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Jarrod McNaughton received his bachelor’s degree in public relations from Pacific Union College and his Master of Business Administration from the University of La Verne (California). He will present the Commencement address for the Class of 2018 on Sunday, June 17. The service will stream live at puc.edu.When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?I wanted to be a pastor, believe it or not!Instead of theology, you got a bachelor’s degree in public relations, but continued on to get a Master of Business Administration. How do you think the two have worked together in your career? The masters in business was a perfect connector for my undergrad degree and really helped to round me out, bringing the best of both worlds together.What were some of your first impressions of PUC as a student? I honestly didn’t want to attend PUC at first because of a perception I had that turned out to be completely wrong. Attending PUC was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and I wouldn’t change it for the world. From being one of the most beautiful college campuses in the U.S. to its incredible focus on students, PUC...

Pacific Union College, Napa Valley’s only four-year college, will host its annual commencement exercises Friday, June 15, through Sunday, June 17.The college will proudly award 369 associate, bachelor, and master’s degrees to 343 graduates, 49 of whom are from Napa County. The largest departmental groups are the nursing and health sciences (181 graduates from the Associate of Science and Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs), business administration (37), biology (23), communication (21), and visual arts (21).In addition, three graduating students are Maxwell Scholars: JJ Reynolds, marketing communication major; John Jung, biology major and pre-med student; and Dominique Townsend, English literature major. Maxwell Scholars are recognized as incoming freshmen for their outstanding academic achievement, and are awarded a renewable scholarship based on their unweighted cumulative GPA and test scores.“We are excited to honor and celebrate our graduates and the future that lies ahead,” says Robert Cushman Jr., PUC president. “I look forward to meeting graduates, families, and friends here on beautiful Howell Mountain, where nature and revelation unite in education.”In the class of 2018, 15 students will graduate summa cum laude; 29 magna cum laude; 58 cum laude; 10 with honors. After California, which is home to 290 graduating seniors, Hawai’i...

“This was a hard year,” said 2017-18 student association president Megan Weems to a packed Dauphinee Chapel. “It was already a transition year with new administration, and then a few weeks into the school year, the valley caught on fire.”Weems was addressing the Pacific Union College student body at the final Colloquy event of the year, focused on the year’s theme, “Family.”“Change takes a while,” she continued. “PUC has a lot of things to improve on, as we all know, but things are going up from here. We’ve laid the foundation and we’re making headway toward something better.”Weems thanked her 2017-18 student association team for loving the campus and demonstrating how a family should behave.“I saw it in their hearts, in the way they interacted with people,” she said. “They just love. And that’s what PUC needed. I was incredibly blessed, and I hope and pray that in something someone did or said at some point this year made you feel a little bit of that heart.”“The SA is you guys, too,” Weems added. “It’s not just the eight or nine people elected; you’re all part of the Student Association. Thank you for this year.”Kenzie Hardy, incoming SA president, addressed...

The Honors Program at Pacific Union College provides classes which depart from a traditional lecture format, encouraging students to develop their analytical thinking, aesthetic appreciation, and their spiritual lives.“Our program is its own complete general education,” explains Dr. Georgina Hill, professor of English and director of the PUC Honors Program. “Though it is a truncated GE, it is also more challenging. Students are expected to think deeply about ideas, theories, and issues, to analyze primary texts and multiple perspectives.”As Hill points out, post-graduate admissions committees recognize that "Honors" on an application is a mark of the applicant’s willingness to focus on learning, to step beyond the comfort zone, to accept a challenge, and to excel."In Honors, I was forced to think critically, defend my positions, and modify them when I was wrong," says Jefferson Richards, science and pre-med Honors student. "Honors played a huge part in building my confidence in my own intelligence and drove me to succeed in all my classes. It forces us to think critically, develop better reading and writing skills, exposes us to new and challenging ideas, and allows us to grow as human beings.”Charles De Guzman, first-year medical student at Loma Linda University, reports "Because...

On Thursday, May 17, Tammy McGuire, professor of communication, and Asher Raboy, resident artist teaching in the department of music headed to the platform of the PUC Church, taking the steps two at a time.“We’re here to acknowledge faculty who have been working on research,” McGuire announced to listeners in the pews. “Some in areas we don’t understand.”There was a ripple of laughter throughout the audience as Raboy returned, “Mostly in areas we don’t understand.”It was just one portion of the annual Awards Colloquy, honoring faculty and students who have accomplished great things academically during the school year.“I told them to not be boring,” admitted Nancy Lecourt, vice president for academic administration. “I think they followed my instructions.”It was obvious McGuire and Raboy were having fun ribbing their colleagues while also recognizing their accomplishments.“You’ve heard of the birds and the bees, but if you take out the bees, you’ll have what Floyd Hayes, professor of biology, has been studying,” McGuire quipped. “There’s also a dolphin in there somewhere.”Both McGuire and Raboy came across their own names in the list, McGuire for her mixed-methods research of online dating; Raboy for his composition of “The Beatitudes,” a cantata which made its world...

On Sunday, June 3, join the choirs and orchestra of Pacific Union College for their spring concert, featuring pieces from musicals and operas. Jenelle Anderson conducts Vox Pro Musica and Chorale, while Rachelle Davis conducts the Orchestra.Vox Pro Musica, along with PUC’s Chorale and Orchestra, will perform choruses from familiar operas and musicals such as The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, The Promise of Living by Copland, Carmen by Bizet, Madame Butterfly by Puccini, and others.Additionally, Vox Pro Musica will sing a set of Elizabethan madrigals, including April Is In My Mistress’ Face and Now Is The Month of Maying, among others.The Orchestra will also be performing two pieces on their own: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Flute by Mozart, featuring soloist Michele Rafuse, senior music major; and two movements from L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2 by Bizet.The concert begins at 3 p.m. in Paulin Hall Auditorium on the campus of Pacific Union College. Tickets are not required; admission is free and open to the public.For more information about PUC’s music program, including the Paulin Center for the Creative Arts and a calendar of upcoming events, visit puc.edu/music or call (707) 965-6201....

Half-price tuition. Half-price housing.Over two dozen areas of study to choose from.Hours and hours of NorCal sun.If even one of those things sounds good, you need to register for summer classes at PUC, stat! Headed home for the summer? Good news--we’ve got 17 online courses for you to choose from, too. Of course, online means no “hours and hours of NorCal sun,” but no matter what floats your boat this summer, we’ve got you covered!Summer classes last only 2-3 weeks, including full-year sequences for pre-med and pre-dent courses such as Biological Foundations and General Chemistry. Pre-nursing courses such as Human Anatomy and General Microbiology are also available during the summer.PUC already offers smaller class sizes, even during the regular school year, but during the summer, those class sizes shrink even more, offering students even better access to their teachers and more room for open dialogue and class discussions.“Rigorous” is definitely the name of the game in summer classes, but there are rewards to be had (besides getting course credits out of the way). Student Activities provides recreation options throughout the summer, such as weekly free food, Six Flags tickets, a San Francisco Giants game, and a pool party. Not to...

For years, Pacific Union College has maintained a medical and dental school acceptance rate well above the national average. The five-year average dental school acceptance rate at PUC is 65 percent, and for medical school this goes up to 68 percent. The national average is around 33 percent."We've always had a good pre-professional program here," says Dr. Robin Vance, professor of biology and long-time sponsor of the college's pre-professional club. "We have great students, and we've learned how to prep them well."Part of that preparation comes in the form of the student-led pre-professional club. Throughout the year, this club provides opportunities such as mock interviews, presentations by successful pre-professional alumni and doctors from local hospitals and clinics, Q&A sessions with students who have already been accepted to professional school, and more."It's challenging to be in a pre-professional major," says Shannon Henry, 2017-18 president of the club. "It's hard to balance everything, and we as a club try to offer resources to alleviate some of that stress."When a student expects to continue to medical school, their to-do list before graduation is no small thing. It involves shadowing professionals in the field, applying to around five schools (and paying a large amount...

During the summer of 2017, Cristian Pancorbo, assistant professor of Spanish at Pacific Union College, coordinated a trip to Lebanon with students from PUC, La Sierra University, and Loma Linda University. Hosted by Middle East University (MEU), the group worked with the Syrian refugee population in Beirut for a month.In addition to working alongside the students, Pancorbo was also conducting research for a project he was working on with his now-wife, Shanna Crumley, an intercultural communication and Spanish alumna of PUC currently finishing her master's degree at Columbia University (New York). In Lebanon, Pancorbo interviewed as many refugees, teachers, and non-governmental organization (NGO) employees as he could, asking about the needs of refugees there."My passion is working with underrepresented communities," says Pancorbo. "When you look at the big picture you see large numbers and a lot of need, but you don't really know what's happening on the ground with refugees. Throwing money onto the refugee canvas didn't help; they need access to education, so they can get access to jobs."His research fed into A4Ed, a social enterprise founded by Crumley, Pancorbo, and a third co-founder, Gemma Torras Vives, a classmate of Crumley’s at Columbia University. A4Ed is a platform based...

PUC’s department of chemistry is grateful to two generous donors who helped the department acquire a microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometer (MPAES). The MPAES can measure the amount of over 60 elements in many types of samples, and is sensitive enough to detect one part in a billion. So, what does this mean in real life?“Atomic spectroscopy is often used to evaluate heavy metals, such as lead and mercury in environmental samples like soil and water,” explains Dr. Robert Wilson, associate professor of chemistry. “It is also used to determine if lead is in the paint in children’s toys or measure mineral content in food.”Wilson also says the software for the MPAES is very easy to understand and use, which means students with little to no lab experience will be able to operate a state-of-the-art instrument on their own, offering them valuable independence in the lab.“The measurement process is very fast,” says Wilson. “It only takes about one minute per sample, and several elements can be measured simultaneously.”It’s not just the chemists who can benefit from this equipment; Dr. Kent Davis, chair of the department, foresees partnerships with other scientists, too.“We aren’t the only ones who see a use for...