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Beginning in mid-February, students in Pacific UnionCollege’s Individual Taxation class participated in the Volunteer Income TaxAssistance (VITA) program at the Up Valley Family Center in St Helena, Calif.The students prepared tax returns for free for people that earned less than$58,000 per year, applying what they had learned in the classroom as part of aservice-learning project that allowed them to grow their skills while providinga valuable service to members of the community.As of March 19, the twelve PUC students and 4 othercommunity volunteers had prepared and submitted 144 tax returns for Napa Valleyresidents who visited the St. Helena site of the Up Valley Family Centers,formerly St. Helena Family Center. In early February, the students received IRScertification, and soon after began seeing clients under the supervision ofNorma Ferriz, site and operations manager for Up Valley Family Centers.Ferriz estimates that nearly 90% of the people who takeadvantage of the program receive a refund. “This is all money that isreinvested in the community so that is great,” she said. In 2013, a group ofPUC and community volunteers prepared 165 tax returns, bringing back more than$313,900 in total refunds to families and individuals in the community. “In2014, thanks to the participation of volunteers from St....

Susan Dix Lyons is familiar with social innovation. The founder and Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Clinica Verde is active every day in making the world a better place. Lyons and her organization improve the lives of families living in poverty through clinical care and nutrition and health education at a sustainably designed health clinic in Boaco, Nicaragua that serves 14,000 patients per year. During the winter quarter of 2014, Dix Lyons drew on her experience with Clinica Verde as well as her earlier work as a journalist and editor to teach a Pacific Union College course on Media and Social Innovation. “I wanted to give the students an opportunity to see how rich with possibility their lives are,” Lyons shared, “and how important it is that they become ‘doers’ in society. People who not only imagine how the world can be better, but who have the confidence and resolve to participate in the solutions.” Lyons herself is one such ‘doer,’ and has been recognized for the work she leads at Clinica Verde. At an event held in San Francisco on February 26, she was honored as an Unsung Hero of Compassion for aiding others without expectation of reward....

Pacific Union College’s Pioneers basketball season ended with honors for players on both the men’s and women’s teams. In addition to these post-season honors, the Lady Pioneers basketball team had their best season in over a decade. Two players from PUC’s men’s basketball team were recognized for their excellence on the court. Junior forward Jordan Greenwell was named to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics California Pacific Conference First Team and junior guard Trevor Noguiera was named to the Conference Second Team. Greenwell started in all 31 games, averaging 14 points per game. He led the Pioneers in scoring with 434 points, as well as in rebounding and assists. Teammate Noguiera finished the season with 333 points while struggling with injuries during the season. “Both of these players are very deserving of the awards they received and were instrumental for us this season,” commented Kirt Brower, men’s basketball head coach and the college’s athletic director. “I am very proud of them for achieving this and I know both of them are already working hard to ensure we achieve more of our team goals next year.” Lady Pioneer London Robinson, guard, was named to the Cal Pac Conference Second Team and...

Jon Pahl, Ph.D., spoke for Pacific Union College’s Longo Lecture, a lecture series endowed by Lawrence D. Longo, M.D., in honor of his parents Frank and Florine Longo. Pahl, an author and professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, titled his lecture “A Coming Religious Peace.” Speaking in Scales chapel to an audience of more than 100, Pahl used examples of Disneyland and shopping mall architecture in describing the components of “religion that kills”: ignorance, crass consumption, and enemy-creation. He went on to define religion, concluding that “when we treat others like we want to be treated, that generally means we don’t want to kill them … which leads us to religious peacemaking. “Religions exist as the cultural equivalent of ecological and biological systems of elimination … religions exist to eliminate violence,” Pahl argued. Pahl spent the remainder of his lecture speaking about the promise of religions to create peace. He gave three examples of religious individuals who helped bring about peace through non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi in India, Leymah Gbowee in Liberia, and the Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen. These religious peacebuilders illustrate that “collectively, people of faith have the capacity—the spiritual and social power—to accomplish whatever we set our minds...

Pacific Union College hosted its 33rd annual career day on Thursday, February 20. The event brought nearly 50 professionals from diverse fields to campus, offering students the chance to learn first-hand about the careers that interest them. Also visiting campus for the day was Brittany Collins Cheney, who discussed her journey from PUC to a law career as part of the college’s Colloquy Speaker Series. Whether freshmen still deciding on a major or seniors starting the job hunt in earnest, students who stopped by the side rooms of the Dining Commons spoke with professionals actively employed in diverse careers. By meeting with representatives, the Career and Counseling Center hopes that students can have confidence in knowing where a major can take a person in their career path. “We want students to gain exposure and discuss potential job networks to help them with life after college,” said career counselor Laura Gore, who coordinates the fair as part of her work in the Career and Counseling Center. Representatives were available to answer questions from students, exchange business cards, and also provide internship, volunteer, or employment opportunities. “We hope that students use this as a networking tool to start developing contacts and learn...

Hundreds of high school juniors and seniors visited PUC’s College Days to sit in on classes and worship services, meet professors and other students, and fully immerse themselves in Pacific Union College’s unique environment. The four-day event, held on February 13-16, also included a visit to the town of St. Helena, giving the College Days students a first-hand look at PUC’s scenic Napa Valley location. “College Days is a great event that connects students with the campus,” said J.R. Rogers, one of PUC’s enrollment counselors. “It gives them a look into what it would be like to attend PUC, meet with professors and students, sleep in the dorm, eat the food and attend the campus events. Traditionally students that visit campus have a higher probability of attending here, so these events are quite important and an opportunity for PUC as a whole to put its best foot forward.” The office of enrollment services coordinates the event in the hope that the visit will encourage students that the college is a perfect fit for them. The experience allows students to check out the departments that interest them, converse with college students with similar interests, and figure out what living at PUC...

On February 12, students in Pacific Union College’s most popular program had the opportunity to make connections and discuss potential jobs with representatives from multiple healthcare organizations at the college’s annual Nursing Job Fair. Coordinated by the department of nursing and health sciences, the fair brought recruiters to campus to meet nursing students that will soon graduate and enter the workforce. Lorie Johns, student success advisor in the department of nursing and health sciences, coordinated the fair. “It’s an opportunity for current associate’s and bachelor’s degree students to make connections with recruiters from hospitals and regional health care organizations, as well as for those recruiters to meet our outstanding nursing students,” Johns shared. Many of the hospitals represented at the fair are affiliated with Adventist Health, a faith-based, not-for-profit network with hospitals and clinics in California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. However, Johns invited a diverse group of healthcare organizations to attend the fair. “While the bulk of the facilities and organizations represented tend to be affiliated with Adventist Health, we are pleased that other local healthcare-related organizations such as Napa State Hospital and REACH Air Medical regularly attend PUC’s Nursing Job Fair,” said Johns. Other organizations represented included the United...

Pacific Union College is collaborating with the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center (NVPAC) at Lincoln Theater in the inaugural year of the Orchestra Institute of Napa Valley Fellowship Program. This new partnership is helping PUC’s young musicians hone their talents while allowing graduate artists to pursue valuable teaching and performing experience. By serving as the primary sponsor and sole housing sponsor for the Orchestra Institute Napa Valley Fellowship Program, the ensembles and instrumentalists of the department of music are benefitting from a group of talented “artists-in-residence.” The Orchestra Institute Napa Valley Fellowship Program at the NVPAC is an innovative, tuition-free, full-year performance and professional-growth program for the most exceptional post-graduate music and conservatory students in the country. The musicians enrolled in the program are provided tools to aid them in developing music careers in the 21st century: performance opportunities (including playing with the Symphony Napa Valley), service as musical ambassadors, development as self-managers, and the ability to provide music education. “We are delighted to have the Fellows on campus and hope that this partnership with NVPAC will continue as it is enriching our department and allowing us to take the study of music for the major and general student to...

Students in the department of biology at Pacific Union College know they will encounter more than slides and lectures when taking a class from Professor Aimee Wyrick. Wyrick incorporates one-of-a-kind, hands-on learning practices in Napa County to her courses. These high-impact learning opportunities provide valuable experience while teaching important principles about stewardship of the created world. Wyrick, a specialist in ecology, herpetology, and paleontology, partners with local landowners and organizations to provide opportunities to students in courses such as Ecology, Flowering Plants, and Conservation Biology. “Each quarter I have opportunities for students for internships, for research, for service-learning, and it’s not always in the same place or for the same organization,” she explained. Wyrick is currently doing research on the Calistoga popcorn flower, a federally listed “rare” species that occurs in two locations less than twenty minutes from PUC in the town of Calistoga, Calif. Specially adapted to geothermal wetlands, there are about 5,500 plants on the two sites. She and the students are involved in getting baseline data on the plant; later, they will suggest small experiments and monitoring projects to maintain the plant’s population. “Nobody has done studies on this species of plant or a plant that lives...

Pacific Union College’s enrollment services and public relations teams have introduced a new website dedicated to providing information and answering questions for future students and their families. The admissions website features fresh design in a mobile-friendly format, all geared toward sharing the distinct academic, spiritual, and social advantages of attending Pacific Union College. While the College is celebrating its highest enrollment in twenty-four years, the office of enrollment services is actively working with potential students who will enroll 2014 and beyond. Leading this effort and the development of the new website was Jennifer Tyner, vice president for enrollment management and public relations. “The main goal for this revamp was not just to make the site look good, but drive prospective students to click the apply button,” Tyner shared. “We also wanted to make a new page that would be mobile-friendly, as the old admissions page would come out jumbled and hard to read on a smart phone.” Because research shows that as many as sixty percent of young people are using their smartphones to visit college websites, adapting the admissions information to be smartphone-friendly was imperative. The new site can be accessed from smartphones and tablets as well as traditional...