Passing on the challenge

Deciding what to keep so we can pass it on

“Happy 60th anniversary!”

Say that to a husband and wife and forgive them if they swell with pride. What they have achieved through love, respect, faith, humor and hard work is rare and wonderful and worthy of a monument.

Making a splash - FPU's impact on the community

More than one way to be a community

Community is an oft-heard word at Fresno Pacific University, and used in many ways.

Sometimes it means how we make decisions. Sometimes it means who we want to hang out with. Sometimes it means how we treat one another.

Let me go where so many have gone before and define community, for at least the rest of this page: A group of people who do more for one another than they have to.

About this report

THIS IS A SPECIAL REPORT to the supporters of Fresno Pacific University and the members of the sponsoring Pacific District Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches.

We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this report. We gratefully acknowledge all contributions. Please call to our attention any omissions or errors by contacting the Advancement Office at 559-453-2080.

Information on the university covers the fiscal period May 1, 2003, through April 30, 2004.

Back to the future - the history of the next 60 years at FPU

To predict is futile, to dream divine

“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”—Henry David Thoreau

In fourth grade my Weekly Reader predicted that by 1980 I would be bopping back and forth to the mall through the air thanks to the jet pack on my back. I’m waiting.

School's not out in summer

Mission to serve never takes a vacation at FPU

“Good sleeping weather.”

With those words Stu the sports guy annually announced autumn’s arrival to the newsroom at one of the Midwest daily papers I used to call a paycheck. Stu was our balding and bespectacled Capistrano swallow. No Punxsutawney Phil, he, predicting what weather might be. Stu was a reporter, not a pundit. He spoke when the temperature dropped. Not before.

Bridging work and the Word

Reach out to others and you may find—and become—a mentor

TO THE CLASS OF 2003,

You may not know it yet, but college was a piece of cake.

Oh sure, classes were challenging. Studying wasn’t always a good time and finals weren’t fun. Your roommate did get on your nerves and not every faculty was your favorite. As for the food—well, no matter how well prepared or plentiful it was, can anyone really be expected to stay excited about eating three meals a day every day in the same place?

Reflections of the Mission

Honoring alumni employees worth taking a chance

How a stroll down memory lane turns to a tap dance through a minefield.

What could be more fun than a look at alumni faculty and staff? Here’s an opportunity to tell stories of folks who obviously have a heart for FPU; why else would they willingly return here to work after sweating it out as students? It’s also a chance to cull the archives for intriguing, not to mention embarrassing, photos of campus life in days gone by.

The changing face of FPU

We love letters

“Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched—criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those lead—this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.” —WEB DuBois

DuBois also speaks to the soul of the church, its institutions and their publications.

Matthew Blackwood has been selected as the new director of alumni and church relations at Fresno Pacific University.

The 1998 graduate begins work April 1 in the advancement division. As a student, Blackwood majored in biblical and religious studies and was involved in the gospel choir.

Reaching the Communities

Reaching out to many means its never quitting time

Maybe we ought to have an air horn atop McDonald Hall.