Footsteps pound toward me as I crouch behind the car. The policewoman bellows in my face as I stand up. “What are you doing out so late?” The questions come like angry slaps, with no break for a response. “What do you think you are doing? Are you a Christian?”

Increasing racial and ethnic diversity among students and faculty is the goal at Fresno Pacific University—and a grant from the James Irvine Foundation will help achieve that purpose.

The three-year, $350,000 award is to help FPU:

A new grant from a familiar donor will help keep the music playing at Fresno Pacific University.

The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable Foundation donated $15,000 for music scholarships. Students who are graduates of Roosevelt or Sierra high schools, have a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and are involved in music at FPU are eligible. This grant is in addition to the regular support the foundation gives to Roosevelt Revolution Soccer Club, a university outreach program serving more than 100 community children each year.

A respected teacher, author and administrator will lead a new effort to encourage scholarship at Fresno Pacific University.

Rod Janzen, education and history faculty, has been appointed FPU’s first Distinguished Scholar. The five-year post allows Janzen to split his time evenly between writing/research and teaching.

“Scholarship is the coin of the realm in higher education, and universities serve society as an educational resource,” said FPU President D. Merrill Ewert. “We want people to turn to our faculty for research-based answers to difficult questions.”

Longtime Fresno business leader Larry A. Shehadey is contributing $500,000 to a multi-million-dollar project at Fresno Pacific University, President D. Merrill Ewert announced.

“We are proud to name the dining room of our new campus center for Larry A. Shehadey,” Ewert said. “His generosity will help generations of students enjoy the benefits of Christian higher education.”

Christendom in Britain is dying--giving Christianity has a chance to be reborn.

This was the message two former missionaries brought to the Believers Church Lecture Series March 20-22 at Fresno Pacific University. Alan and Eleanor Kreider spent 26 years in England with the Anabaptist Network and the Mennonite Board of Missions. “The demise of Christendom is good news for Christianity,” Alan said

A new budget, improved off-campus facilities and other issues of growth were on the agenda for the Fresno Pacific University Board of Trustees March 7-8.

The budget for 2003-2004 was set at $27.4 million, up from $25.3 million in 2002-2003. The board also looked at ways to aid the university’s off-campus centers.

“We’re happy in these times to be able to grow and reach out to more students in more places,” said President D. Merrill Ewert. “We have the classes, the programs and the facilities to serve the Valley.”

Historical travelogue, morality tale, personal testimony—the spring play at Fresno Pacific University tells a unique story in an unusual way.

A nationally recognized author and teacher will share his insights and experiences with local school library media professionals during an event sponsored by Fresno Pacific Graduate School.

Gary Hartzell is the keynote speaker for Leadership Day, hosted by the graduate library media teacher media program, part of Fresno Pacific University. The annual event will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 4 in the Piccadilly University at Cedar and Shaw avenues.

Arthur Wiebe, former Fresno Pacific University president, received two honors recently. Fresno Compact, an association of educational, civic and business leaders, announced Wiebe will be the 2003 winner of the Harold Haak Award for Educational Excellence. The award was created in 2002 and named for Harold Haak, FPU president from 2000-02, who was also its first recipient. The presentation to Wiebe is set for March 5.