career was as far as I could go," says Colleen. "I wanted more from my life." Determined to finish college, Colleen enrolled in a degree completion program that offered Thursday evening classes. It was...

Two years ago Verlyn Benson, associate professor of Technology at Pacific Union College, hunted for graduate schools, searching for a university that would not only offer a strong technology program but also a graduation ceremony on a day other than the Sabbath. "I did not participate in my Master's ceremony because it took place on the Sabbath," says Benson. "So it was one of the things I looked for." To his surprise, the University of Northern Iowa bulletin listed a Friday graduation during the summer. Days after he enrolled, the school's decision to cancel summer commencement exercises was announced. The remaining two ceremonies would proceed on Saturdays. When it came time to select a graduate studies committee, Benson carefully surveyed the possibilities before choosing Dr. Ervin Dennis as the committee chair and his advisor. But Benson let it be known that there was a special clause that accompanied his request. "I knew it was an honor for the advisor to confer the degree during graduation," says Benson. "But I told him that would not be possible with me, since I am a Seventh-day Adventist." Although disappointed, Dr. Dennis replied that it would not stop him from chairing the committee. Over...

PUC began its 117th academic year, not only with a new class of freshmen, but with changes in the administration as well. After 16 years of serving as the vice president for financial administration, Tom Hopmann announced his retirement last spring. John Collins was recently invited to be Hopmann's replacement. Collins, an alumnus of PUC, came to the college in 1988 to work as the vice president of student administration and enrollment management. In turn, Lisa Bissell Paulson, who came to PUC in 1995 as vice president of public relations, took the place of Collins, becoming vice president for student services, public relations, and enrollment. Along with overseeing the PUC's public relations office, Paulson is also responsible for all campus life outside of the classroom. Hopmann will continue to work part-time, focusing on special projects for the President....

Sonia Barajas is doing something no one in her family has ever done before. She is going to college. A pre-med student, Barajas is majoring in biology at Pacific Union College, an accomplishment which has distinguished her in her family and has also earned her a $5,000 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship.By attending Pacific Union College, Barajas is fulfilling a life-long dream. "I wanted to attend a university since I was a little girl," she says. "I noticed that none of my family members went to a university, so I wanted to break that chain." Barajas' parents are Adventist immigrants from Mexico. She says that they have always worked very hard as farm workers, but have only received very low wages.It is for low-income Latino families like her own that Barajas is attending school.Barajas is planning to return to the Latino community with her bilingual skills and a medical degree. For her, practicing medicine is not about an income but about a ministry. She is willing to talk about the nice house and comfortable life that many of her classmates will obtain, but she carefully points out, "Giving to people is something I would like better. God has something for everybody......

During the annual Career Day colloquy at Pacific Union College, Alan Nakanishi, Assemblyperson for California’s Tenth Assembly District, reminded students that the key to success is to trust in God’s leading. “You and I serve a powerful God. If he can take a poor boy from the ghettos of Sacramento to PUC to Loma Linda to the halls of the state capital, then he can do more for you,” said Nakanishi, who was the special guest speaker at the event. Nakanishi shared his own career journey, which started at PUC nearly fifty years ago. He had just graduated from high school and was contemplating whether he should attend the local university in Sacramento or PUC. “My family couldn’t afford for me to be at PUC. But I had a conviction that God wanted me to be at a Christian college,” he said. So at 17 years old, Nakanishi enrolled at PUC with just enough money to last one quarter and the determination to be a doctor. Nakanishi managed to stay the entire year. To earn money for college, he cleaned classrooms, bussed tables, sold books door to door, and worked as a lab instructor. Each fall, he wondered if he...

Ashley Riveira once paced the tree-shaded sidewalks and staircases of PUC’s campus, taking time to chat with a friend or rushing to make an early class. Now she strolls the halls and offices of a law firm in Washington D.C., practicing both international law and labor and employment law in one of the country’s most exciting legal climates. Her story became even more remarkable this May when Riveira, along with nine more of America’s most promising young professional women, won Running Start’s “Women to Watch” award. The award is given to young women who use their positions of leadership to aid the cause of women’s rights. Riveira was recognized for “Presumed Equal: What America's Top Women Lawyers Really Think About Their Firms,” the book that she co-wrote with a classmate from Harvard Law School. Of course, Riveira’s transformation from PUC-ite to nationally recognized up-and-comer did not happen overnight. After her graduation from PUC in 2001, she spent a couple years in the Napa Valley before applying and being accepted to Harvard School of Law. The transition from a small liberal arts college, quietly nestled in the hills of the Napa Valley, to one of America’s most prestigious and competitive law...

Today’s youth are constantly in the crossfire of public opinion. The “millennial generation” is criticized in the media, which depicts them as narcissistic and shallow. But at Pacific Union College, campus chaplain Roy Ice sees something in today’s youth that others have missed. “Millenials are much more willing to serve than previous generations. Ninety-two percent say they will volunteer if they believe in the cause,” he reports. At PUC, students are already living up to the numbers, with grassroots volunteer groups becoming ubiquitous on campus. Sensing a cultural shift among students, PUC leadership is strengthening their focus on service, which has always been one of PUC’s core values. In philanthropy, large donations and publicity-laden events garner the lion’s share of attention. Though PUC doesn't discourage this kind of service, the college aims to redefine how a person can make a difference. Pastor Ice points to Galatians 6:2 as a guide for the campus’s direction: “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” Various service groups have sprung up around campus to meet this challenge. Dean Annette Riebe of Andre Hall leads “A Stitch in Time,” a group of students who use their talents with a...

D. Malcolm Maxwell, president emeritus of Pacific Union College, passed away on Monday, October 1, 2007, at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 73 years old.Maxwell was the first PUC alumnus to serve as president, and he had the longest tenure-18 years-of any president. He retired from the presidency in 2001 but continued to work at PUC as a professor in the religion department until 2006. In April of 2007, Maxwell and Eileen, his wife of nearly 52 years, were in the process of moving to Scottsdale to be near family when Eileen passed away. Maxwell, son of famed Seventh-day Adventist author Arthur C. Maxwell, graduated from PUC in 1956 with degrees in theology and biblical languages. He completed his master of arts in systematic theology at Andrews University and earned his doctorate in biblical studies, specializing in New Testament, at Drew University. At Drew, Maxwell was honored as a Rockefeller Fellow and Drew University Scholar. Maxwell taught religion at Union and Walla Walla Colleges. After 13 years in the classroom, he stepped into administration, serving as academic dean and vice president for academic administration at Walla Walla College. In 1983, he accepted the call to serve as president...

Students, faculty, and staff gathered in Commencement Grove Monday night for a Western-themed get-acquainted party. As plates got piled high with cornbread, corn on the cob, fresh salads, penne pasta, and apple cobbler, the Pioneer mascot made an appearance, working the crowd, giving high-fives, posing for pictures. Cowboy hats, boots, and flannel were sported by many students who got into the spirit of the occasion. Carrie Moore, a junior graphic design and photography major, enjoyed dressing up and “howdy-ing” all her friends, old and new. “It’s a lot of fun to get to start the year off like this,” Moore said. “I don’t know if I’ll get up the nerve to ride the bull, though.” Even if Moore didn’t decide to ride the bull (that’s a mechanical bull for all the nervous parents out there), it seemed like the rest of the student body did, lining up to try staying on the bucking, twisting, spinning bovine attraction operated by a former professional bull rider. Every now and then cheers and shouts would start in earnest for a student who had managed to stay on for 30 seconds or more. Even the future PUC students got in on the action (albeit...