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Students in this year’s graduating class didn’t just successfully triumph through several years of study sessions, papers, and exams. They also have the distinction of making it through a global pandemic and the threat of last year’s wildfire. The uncertainty of these events posed challenges. But they also stimulated creativity, shaped priorities, and above all fostered perseverance. Those experiences and the lessons learned from them are as indelible in the minds of the students as all of their teachers, classes, friendships, and social events. Pacific Union College’s 2022 graduates are ready now to go out and make a positive and lasting impact on the world. On Sunday, June 19, 2022, PUC celebrated its 120th graduating class at a joyous commencement ceremony. The college conferred associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees upon nearly 200 students. Diverse in its make-up, the class represents students from 13 states and five countries. Three honors students and three Maxwell Scholars were also recognized among the graduates. “Choose to live boldly and take risks,” PUC Board of Trustees chair Sandra Roberts said in her Commencement address. “Choose to be resilient. Choose to allow love to emerge. Hope to emerge.”Unique to the Class of 2022 is that it...

The California Board of Registered Nursing in May gave Pacific Union College’s nursing program five-year approval, further cementing the college as one of Northern California’s top places to study nursing.In addition to meeting the requirements of WASC and other organizations, Pacific Union College’s nursing department must continually renew and be approved regularly. The BRN conducts a standard evaluation and visit of the program every five years with 2022 being the most recent.Nurse education consultants visited PUC and met with the department’s faculty and staff, student support services and administration. The formal evaluation took two days. However, preparation for the assessment took months. Kimberly Dunker, director and chair of Nursing Health and Sciences, said that because the college must continually renew, preparation for evaluation is ongoing and it involves everybody in the department. Dunker, along with Assistant Directors Debbie Wallace and Susan Bussell, prepared the self-study, which thoroughly and critically examined PUC’s entire nursing program to identify its strengths and deficiencies. It also involved planning for modifications and improvements, if necessary. In addition to clinical sites and facilities, individual faculty members and directors must be approved by the BRN in order to teach theory, clinical and lab courses, Dunker said. Faculty...

Maud Sisley. Alma McKibbon. Ruth Temple. Adventist women of firsts. Pioneers in mission, education and healthcare, they were once household names. But their stories stopped being told -- buried by time and societal change from the church’s collective memory.As Dr. Jim Wibberding, professor of applied theology and Biblical studies at Pacific Union College, studied the church archives, he discovered the names of women he’d never heard of before. Wibberding was surprised to learn that there were so many women “prominent in shaping Adventism as we know it today.”He began making a list.Starting with 50 names, Wibberding organized a course on the History of Adventist Women, dedicated to telling the stories of female leaders who shaped the church’s faith and mission. He invited 14 additional Adventist historians to be guest speakers.Choosing which women’s biographies to share proved difficult. A dilemma arose, Wibberding said, when almost every presenter had other forgotten female figures to add to the list from their own primary document research.The problem of underrepresentation of women in history is not singular to the Adventist church. Women have been overlooked throughout United States and world history. Across the globe, there are concerted efforts to fill these gaps. The first step...

“This is our Christmas.”That’s how Rajeev Sigamoney characterized this year’s extraordinary 18th Diogenes Film Festival that brought Pacific Union College’s visual art students, past and present, together to celebrate their achievements. Due to the COVID-19, the annual festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021. Sigamoney, professor of film and chair of the Visual Arts department, said he and his colleagues felt it was important to include the students whose projects had been delayed by the pandemic. This year’s festival featured films from three years -- more than 35 showcased over two days. The Student Showcase took place on Sunday evening, May 22, in PUC’s Dauphinee Chapel. Underclassmen projects were viewed by an audience of nearly 120 in two 90-minute blocks followed by an awards ceremony. A panel of judges made up of PUC alumni named Fabiola Ixcot the Filmmaker of the Future for her exceptional work in “Fading.” Filmgoers voted via text message during the event to pick the Audience Choice Award. Josue Hilario and his film “Sanity” won as well as Ysabelle Labaco and Atlas Snarr for “Unconditional.”Part two of this year’s film festival, Senior Showcase, was celebrated Sunday, May 29, and featured eight senior thesis films. “St. Helena...

Balancing being a full-time student and athlete can be challenging. In addition to classes and coursework, student athletes also train, attend practice and travel to events both in and out of state. At Pacific Union College student athletes participate in basketball, volleyball, soccer and cross-country.A record number of 75 PUC Pioneer athletes were named as recipients of the Scholar Athlete Recognition Program at an annual sports banquet on May 15. These honorees were chosen from across the four different men’s and women’s varsity sports teams. Thirty-nine Scholar Athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher while 36 Distinguished Scholar Athlete recipients achieved a GPA of 3.5 or above. Tyler Wilensky was named as the Presidential Scholar Athlete of the Year. The men’s cross-country runner had the best academic record among the Pioneer athletes this year as the athlete with the highest cumulative GPA.. As the winner, Wilensky was awarded a $1,000 scholarship. “We have seen an overall increase of awards -- over 15% from last year to this year,” said PUC Athletic Director, J.R. Rogers, “with over 70% of athletes receiving recognition.”On Thursday June 2, these distinguished athletes were also acknowledged at the Student Awards Celebration in the PUC church.View...

It was the first time in Pacific Union College’s history that a nursing faculty member received this prestigious award. At a special colloquy on May 19, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Serah Choi was honored as the college’s 2022 Educator of the Year. Academic Dean Milbert Mariano, presented Choi with a framed certificate, a green superhero cape and lightsaber, which have become time-honored traditions. Choi’s husband and PUC’s Aviation Program Director, Keunsong “Chris” Cho, paid tribute with a slideshow documenting her life and journey to achieving her dream job as a college nursing professor. As a young girl in Kwangju, Korea, Choi revered her father, a biology professor. She enjoyed watching him teach and going with his class on field trips.Choi excelled in academics. In 1998 she came to the United States to study at Monterey Bay Academy. Choi earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Pacific Union College in 2008. After working as a nurse at Adventist Health St. Helena, she completed her Master of Science in Nursing at Loma Linda University in 2013. Finally, Choi’s childhood dream became a reality when she returned to PUC, this time as a professor in the school of nursing. Dr. Sara Kakazu, PUC’s...

After years apart, alumni, friends and family gathered once again on the mountain.Pacific Union College welcomed over 600 alumni to celebrate 140 years during its annual Homecoming on Sabbath, April 16, 2022. The day was filled with special programs, including the inauguration of PUC’s new president and the opening of the Walter C. Utt Center. Social events reconnected classmates and friends at their beloved alma mater.This was the first time since 2019 the college was able to hold an in-person Homecoming due to the COVID-19 pandemic.“We will be eternally grateful for how the campus pulled together to help us create a meaningful homecoming weekend,” said Kellie Lind, PUC’s vice president for alumni and advancement. “Faculty, staff and community volunteers worked together to generate a really special weekend.”This year’s honored classes were ‘60-’62, ‘70-’72, ‘80-’82, ‘90-’97, ‘00-’02 and ‘10-’12. These included classes that could not gather together in person over the past two years. Honoring three classes from each decade was a hit, Lind said, and something many people have requested for next year’s reunion.Homecoming celebrations began on Sabbath morning as alumni gathered in the PUC church sanctuary for a program centered on the college’s 140-year history. David Trim, director of...

Dr. Ralph Trecartin was inaugurated as Pacific Union College’s 24th president in April, taking over leadership of the institution in its celebratory 140th year and vowing to build on the college’s mission of faith, love and service in writing the next chapter of its storied history.“God has called us to this place for this time,” Trecartin said in his inaugural response themed on how the college’s past inspires its vision for the future. “We have an exciting adventure before us. Join me in watching to see the amazing things that God will do and jump in with me to join Him in any way we can to help.”Pacific Union College’s Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Trecartin in July 2021 as the successor to Dr. Robert Cushman, citing his leadership, innovation and experience in academic, enrollment and financial administration and his devout commitment to the mission of Seventh-day Adventist higher education.Trecartin's formal inauguration service coincided with the college’s alumni Homecoming Sabbath on April 16, 2022.The momentous occasion began with a special procession of board trustees, faculty, program participants, administration, and representatives from other Adventist institutions, many dressed in full academic regalia. Former and current students and faculty, as well as members...