From its beginnings in Russia in 1860, the Mennonite Brethren Church has considered education important. Within only a few decades of their arrival in the United States, Mennonite Brethren established Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, in 1908. As Mennonite Brethren migrated to other parts of western North America in the following years, they took with them this interest in education.

The Special Events Center (SEC) includes the gymnasium, the department of athletics, and classrooms. Its name is meant to indicate the wide variety of events conducted there, including athletics, concerts, ceremonies and auctions.

The Fitness Center was added to the north end of the SEC in 2013. The 3,200-square-foot space includes cardio equipment, elliptical machines and cycles as well as strength and exercise equipment. Amenities include music and TV entertainment.

D. Merrill Ewert 2002 - July 2012

Education, church and community have been the three threads weaving through the career of D. Merrill Ewert, 10th president of Fresno Pacific University. In 2002, Ewert came to FPU from Cornell University where he had served as a professor in education, the director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and associate dean for outreach in the colleges of agriculture and human ecology.

The Mennonite Library & Archives is an archives and special collection library located in the Hiebert Library at Fresno Pacific University. All of Hiebert Library's materials relating to the Anabaptist and Mennonite story may be found in this collection.