Learning to speak—and teach—a biblical language just as modern languages are learned and taught was the goal of the second annual Fluency Workshop for Instructors of Koine Greek.

Pete Menjares, Ph.D., took the baton July 28 as the 11th president of Fresno Pacific University—and he’s already running at full speed.

Menjares got a literal hand-off from retiring President D. Merrill Ewert at the national convention of FPU’s sponsoring denomination, the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, in Omaha, receiving a baton inscribed with Hebrews 12:1: “….let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

A Friday morning telephone call brought good news to FPU athletics.

The university received notification from the NCAA on Friday that it has successfully completed the first year of candidacy in the association's Division II membership process and has been moved on to year two of the three-year process.

“We are excited to be advanced by the NCAA into Candidacy Year Two,” said Athletic Driector Dennis Janzen. “The NCAA membership process has made the entire university better. Today’s news affirms the commitment and efforts of everyone here at FPU.”

The Fresno Pacific community said good-bye to D. Merrill Ewert and his wife Priscilla in several venues as he retires as president.

 Ewert took office June 1, 2002, making his 10-year tenure longer than the average university presidency of six-seven years. “It’s been a very unique and special privilege to serve in this capacity,” he said.

Merrill and Priscilla Ewert were honored June 5 by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors for their contribtuions to FPU and the community.

The full text of the proclamation:

WHEREAS
D. Merrill Ewert, who became President of Fresno Pacific University in June 2002 after a career at Wheaton College, the University of Maryland, and Cornell University, will retire July 31, 2012; and

While students are away from the main campus for the summer, FPU is making room for a large new resident: a 400-ton centrifugal chiller that will be worth more than its weight in power savings.

A Gates Foundation scholarship winner will be part of the 2012-2013 FPU freshman class.

Alexandria Longoria, a Hanford High School senior, is among 1,000 students nationwide to receive a Gates Millennium Scholarship. The grants, underwritten by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda, offer up to $20,000 per year for education as long as each student remains in school.

Fresno Pacific University has been included in the top 100 institutions for Hispanics by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine.

Colleges and universities across the United States are ranked by degrees awarded to students from a Hispanic background earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Rankings are based on information from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

The desire to tell people what it means to fully experience God’s grace and the freedom of the Gospel led to a book by a professor and student.

Mark D. Baker, Ph. D., associate professor of mission and theology at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, and his student, Kefalew Dinsa Eticha (seminary ’06) wrote Freedom Gospel (Addis Ababa: Baranna, 2011). The book is Baker’s and Eticha’s adaptation of Religious No More: Building Communitites of Grace and Freedom (InterVarsity Press, 1999), which Baker published based on his doctoral dissertation.

The many faces that make up FPU were recognized at the Night of Cultural Celebration May 4 in Ashley Auditorium on the main campus.