There's some positive news for college graduates who are about to enter the job market.

ABC, KFSN reporter Juanita Stevenson visited our FPU campus recently. The following is her story.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers says hiring managers plan to employ ten percent more new graduates this summer. But it is still a very competitive job market.

Thousands of graduates from Fresno State, Fresno Pacific and other colleges are flooding the job market. Many of those who are landing jobs started their search long before graduation day.

For the past few years, news has not been good for those entering the education profession: schools were cutting back, classes were getting bigger and teaching was becoming tougher.

Don’t always trust the street.

For the past few years, news has not been good for those entering the education profession: schools were cutting back, classes were getting bigger and teaching was becoming tougher.

Students from the Osaka Shoin Women’s University in Japan have been visiting Fresno Pacific University as a part of their English language studies for a number of years. Here they immerse themselves in dialogue with FPU students, learn about U.S. culture and visit many California landmarks. FPU students also learn about Japanese culture over the course of their month-long visit.

Community leaders welcomed the FPU Merced Regional Center during grand opening ceremonies March 29.

Merced Mayor Stan Thurston, Merced College President Ben Duran and District 2 County Supervisor Hubert Walsh were among the speakers to about 70 visitors at the center, 3379 G Street, Building P, El Portal Plaza. All expressed appreciation to the university for bringing bachelor’s degree completion and graduate programs to Merced.

Kevin Enns-Rempel has been appointed permanent director of Hiebert Library. The FPU Board of Trustees made the decision at its regular meetings March 2-3.

Enns-Rempel has served as interim director since 2010. Among the initiatives the library has made during that time is implementing the Encore library discovery system, which makes it easier for library users to find both print and online resources.

Head men’s and women’s swimming & diving coach Peter Richardson will return to his alma mater, having accepted an offer to become the head coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

Richardson, who started the FPU program from scratch in 2007, turned Fresno Pacific into a perennial national power at the NAIA level. In five years as the head coach he led the men’s and women’s programs to three NAIA national championships and three national runner-up finishes as the program heads into NCAA Division II next season.

Students, faculty and staff have all come together for Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to Matthew. The show will be March 22-April 1 in Ashley Auditorium on the main campus.

Peace and justice as seen by God and humanity will be the topic of the 2012 Believers Church Lecture Series March 21-22 at FPU.

Fernando Enns is the guest speaker. A native of Brazil, Enns is director of the Center for Theology of Peace Churches at the University of Hamburg and professor of theology and ethics at the Free University of Amsterdam. Among his books are The Peace Church and the Ecumenical Community: Ecclesiology and the Ethics of Nonviolence (2008) and Seeking Cultures of Peace: A Peace Church Conversation (co-editor, 2004).

As he prepares to retire after 10 years as FPU President, D. Merrill Ewert can look back on many honors. But the Harold Haak Award from the Fresno Compact is particularly meaningful.

“It’s a great honor to receive this award, having known Dr. Haak and then being the person who replaced him at Fresno Pacific. He’s a man I have enormous respect for. I’m literally sitting in the chair in which he sat,” said Ewert, who often tells how Haak recruited him and called FPU a “gift to the Valley.”