The desire to honor the memory of friends and the future of students is the drive behind a new endowed scholarship at Fresno Pacific University.

The Weldon and Eloise Bowen Scholarship will provide $5,000 per year to students with financial need interested in careers in either music or education, particularly teaching people with special needs. The fund was set up by Janz and Patricia Mynderup on behalf of the Bowen estate.

A faculty member at Fresno Pacific University is part of the next wave of Central Valley artists.

Robin Dolarian will be part of "Next Wave II: Fresno Artists of the New Era" May 16-July 21 at Fresno Art Museum. 'Next Wave' exhibits happen every 10 years and participation is by invitation only. To be invited, artists must be mature in their work, committed to the life and labor of art, have an independent and identifiable style and personally act to advance appreciation of contemporary art, according to the museum.

A student at Fresno Pacific University received a grant from a national honor society.

Karen Crockett, a senior piano performance major from Fresno, won an H.Y. Benedict Fellowship from Alpha Chi. The $2,500 award is for full-time graduate study in the fall of 2002.

Projects that helped children, college students and senior citizens paid off in prizes for Fresno Pacific University students.

The FPU team was named regional champion and won the special Teach A Child About Business Award at the April 8 Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) competition in Los Angeles. The six-person squad will go to the national event May 12-14 in Kansas City, Missouri. 

A mixture of sacred and secular music in a variety of styles will be offered at the next concert by the San Joaquin Chorale.

“Past and Present” is the title of the performance, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20, in First Congregational Church, Fresno. Admission is $6 for general audiences and $3 for seniors and students. Call 453-2267 for more information.

The choirs of Fresno Pacific University, Butler Mennonite Brethren Church and North Fresno Mennonite Brethren Church will combine for a concert Sunday, April 21.

This is the first time these groups have performed together. The featured works will be “Missa Festiva” by John Leavitt and “Gospel Mass” by Robert Ray. Marc Ferguson, music director at North Fresno MB Church, will conduct the first composition, and Roy Klassen, FPU music faculty, the second.

About 110 of the supporters who donate scholarships and the students who receive them got the chance to know one another at the Fresno Pacific University Scholarship Dinner April 4. The annual event, which took place in Ashley Auditorium, included entertainment by university music students.

A new budget, a new major and a new way to serve the community were approved by the Fresno Pacific University Board of Trustees during its last meeting.

The university joined Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International and Butler Mennonite Brethren Church to form the Southeast Fresno Community Development Corporation. The goal of the non-profit group is to reach out to the area surrounding the campus. Its first project was the expansion of Small World Preschool at Butler Church to include more local children.

A record 454 graduates, their families and friends will hear from educational and community leader Walter Buster during the 57th commencement at Fresno Pacific University.

Hispanic students raised awareness of academic achievement and funds for scholarships at the first Noche de Gala Scholarship Award Dinner at Fresno Pacific University.

The event was 5-7 p.m. Saturday, April 27, on the lawn in front of Bartsch Hall. Amigos Unidos, a campus organization, is sponsoring the dinner, and alumni, faculty, staff and friends are invited.

The goal of the event was twofold: to honor top Hispanic graduating students for academics and service, and to launch the Adelante Scholarship for Latino students.