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After finishing 3rd in league play in the California Pacific Conference, Pacific Union College’s Pioneers women’s volleyball team completed their season at the Cal Pac playoffs. The Pioneers fell to Menlo College on Friday, November 15. Menlo College would go on to defeat La Sierra and head to the National Tournament. After the playoff match, three lady Pioneers and their head coach Brittany Brown were honored with Cal Pac Conference Awards. In a highly competitive conference, the lady Pioneers received the most conference honors in program history. Leading the Cal Pac with 584 digs, senior libero Lauren Secchitano was named to the California Pacific All Conference 1st Team and received the 2013 Conference Libero of the Year Award. Setter Kailey Faust and outside Viridiana Gallardo were also named to the California Pacific Conference 2nd Team. Faust led the Pioneers with an impressive 884 assists and 112 digs. Gallardo led with 245 kills, and was second on the team in digs with 345 throughout the season. “Lauren Secchitano, Viridiana Gallardo, and Kailey Faust have all worked hard this season, and with the help of their dedicated teammates have earned this honor,” stated Brown. “All of these athletes and this entire team...

On Saturday, November 11, actor and producer Brian Yang screened the documentary Linsanity at Pacific Union College. The film profiles the career of NBA player Jeremy Lin from his high school years in Palo Alto to Harvard and then on to the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yang, a film and television actor who has been on the network show Hawaii Five-O, took time after the film to answer questions from the students and community members in the crowd. “The film goes back in time from humble beginnings to his rise to the top,” Yang said in his introduction of the documentary. “The message you’ll come away with is an inspirational story for all types of people.” Yang described the film as the “true, full backstory” of the many years of hard work and failure that Lin endured before his moment of success. Yang and his partners began filming three years ago when Lin was playing basketball for Harvard University. Though Yang and his partners first planned to create a small web series, Lin “rewrote the end of the story” when he was picked up by the New York Knicks and began playing at an amazing level. While the film profiles...

Pacific Union College began the 2013-2014 school year with the highest enrollment in 24 years. On October 14, the college’s census date, total enrollment stood at 1,678, an increase of 62 students over the 1,616 students at this time last year. The college realized both an increase of new students and growth in retention. Enrollment is the highest it has been since 1989, when the exact same number of students, 1,678, attended PUC. Significantly, the college saw an increase of 89 students attending PUC on the Angwin campus. There are currently 1,610 people pursuing degrees at PUC’s destination campus in the Napa Valley. “We are delighted to have many more students on campus and pray that each student will truly thrive at PUC,” shares Lisa Bissell Paulson, vice president for student services and dean of students. “We are already experiencing such a strong campus climate as students get involved in spiritual and social life! Student participation is amazing and we look for opportunities to continue to enrich the student experience at PUC.” A remarkable jump in new students fueled the enrollment increase. PUC was blessed to have 503 new students join the student body. The freshman and transfer students were...

With her medals displayed on the platform of the PUC Church, Mary Whipple described her journey to gold during the November 7 installment of the Colloquy Speakers Series. Whipple was the coxswain of the United States Women’s 8+ Rowing Team, leading the team to five world championships, a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, and gold medals in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London games. Whipple’s presentation began with a video clip of her team’s victory at the 2012 London Olympics. The footage showed the intensity of the race, as well as the incredible precision and coordination exhibited by the American team as they crossed the finish line well ahead of the rest of the pack. Whipple’s presentation described the extraordinary teamwork and determination required on the journey to that finish line. As the team’s coxswain, Whipple serves as an in-boat coach and calls instructions to the rowers. Her job is primarily to unite her teammates, Whipple explained. “It’s my job to turn eight individuals into one person—one dream.” Whipple’s Olympic dream and involvement with rowing started out “innocently.” While a student at Sacramento Adventist Academy, the Orangevale, Calif., native joined a rowing team at a local aquatic center,...

The Pacific Union College iPhone and iPad app won the Best in Class award from the Society of Adventist Communicators at the Society’s convention in Salt Lake City, October 24-27. The app was recognized for usability, design, working links, and for being up to date. Nicholas Hubbard, PUC’s webmaster, developed the app as part of his work for the college’s office of public relations. “Mobile continues to be the main form of communication with prospective and current students. We see the trend and want to stay on top of it,” Hubbard explains. “Developing PUC Mobile in-house gives us a great deal of flexibility. From developing new features such as our upcoming Student Jobs feature, to updating our app for the newest OS update, or quickly fixing bugs that our users might have, we have the ability to quickly add or adjust our app for the best user experience.” Beyond showcasing college news, photos, and events, the app has numerous other features. These include maps of on-campus and off-campus locations, class lists, the Library catalog, a campus contact directory, and a real-time listing of what is being served at the Dining Commons. The app has been remarkably popular, with over 6,000...