Archives

Grammy-award-winning a cappella group Take 6 performed at the Pacific Union College Church on February 15 at 6 p.m. President Heather J. Knight introduced the musicians, mentioning the group’s beginnings at Oakwood University and their longtime ties to Adventism. Knight also included a brief overview of the group’s greatest moments; the sextet has won 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award, and performed for several U.S. presidents, including current president Barack Obama. The concert was well attended by an audience of students, faculty, staff, and community members. During the performance, Take 6 frequently encouraged “call and response” from the audience, and invited the audience members to clap, snap, and “make a joyful noise” in any way that felt right. After the concert, fans had the opportunity to meet the performers and get copies of their latest CD, One, signed. Take 6, heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet,” is a quintessential a cappella group and model for vocal genius. The six virtuosic voices unite in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop are...

Education Days, an annual networking event for graduating education majors, took place at Pacific Union College’s campus on February 2-3. Organized by PUC’s department of education, the two-day event brought principals and administrators from schools and conferences within the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to PUC’s Angwin campus. The employers met and interacted with this year’s group of graduating early childhood, elementary, and secondary teachers. The first evening began with a dinner banquet, where students and potential employers interacted with one another in a less formal setting. During the banquet, the seniors each presented their own personal reasons for teaching, and the area that they are credentialed to teach. The next day, graduating seniors had the opportunity to interview with potential employers in a more formal setting. The department of education has seen incredible growth in recent years, as more students choose to pursue a career as a teacher. PUC offers Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Education degrees, bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education and liberal studies, and an associates degree in early childhood education. In addition, the department offers training for multiple subject credentials, single subject credentials, and the Clear Credential program for California, as...

On Valentine’s weekend, the film Old Fashioned opens in theaters nationwide. The independent film is an inspiring look at dating and relationships, focusing on developing grace-filled, lifetime love. Viewers can choose to see Old Fashioned instead of the Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation opening the same weekend in part thanks to the creative collaboration of PUC film professor Rajeev Sigamoney. Sigamoney has been a member of the PUC faculty since 2012, but his friendship with Old Fashioned director, writer, and lead actor Rik Swartzwelder goes back much longer. “The first film set I ever visited back in Maryland was a short film Rick was shooting,” explains Sigamoney. The two grew closer after Sigamoney, who started his career as an engineer, moved to Los Angeles in 2002. They began meeting each week to discuss films, faith, and the challenges of working in the film industry as artists and as Christians. Sigamoney is listed as a co-producer on Old Fashioned because of the core role he played in the creative development of the script and edit of the film. “I first read a draft of Old Fashioned in 2003,” Sigamoney describes. Over the next decade, Sigamoney gave notes on multiple revisions script...

Pacific Union College’s emphasis on world missions has a longand distinguished history. Over 1,300 student missionaries have served incountries as diverse as Chile, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Kenya, theMarshall Islands, and South Korea. Inrecent years, PUC has continued to send dozens of student missionaries tocountries around the globe, providing much needed medical aid, constructionassistance, education, and of course the messages of the Gospel. During thecollege’s recent World Missions Week, the focus is all on helping futuremissionaries understand why they should serve and how they can make it happen.World Missions Week, January 26-30, gave students a look atwhat is entailed by mission work abroad—the rewards, as well as the toil.During the week, there was a table at the front of the Dining Commons manned bythe staff of the PUC World Missions office, ready to answer questions and sharetheir student missionary experience. Elden Ramirez, director of the NorthAmerican Division of Seventh-day Adventists’ office of volunteer ministries,visited campus to connect with future ministries. In addition, the worldmissions staff held a workshop on financing student missionary work, animportant step for hopeful students ready to give of their time. To finish theweek of spiritual missions emphasis, Jose Rojas continued his tradition of speakingto PUC students...

Grammy award-winning a capella group, Take 6, will perform in concert at Pacific Union College on Sunday, February 15. Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea, and Khristian Dentley, will bring their quintessential a capella sound to the Napa Valley as part of Pacific Union College’s Black History Month celebrations, for a free concert which will take place in the PUC Church sanctuary at 6 p.m. Take 6, heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet,” is a quintessential a cappella group and model for vocal genius. The six virtuosic voices unite in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop are the most awarded vocal group in history. With praise from such luminaries as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald and Whitney Houston, the multi-platinum selling sextet has toured across the globe, collaborated across genres, and is recognized as the pre-eminent a capella group in the world. Take 6 has come a long way from their days at Huntsville, Alabama’s Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) where Claude McKnight formed the group as...