A Brand New Day
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FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY | VOL. 27, NO. 2 A BRAND NEW DAY GOOD ART CARING CHEMISTRY P. 16 ADVENTURE P. 10 LINKS P. 18 president’s message RICHARD KRIEGBAUM, PH.D. NO SURPRISES hirty years ago my ofice was a Fresno Paciic For years, God did beautiful things at Paciic and dorm room that housed the vice president of then just when it seemed that we were really rolling administration. On a warm fall Friday the dean along, God surprised me with the clear indication that and I were walking behind Edmund Janzen, who was I needed to resign. My presidency ended in 997, the the president, on our way to the fall board meeting in year we became Fresno Paciic University. The 7 years a classroom in the recently completed Special Events since then were illed with personal and professional role Center. Then God spoke, though it was in the voice of changes, each one a surprise that strengthened my faith Edmund. He said, I guess I should tell you that I am in God. But nothing really prepared me for the sudden going to resign in this meeting. surprise return to the least likely role of all—being TThe core parts of who we really are remain pretty president of Fresno Paciic a second time. stable and change slowly. But apparently God thinks As a faithful learning community in a world of that changing roles in our personal and professional pain and loss and the uncertainty that comes from lives is good for us and that trying really challenging unanswered and unanswerable questions, we must want roles is even better. I had come to Fresno to serve and always to learn what God has for us in the challenge of his learn under Edmund, but God is always full of surprises next surprise. As people of faith who want to learn Jesus’ because he is always trying to grow us in the image of way, truth and life, we must want what God wants us to his son Jesus. So the following spring, despite a year of learn from every hard experience, and that will make us valiant efforts by the board to recruit someone else to more like Jesus, which is what this whole enterprise of follow Edmund as president, I accepted the role. Fresno Paciic University is ultimately all about. F RESNO PACIF IC UNIVERSIT Y Empowering leaders. Transforming lives. fre sn o .e d u PAGE Vo lu me 2 7 , Nu mb e r 2 No ve mb e r 2 0 1 4 contents F re sn o Pacifi c Un ive rsity d e ve lo p s 8 stu d e n ts fo r le ad e rsh ip an d A BRAND se rvice th ro u g h e xce lle n ce in Ch ristian h ig h e r e d u catio n . NEW DAY PRESIDENT Veteran administrators Rich ard Krie g b au m, Ph .D. bring new ideas of PROVOST / SENIOR VP Ste p h e n Varvis, Ph .D. leadership to FPU VICE PRESIDENT F OR ADVANCEMENT AND UNIVERSIT Y REL AT IONS Dian a Bate s Mo ck 13 A PASSAGE TO INDIA Alumni take education to an EDIT OR-IN-CHIEF Wayn e Ste ffe n international level wste ffe n @fre sn o .e d u CREAT IVE DIRECT OR 22 SUNBIRD ATHLETICS Niki De L aBarre n iki.d e lab arre @fre sn o .e d u True student-athletes succeed in GRAPHIC DESIGNER the field of life Mich e lle Martin CONT RIBUT ING 24 IN TOUCH WITH ALUMNI PHOT OGRAPHERS Silvia F lo re s Jare d Ph illip s ALUMNI PROFILE: Linda Line (M. Div. ’88) SPORT S EDIT OR was part of a new trend at the Je re miah Wo o d je ramiah .wo o d @fre sn o .e d u seminary PACIF IC ADVISORY COUNCIL L in d a Calan d ra | Jillian Co p p le r 30 PERSONAL SUPPORT Jaime Hu ss | Gail Marsh all Jo an Min asian | Dian a Bate s Mo ck Donors getting to know students Ro n Oro zco can result in friendship Pacific is se n t to alu mn i an d frie n d s o f F re sn o Pacifi c Un ive rsity an d to me mb e rs o f th e Pacifi c District Co n fe re n ce o f th e Me n n o n ite Bre th re n Ch u rch e s. In fo rmatio n 5 5 9 -4 5 3 -2 0 0 0 Alu mn i 5 5 9 -4 5 3 -2 2 3 6 Check the news website at Ad van ce me n t 5 5 9 -4 5 3 -2 0 8 0 news.fresno.edu for: 1 7 1 7 S. Ch e stn u t Ave . F re sn o , CA 9 3 7 0 2 -4 7 0 9 KEEP UP • Enrollment set a record for 2014 • FPU rose for the second straight year WITH FPU! in the U.S. News rankings See all the events at events.fresno.edu Emeritus faculty commit for a career SERVING elores Friesen, Ph.D., defines counseling as "one of Dthose doors of ministry where hurting people find God.” The work of the church has been at the center of Friesen’s life as a teacher, missionary, minister, licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical supervisor. Raised and ordained in what is now the Mennonite Church USA, she joined the seminary (then Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary) in 1988 as the first non-Mennonite Brethren full-time faculty member and became a member of the MB Church. She and husband Stan, a minister and teacher, attend College Community MB Church. Friesen was not the first woman on the faculty, but for quite a while was the only one. With a smile, Friesen adds she also suspects she was the only extrovert. Getting to know the Mennonite Brethren, FPU’s sponsoring denomination, is one of the highlights Friesen lists during her career. Treasured colleagues are another, from emeriti such as Elmer Martens, Ph.D.; and Allen Guenther, Ph.D.; to current faculty including Valerie Rempel, Ph.D.; Tim Geddert, Ph.D.; Mark Baker, Ph.D.; David Bruce Rose, Ph.D.; Cindy McGrady, Ph.D.; Adam Ghali, Ph.D.; and Autumn Lindberg, M.A. The Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy has grown as well, changing names and gaining students to become the seminary offering with the largest enrollment. DELORES “We’re bursting at the seams,” Friesen said. Students have provided Friesen’s greatest professional satisfaction. Ranging in age from 21 to 78, they have come from many professions and religious traditions as well as FRIESEN places from all over the world. All have had one thing in common: “They come to us with a passion for ministry and a Emerita call to ministry,” she said. Many have gone on to get doctorates and serve as pastoral professors as well as practitioners. About one third have gone counseling into ministry, according to Friesen, which is appropriate since the MFT program is central to the mission of the church as well as the seminary. “When people study theology along with their counseling, they become better counselors,” she said. Friesen feels her previous experience prepared her to flourish at the seminary. A missionary in Ghana and Nigeria for 13 years, she spent seven years in congregationalContinued on page 5 2 fresno pacific university WITH A PASSION or Jo Ellen Priest Misakian, M.L.S., the road to FPU was almost the road not taken. Eager to get back to the book stacks in 1999 after a stint at the Fresno County Office of Education, Misakian had a job offer in Selma. But friend Norma Dick, founder of the FPU teacher-librarian program, was looking for a successor. “Norma said, I’m not hanging up this phone until you tell me you’ll get an application,” Misakian remembers. When both schools wanted her, Misakian took the Selma Fposition after an administrator pointed out the higher salary and benefits and told her to look out for herself. Quickly realizing her mistake, Misakian worried she wouldn’t be allowed to change her mind, but Dick again intervened, telling Misakian’s husband, John, “You tell her she certainly can.” Then-Provost Howard Loewen noted it all happened around Easter, a time of redemption. “How could I doubt I had made the right choice?” Misakian said with one of her frequent laughs. The ability to follow her heart and embrace what’s new—being among the first faculty to be seen on campus with an iPad—has served Misakian well. “Our credential has probably changed more than most,” she said. Today the credential and master’s programs are completely online, a change that mirrors reality for teacher- librarians. Instead of stamping due dates in ink and hand- writing late notices, they now teach information literacy, offer professional development to classroom teachers and JO ELLEN provide students with a safe and stimulating library. They may also order textbooks, using computer skills to reduce losses to schools and districts. “Teacher-librarians are often leaders in technology in their schools,” Misakian said. Traditionalists need not fear, however; teacher-librarians PRIEST still read to kids. “That’s the fun part,” Misakian says. In all they do, teacher-librarians promote literacy. “The basics are still there,” Misakian says.