Did you know that our student newspaper, The Syrinx, is an award-winning paper?
Students from all over campus come together to produce editions of the paper for our FPU community. You’re always sure to find an FPU perspective on current events, the latest news, opinions and more.
SGA President and Paragon Scholar Kelsey Lowrey writes a senior reflection on her experience at FPU. You may see her work in the virtual conference presentations below.
My name is Kelsey Lowrey, and I am a senior mathematics major with a minor in software engineering. Although I find great joy in differentiating equations, one of my favorite activities to do is read books. The part of a book that I hate the most is the ending, the last chapter, the unseen future that is alluded to. I become so intertwined with the details, the development of the plot or the purpose of the book, the journey that the character is on that I feel a sense of loss when it is all over. At first I feel a sense of relief that I have finally finished the book and have discovered where all roads were leading to. However, shortly after, I find myself longing to continue reading that story, to wake up and want to find out what happens next from where I left off, to enter a world that is not my own, to be on the edge of my seat with suspense and thrill from the book. This is where I and I am sure many other seniors find themselves about now.
Veronica Mendez is an Alpha Chi member and Co-Editor of this newsletter.
I was born into a Roman Catholic family, but we were never the type of family that attended church every Sunday morning—we attended occasionally. Nevertheless, I was raised in the general beliefs of the faith. With this background, my first encounter with the chapel sessions at FPU felt odd. I continued to attend chapel and developed mixed feelings about it. Worshipping 1 God through singing in front of other students was not something I was used to. Yet, the experience also gave me a feeling of devotion and surrender towards the Lord.
Over the last two years my faith has become increasingly important to me and after almost four semesters at FPU I’ve grown not only very comfortable with the chapel service, but I also feel appreciated. On January 29 the FPU community welcomed Father Paul Keller from St. Paul Newman Center at the weekly chapel service, where he delivered a beautiful message of our calling to serve others. Less than a month later, on February 26th we happily welcomed him back for Ash Wednesday. The collaboration between different departments on campus and community ministries has demonstrated FPU’s openness to interdenominational – ecumenical – dialogue to create a welcoming atmosphere for everyone.
Father Keller’s second visit at FPU was to offer all college hour attendees with an Ash
Wednesday Service. He delivered a beautiful speech about what Ash Wednesday and the Lenten
season represents. He reminded all of us, regardless of where we are in our faith journey, that
this is the season to acknowledge that we are imperfect beings. He repeated that this is a time to
accept that “there is something wrong with our spirit,” but also that we are loved and forgiven by
the Lord. His overall message was, even in our imperfectness, the important thing is our
willingness to acknowledge the brokenness within us to seek solutions, build a relationship with
God, and above all honor God. Lastly, he distributed ashes to all who felt called to receiving
them, whether a member of the Roman Catholic Church or not.
In February, FPU sent ten of our students to Boston to compete in the Harvard National Model United Nations 2020 where they competed against other colleges who were assigned to different countries. Our dual delegates (partnered students) represented the country of Jamaica in five committees in the General Assembly. Disarmament and International Security discussed foreign interventions in civil war, Economic and Financial focused on banking policies for avoiding global recessions, Legal explored the rights and limitations of digital citizenship, the World Health Organization (WHO) argued on global
disparities in health professional training, and the 2055 Futuristic General Assembly worked to resolve refugee concerns in terms of coping with a broken climate. The General Assembly is the largest and contains the most global committees at the conference. The goal is to tackle issues that affect all nations, large or small, developing or highly developed.
Delegates must work with other countries to find solutions that would correspond with their ideals. A draft resolution is written and sent to the dais, the Harvard students running the committee, for voting. The end goal is to have your writing in the final resolution paper and voted on by the majority of the delegations. Matthew and Shawn in WHO, Alyssa and Candy in Legal, and Luke and Elizabeth in Economic and Financial had their resolution papers passed. Congratulations to the Sunbirds who participated!
Exciting news! The Fresno Pacific Biblical and Theological Studies department has added a new Honors Society chapter, Theta Alpha Kappa. This chapter honors the studies of religious studies and theology, and we can’t be more thrilled to join! If interested, contact Dr. Melly Howard here.
Paragon Scholar Matt Wilfong reflects on his experience in the summer of 2019: on a solitary trip he began to synthesize all that he had learned, seen, and experienced.
I found myself sitting on a boulder in a state of wonder. A fairly new state of mind in a fairly familiar place. I could sense a presence all around me and moving through me as well. It was this divine presence that defined me and created me. I marveled at creation, from the mountain ridge to the baby pine to the ants clearing their hole. I sat in awe of a great landscape, and I knew my place within it. I understood that I was a part of the creation that surrounded me, but was set apart by my ability to admire it as well as model the actions of the One who created it.
It is this ‘creation’ aspect of the world that gives it value: what you see is valuable because of the Divine that created it, imbuing it with value. Because such value can be found in nature, we have a moral obligation towards nature and the care of it. On my trip into the wilderness—the John Muir Wilderness, among others—I was struck by what I can only describe as a ‘close-encounter’ with God, with my creator, that inspired my personal ecological ethic and appreciation of creation.
The Shalom Club provides an incredible opportunity for all students to experience the shalom, or peace that God has intended for us by experiencing our faith in a holistic way.
We are so proud of our newspaper, the Syrinx for the amazing work they have done! They travelled to San Diego for the ACP conference where the Athletics, A&E and Graphic editors were recognized for their hard work. Congratulations to the editors and the entire staff for their well-deserved recognition! We appreciate their dedication to providing the news to the FPU community. We are blessed to have students who strive to be their best every day!
The Syrinx has given our students an opportunity to express their opinions surrounding race and diversity at Fresno Pacific in the November 2018 edition of their monthly newspaper.The Syrinx allows students to vocalize their opinions and create conversation about relevant topics students want to talk about.
If you’re interested in the varying opinions of our students, either pick up one of their newspapers or check out their content on their website
Yup, that’s The Fresno Bee editor Joe Kieta handing The Syrinx Editor-in-Chief Leo Loera $1,500 check!
Straight from The Syrinx’s latest article:
Syrinx editors applied for the grant in April 2018 with the endorsement of the Editor of the Fresno Bee, Joe Kieta. Kieta visited FPU on Monday on behalf of the California Press Foundation to present the $1500 check to Editor-in-Chief Leo Loera.
Kieta congratulated The Syrinx staff members on winning a first place award for Best Newspaper at the California College Media Association in March 2018, and he encouraged the students to use the grant to continue to tell relevant stories focused on the FPU community.
“We have always depended on our photo editor to supply their own camera equipment,” Schrag [The Syrinx media advisrr] said. “This grant helps us lower the barrier of entry into photojournalism for FPU students and hopefully leads to great visual storytelling.”
Part of the mission of the California Press Foundation, according to their website, is to assure the future of California journalism through encouragement of education and to provide a social and educational forum for its members.
Way to go! We’re so proud of The Syrinx.
Did you know our campus has a community run garden? The FPU Shalom Club recently hosted a Garden Work Day to weed, install drip irrigation and plant flowers! Way to go, Sunbirds! 🌳🌻
Congrats to the editors and staff of The Syrinx Newspaper on another great run this semester! Don’t forget to grab a copy of the next issue!
The Syrinx would like to give a big thank you to their editors and staff writers for this amazing semester. The entire staff collaborated and constantly worked hard to produce the best newspaper for the Fresno Pacific community.
