Fundraiser for Razed Redwood Adventist Academy (Adventist EDU News Shorts)

Galt Adventist School Raises Money for Redwood Adventist Academy. Galt Adventist School hosts a special yard sale fundraiser today and tomorrow (October 19-20) to raise funds for its sister school, Redwood Adventist Academy, which was destroyed by the Santa Rosa fires. The Galt Herald announced that the sale takes place Thursday and Friday from 8 am to 3 pm on the Galt campus. The Adventist News Network reported that “On Monday, Oct. 9, the Tubbs Fire, a wildfire that burned at least 28,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties in Northern California, swept into the Larkfield-Wikiup area of Santa Rosa, California and destroyed Redwood Adventist Academy, located on Mark West Springs Road. No students or faculty were on campus at the time.” Redwood has made plans to move the school to a new location.

Pacific Union College Resumes Classes As NorCal Fires Contained. After a one-week suspension of classes amid Northern California wildfire activity, Pacific Union College resumed classes yesterday (October 18). The Angwin, California campus was never in immediate danger from the many devastating fires to pass through Napa and Sonoma counties, but the campus’s Virgil O. Parrett Field airstrip served as a staging area for aircraft and firefighters. Volunteer firefighters from PUC, both students and college staff, were among the more than 11,000 firefighters and first responders who worked around the clock to contain the fires. PUC also housed many pilots who assisted in fire relief work. Students returning to campus were advised that air quality could remain poor due to smoke from the fires. Administration recommended bringing N95 or N100 air masks as a precaution, especially for those with respiratory problems. For more on this story, see, “PUC Resumes Classes After Wildfire Concerns.”

La Sierra University Touts Top Diversity Ranking. Southern California’s La Sierra University is celebrating being ranked number one for diversity by the Wall Street Journal again. The Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Education College Rankings 2018, which rated more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States, placed La Sierra atop its annual college rankings guide list, beating out California State University, Northridge (second), UCLA (tied with Cal State Long Beach and two campuses of the City University of New York in 8th place), among others in environment ranking. The ranking also considered overall diversity and inclusiveness by factoring in the proportion of international students, diversity of students, faculty and staff, percentage of Pell grant recipients and number of students who are first in their families to attend college. The other three main criteria used to create the guide include academic resources, student outcomes, and student engagement. For more, see “Wall Street Journal college guide ranks La Sierra No. 1 for diversity.”

Southwestern Adventist University Ranks #2 in Diversity Regionally. U. S. News has ranked Southwestern Adventist University the second most ethnically diverse university among Regional Colleges West (including 15 states). Southwestern was also ranked 20th overall in the same region, marking the second straight year of the university’s moving up the Best Colleges rankings (22nd in 2015 and 21st in 2016). See “SWAU Moves Up in U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings.”

President’s Gala Nets Southern Adventist $300k. On October 5, Southern Adventist University’s President David Smith hosted a gala event that garnered over $300k in scholarship and endowment contributions from local businesses. The event honored three “servant leaders,” high school student Wilmer Perez, retiree Irvin Overton, and Every Valley Leadership Academy Executive Director Ron Lowe. For more, see “President's Gala Increases Scholarships.”