The Sermon on the Mount links Fresno Pacific University with its ninth president.

Harold Haak made that passage the center of his installation remarks during ceremonies October 27 in the campus Special Events Center. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in which he was brought up, Haak said he learned the fifth chapter of Matthew, which is the heart of Jesus’ great sermon. “It is memory work that often stands me in good stead among Mennonites,” he joked, “although they sometimes look puzzled by my proclivity to cite the King James Version.”

Recent meetings established a new level of cooperation between Fresno Pacific University and a university in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Professor Kidinda, president of Universite Chretienne de Kinshasa (Christian University of Kinshasa—UCKIN) and Professor M’buyamba, head of the university medical school, visited FPU the week of October 23. The meetings ended with an agreement “that shows the encouragement of the institutions to work together,” Kidinda said.

No change was good news for the Fresno Pacific University Board of Trustees.

The administration requested no revision in the 2000-2001 budget during board meetings Oct. 27-28. Spending last year had to be cut $1.1 million in response to overly optimistic revenue projections.

Reports on charitable trusts and scholarship endowments highlighted meetings of the Fresno Pacific University Foundation Board of Trustees Oct. 27-28.

The foundation currently manages and is named beneficiary of 45 trusts with assets totaling more than $13 million, according to Mark Deffenbacher, foundation executive director. The $3,362,918 in permanently and temporarily restricted endowments overseen by the foundation include about 54 scholarship funds.

The colorful, organic art of Bob Nugent graces Fresno Pacific Art Gallery through November.

Eight works of paint and ink on paper are being shown at the gallery, which is on the second floor of McDonald Hall, the campus’s main building. Many of the shapes resemble natural forms such as seed pods, expressing connection to the natural world.

A new president, a strong financial picture and a comprehensive building plan complement continuing enrollment gains at Fresno Pacific University.

The traditional undergraduate program at Fresno Pacific University continues to attract larger numbers of academically well-prepared students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, contributing to strong enrollment throughout the university’s three schools.

A leader with a long history in the Fresno community and broad academic and administrative experience has been named interim president at Fresno Pacific University.

Harold Haak, former president of California State University, Fresno, will step into the office being vacated by Allen Carden, who announced his resignation in January.

Haak served as president of CSUF from 1980-91 and is currently a professor of political science there. Haak will also continue to provide leadership for the development of the Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at CSUF.