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U.S. News & World Report ranked PUC the second most ethnically diverse liberal arts college in the nation, in the magazine’s annual list of the best colleges and universities released last week. The ranking calculates the proportion of minority students among the student body, excluding international students. Hispanic students make up the largest single minority group, according to the report. PUC administrators celebrated the distinction as an unique educational advantage. "Living, working, and studying collaboratively with people who come from a variety of backgrounds gives students an opportunity to learn about people, ideas, and cultures, and to think critically about new ideas," says academic dean Nancy Lecourt. “It also helps prepare them for the current working world, where they often find themselves working on teams with people who are quite different from themselves.” View the official ranking online at U.S. News & World Report....

One-hundred eighty students from 23 Adventist academies visited PUC for the 2012 Publication Workshop on Wednesday and Thursday, learning writing, photography, and design techniques from college professors and working publication professionals. “The classes have really opened my mind, and just what we’ve learned today has helped us come up with a great theme for our yearbook this year,” said Brandie Scott from Mother Lode Adventist Junior Academy, a first-time attendee at Publication Workshop. “I love it so far—it has been amazing!” High school yearbook and newspaper staffers chose from courses including photojournalism, layout, brainstorming, Photoshop, editor’s forum, and feature writing. Teachers lead the eager students in many hands-on learning activities, from spreading out across campus to develop their eye for photo opportunities, to creating scrapbook-like mood boards to help refine yearbook themes. “It’s exciting to see the potential in these students and see their excitement in learning the subject,” said Brian Kyle, a photographer and graphic designer in PUC’s public relations office, who taught several photography classes at this year’s program. “When you see them catch on it’s a very fulfilling experience.” The event also included a contest that awarded the attending schools for outstanding work on their latest newspapers...

Juniors in PUC’s Honors Program hada stunning start to their summer when they spent three and a half weeks inFlorence, Italy as part of the annual “Beauty” seminar, June 28-July 24. Studentsin the seminar focussed on the definition of beauty, primarily within thecontext of Renaissance art, centered in Florence, along with other artisticperiods.The tour was led by CynthiaWesterbeck, chair of the department of English, along with Sylvia RasiGregorutti, professor of modern languages, and Roy Benton, professor ofmathematics. This is the second time this group of faculty has led the tour;they led it with a different group of students four years ago.According to Westerbeck, the tripgave students time to become intimately familiar with the city of Florence andits culture. “You really feel like you own Florence, you know the city—it’syours,” she says. “More than any of the other type of class, you are gettingout of the classroom and actually experiencing learning.”In addition to Florence, the groupalso visited Rome for its plethora of baroque art; the stunning ancient town ofAssisi; Venice and its acclaimed museum of modern art, the Guggenheim; andother locations. In addition to the many museums and sights, the students alsokept up an extensive reading schedule during the trip ranging...

The department of visual arts welcomes two new faculty members with extensive industry experience, providing a boost to Pacific Union College’s film and television program. The department is also welcoming a new instructor of photography. Rajeev Sigamoney comes to Pacific Union College following a career as both screenwriter and producer in Southern California. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and pursued additional training in filmography in Southern California with the Act One program and through the University of California, Los Angeles. He also regularly participates in a number of film festivals including SONscreen, a festival created by the Adventist Church for young Christian filmmakers. “Rajeev is very credible as both a writer and producer,” says Milbert Mariano, chair of the department of visual arts, noting Sigamoney’s considerable involvement in the film industry and Christian media. “He brings a very strong, incredible screenwriting background to the program that’s very useful for television and film.” Many students are already familiar with John ‘Tag’ Tagamolila, who is officially joining the department full-time this fall as resident artist after spending the 2011-2012 school year as an adjunct member of the faculty. A graduate of Cornell University,...

In a new list unveiled over the weekend, Newsweek and the news commentary site thedailybeast.com named Pacific Union College the most beautiful college in the nation. The ranking aggregates survey data on the attractiveness of both the campus and the students, as well as data assessing the pleasantness of the weather. "I am absolutely thrilled by this new designation for PUC from Newsweek as the most beautiful college campus in America," says President Heather J. Knight. "In many ways, this is early recognition for our collective goal to make the campus sparkle and for the hard work done by 'Team Sparkle,' which includes our landscape and facilities management teams in particular. This recognition inspires all of us in every area of our campus community to keep working even harder to make PUC a twenty-first century state of the art learning environment characterized by a God-given gorgeous and pristine setting. We are truly moving from good to great.” See the full list at thedailybeast.com....