After a summer of dry, hot, not-a-raindrop-in-sight weather, Warner Pacific’s new and returning students were greeted with the wettest and windiest weekend of the season when they returned to campus (August 29, 2015).
That did not dampen the excitement or fun of the new school year, which included a photo booth with crazy props; enthusiastic staff waiting to help each and every new Knight; games in the gym; time to meet new friends; movie screening of Jurassic World; giant slip-n-slid, volleyball, and touch football; food, food, and more food; Knighting of the new students; exploring Portland’s iconic landmarks; worship and prayer; and salsa dance lessons.
Dr. Cook opened the 79th Academic Year at Convocation on Tuesday, September 1. (Watch the Convocation video.)
With a message paralleling the story of Humpty Dumpty with the lives of those in attendance in a unique and creative way, Dr. Reginald Nichols, the College’s new Vice President for Academic Affairs, asked us to commit to being our very best through observation, exploration, and expansion and not sit on a wall doing nothing.
“He is the God of boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small; our expectations are too limited,” reminded Dr. Nichols during his Convocation address.
“A powerful educational environment calls us to stretch – to move beyond our zones of comfort and enter new spaces of grace within ourselves. Christopher Columbus is quoted as saying, ‘You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.’ A powerful educational environment is hard work that causes us to lose sight of the shore and step into a different type of living – one that understands fully that you walk by faith and not by sight.”
Dr. Nichol’s final words to the student body and others in the audience was a quote from a sermon by Dr. Martian Luther King that ended with “Be the best at whatever you are.”
After a weekend of fun, time to get to know fellow students, and the pomp and ceremony Convocation, students settled into their class routine of the fall semester.
We welcomed 200 new students to the Mt. Tabor campus, including 122 first year students; the second largest incoming freshmen class in the College’s history.
These new Knights hail from 17 states and 3 foreign countries (most are from Oregon). They are predominantly multi-cultural with non-Caucasian backgrounds. And range in age from 17 to 71!
View photos from Welcome Weekend and Convocation on Warner Pacific’s Facebook page or Instagram.
