OPERATING WITH Excellence

Vanguard University of Southern California
OPERATING WITH
Excellence
LARRY KRAISS ’82
Operating with Excellence 4
Cheering on Students 6
Class Notes 7
Cultural Emissary 9
www.vanguard.edu
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4
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9
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mission statement
As an Assemblies of God university, the purpose of Vanguard University is to pursue knowledge,
cultivate character, deepen faith, and equip each student for a life of leadership and service.
contents
volume 10 number 1
•
summer 2009
Features
Operating with Excellence ................................ 4
Larry Kraiss ’82, one of the premier vascular surgeons in the
western United States, is trying to discover why plaque forms in
artery walls — and how to stop it.
Cheering On Students ..................................... 6
Barbi Rouse ’74, VU’s director of learning skills, encourages
and empowers students to succeed in spite of learning challenges
and disabilities.
Cultural Emissary ............................................. 9
Cecilee Glaus ’09, one of VU’s outstanding recent anthropology
students, is heading to a prestigious graduate school to pursue
cross-cultural studies.
Commencement ............................................ 12
VU graduated the largest class in the University’s history in May.
Provost Appointed ......................................... 19
Jeff Hittenberger, who served as VU’s dean of the School of Education,
has been appointed provost, bringing significant leadership experience.
Departments
Message from the President ............................. 1
On Campus ..................................................... 2
Class Notes ..................................................... 7
A Vine of His Own Planting ............................. 16
Sports ........................................................... 20
Postcards...................................................... 21
University Governance
Acting Chair, Board of Trustees
Russell Spittler
University Administration
President
Carol Taylor
Editor
Joel Kilpatrick
Art Director
Tawny Marcus
Photographer
Trever Hoehne
Provost / Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Jeff Hittenberger
Director of Marketing &
Communications
Patti Ammerman
Vice President for Business
and Finance
Bob Allison
Director of Alumni Relations
Heather Clements
Vice President for Enrollment
Management
Jessica Mireles
Vice President for Student Affairs
Ann Hamilton
Acting Vice President for
University Advancement
Craig Young
in this issue
As I meet many of the wonderful alums who have come out
of Vanguard University, I am continually impressed by the
high caliber of people our institution sends into the world.
Vanguard produces amazing results for its size. As a lifelong
educator in the world of large-scale testing and assessment,
I’ve learned to carefully assess results — and I can tell you
that Vanguard University is producing some of the finest I
have ever seen.
Our cover story is a good example. Dr. Larry Kraiss ’82
came to Vanguard intent on becoming a doctor, and when he
graduated and enrolled in a prestigious medical school, he
found that he was better prepared than fellow students from
bigger and more well-known schools. “I directly credit my
Vanguard professors for the intellectual rigor they brought to
the courses they taught,” he says. You’ll enjoy reading about
this world-class surgeon and the outstanding work he is doing
in the field of vascular health.
Back here on campus, faculty member Barbi Rouse ’74
continues to do an outstanding job of encouraging and
assisting students who have learning challenges and
disabilities. As director of learning skills, Rouse has spent
more than three decades helping students live up to their full
potential and go on to successful lives and careers. Read
about her inspiring work in this issue.
Recent graduate Cecilee Glaus ’09 shows the continuing
strength of Vanguard’s academic offering. She is an
anthropology student who has presented serious research at
an academic conference and is now heading to Berkeley’s
Graduate Theological Union. She aims to build cross-cultural
bridges with Muslim cultures around the world.
There is much more here — in Class Notes you can catch
up on what other alumni are doing. On Campus updates you
on our music program’s recent performance at the Lincoln
Center in New York City, and about the national prize won
by several of our communication students. It all points to the
same conclusion: Vanguard is a great university having a great
impact on the world through the lives and work of alumni like
you. Thanks for being part of the Vanguard community!
Vanguard University of Southern California, in compliance with laws
and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
gender, age, disability, national origin, or status as a veteran in any
of its policies, practices or procedures.
vanguard magazine is a free publication published 3 times per
year by Vanguard University of Southern California. All contents
copyrighted, 2009, Vanguard University of Southern California.
Bulk rate postage paid at Las Vegas, NV. POSTMASTER: Send
address changes to: VUSC Alumni Relations Office, 55 Fair Drive,
Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
vanguard magazine summer 2009 1
on campus
Students win award in
National Geographic contest
Musical, drama hit the stage
at VU
Students from VU’s communication department won the
Audience Award in the 2009 National Geographic Preserve
Our Planet public service announcement (PSA) contest. They
were given $1,000 and an expenses-paid trip to National
Geographic’s Explorer’s Symposium.
The Vanguard University theatre department will open the
2009-2010 season with a popular musical and a well-known
courtroom drama.
“It was a great feeling to see our hard work pay off, and to
The Fantasticks, which begins its run at VU’s Lyceum Theater
be recognized for how much we had done,” says junior Cody
in September, tells the story of a young boy and girl who fall in
Crawford, who along with sophomores Josh Hamilton and
love through the antics of their meddling parents. The musical
Scott Houston created a PSA entitled “Together We Shape
includes popular songs “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s
Our World.”
Gonna Rain.”
The PSA contest — part of the National Geographic Channel’s
Preserve Our Planet initiative — invited people to submit short
films promoting conservation. Crawford, Hamilton and Houston
created their 30-second spot in a VU animation class using
stop motion animation and clay. It took a full day, and over 300
snapshots, to finish it. The resulting ad, showing hands forming
and then holding the Earth, won the Audience Award which
was determined by online voting. The ad appeared nationwide
on the National Geographic Channel in April.
“We did our best to get all our friends to vote for it,” says
Crawford. “It was a great feeling. We had a really good team
and great people to work with.”
View it at http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/
channel/content/preserve-our-planet/film-fest/psa.html.
2 vanguard magazine summer 2009
on campus
The second show is Twelve Angry Jurors, originally titled
Twelve Angry Men. This well-known drama presents a room
full of strangers who must decide the fate of a teenage boy
accused of murdering his father. The show plays in October
and November.
Ticket prices for each show are $17 for general admission and
$14 for seniors and children. Visit www.vanguardtickets.com
or call the Vanguard University theatre department box office
at 714-668-6145. Season subscriptions and group rates are
available.
VANGUARD UNIVERSITY
PRE-VU 2009
Nursing program receives top
accreditation
Discover what Vanguard University has to offer — great
community, great location, and a great education. Stay in
our dorms, meet our faculty, and get a taste of college life,
at Fall Pre-VU, November 10 & 11!
www.vanguard.edu/prevu
800-722-6279
admissions@vanguard.edu
Students embark on spring
break missions trips
Seventy-three VU students spent their spring break in Galveston, San Francisco, Mexico and Northern Ireland where they
served in a variety of ministry and relief efforts.
The Galveston, Texas, team partnered with Mercy Response, a
ministry of Vineyard USA, to re-construct and restore neighborVU’s RN-to-BSN degree program received five-year accredita-
hoods, schools and churches affected by Hurricane Ike.
tion from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
(CCNE), the longest period of time for which the CCNE grants
accreditation for a new program.
“This validates Vanguard’s nursing program and places it in
the top quality category,” says Colette York, director of VU’s
nursing program. “It is the culmination of our recent efforts.”
The RN-to-BSN degree program combines innovative curriculum, interdisciplinary teaching and collaborative partnerships
in a bachelor’s degree program. The two-year course of study
promotes critical inquiry, enhances nurses’ skill sets and prepares them for leadership roles in the health care environment.
For more information on VU’s RN-to-BSN program visit
www.vanguard.edu/sps/nursing.
On Campus, continued on page 18
vanguard magazine summer 2009 3
alumni profile
Operating with Excellence
L
arry Kraiss ’82 is one of the premier vascular
the people who taught most of the courses in my major and
surgeons in the western United States and leads a
they exemplified everything a faculty role model ought to be.
team of researchers at the University of Utah that
They were professional and rigorous in their field, yet took a
is trying to discover why plaque forms in artery walls — and
personal interest in students and modeled the integration of
how to stop it.
faith and learning in their daily lives.”
“When you are in medicine and science you make progress
Kraiss shone at Vanguard, graduating summa cum laude,
in thousands of small steps, one patient and one experiment
earning the President’s Award and giving the senior com-
at a time,” Kraiss says. “You may find one thing and publish
mencement speech. He was accepted to a number of medi-
it and someone else takes it and adds their little discovery.
cal schools and chose Baylor College of Medicine, where he
By the time ten or fifteen people have added something you
earned his MD in 1986 with highest honors.
say, ‘Now we know more than we did.’”
“When I got to medical school I felt that my preparation at
Kraiss performs up to two hundred surgeries per year, runs
Vanguard was better than what my colleagues from more
an active science laboratory and publishes widely in medical
prestigious universities had gotten,” he says. “I directly
journals on advances made in understanding atherosclero-
credit my Vanguard professors for the intellectual rigor they
sis, the medical term for the hardening of the arteries. But six
brought to the courses they taught.”
years ago he confronted his own unexpected diagnosis of
cancer, which is now in remission.
In 1986 he and wife Karen (Klein) ’80 moved to Seattle
where Larry started his surgical training. While working in a
“That was a very re-orienting
experience,” he says. “I would
never wish it on anybody, but
at the same time it’s a classic
example of everything working
together for good.”
Kraiss became interested in
medicine during a high school
physiology course, and vividly
research lab there, he became
“When I got to medical school
I felt that my preparation at
Vanguard was better than
what my colleagues from
more prestigious universities
had gotten.”
fascinated with vascular surgery
and the blood flow research they
were conducting. For two years
he helped with the lab’s research,
published papers and “had a
successful, productive time,” he
says. “I realized I enjoyed the scientific method and the process of
doing research.”
recalls watching a film of pediatric heart surgery. He started working at a hospital as a
The experience prompted him to become an academic
messenger which allowed him to observe the different units,
surgeon and to focus on vascular surgery, which involves
from the emergency room to the radiology department. He
operating on arteries and veins either with traditional open
entered Vanguard intent on going to medical school.
surgery or by using a catheter to repair vessels with balloons
“I majored in chemistry and spent a lot of time in the science
lab there,” he says. “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Don
Lorance, Larry McHargue and Wayne Peterson. They were
and stents. The purpose is to restore blood flow to a
particular organ.
“Diseases within the vessels can deprive body parts of
Larry Kraiss, continued on page 14
vanguard magazine summer 2009 5
faculty profile
Cheering on Students
T
hirty-five years ago Barbi Rouse ’74 was one of the
learn the way other students do. They’ve got to somehow figure
best collegiate cheerleaders in the state of California.
out what works best according to their unique learning style. It
Today, as the director of learning skills at VU, she uses
can be very discouraging and treacherous. But these students
that same gift to encourage and empower students to succeed
in spite of learning challenges and disabilities.
are my heroes. So many of them are top achievers.”
Rouse first came to VU as an Assemblies of God kid from
“I have a responsibility to cheer my students on,” Rouse says.
Burbank. She and other kids in the district attended youth
“That’s my biggest role at Vanguard, both in the classroom,
camps every summer and agreed to all meet up at Vanguard,
working with students with learning disabilities, and with unde-
which they did.
clared majors and students who have other learning challenges
such as test anxiety. I tell them, ‘I’m so excited to see your
face, because before your mother gave birth to you, God had
They arrived on campus during the Jesus movement, and Barbi
thrived under the ministry of Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel. She
also was a Vanguard cheerleader for three years.
Vanguard in your future.’”
“Cheerleading gave me license to be myself. It legitimized my
Though initially hired to assist students with learning skills, in
personality,” she says.
the last fifteen years Rouse has pioneered VU’s services to
students with learning disabilities. A learning disability is anything
that keeps a student from doing what he or she is intellectually
capable of doing, she says.
“The misconception is that students with learning disabilities
are low achievers, or lazy, or don’t have the intellectual abilities.
Those things could not be further from the truth,” she says. “It’s
Her squad won a national cheerleading competition in their
division in her junior year.
“It was huge,” Rouse says. “I don’t think we were the best athletically, but we took that camp by storm. We went in there and we
were the leaders. I’ll never forget what an impacting week it was,
to live out our faith and be ambassadors for the school.”
a learning difference. Their brains are wired differently. A student
She soon met fellow student Glenn Rouse ’75, a distance runner
with a learning difference has to creatively figure out how to make
with VU’s track team which was then number two in the nation in
learning happen, and how best his or her brain works. School can
the NAIA. He also taught the senior class Bible study.
be a stormy place for many of these students because they don’t
“That’s how I fell in love with him,” she says. “He loved the Lord.”
Barbi Rouse, continued on page 11
6 vanguard magazine summer 2009
class notes
They are grateful that Hugh is cancer
free. The Rileys have three daughters, six
granddaughters and two grandsons.
See you in Orlando
Hey, fellow alumni!
There are two opportunities for you
to get together with alums in Florida
this summer. If you’re attending
General Council in Orlando, join us
for a Vanguard alumni reception on
Wednesday, August 5, at 8 p.m. in
the Rosen Centre, after the evening
service. We’re going to have a great
time catching up with each other, eating free food and getting a chance to
greet new VU president Carol Taylor.
Look for the signs to our room — it
will be easy to find.
If you live in the Orlando area, please
join us for a regional alumni dinner
at BJ’s restaurant near the Mall at
Millenia at 6 p.m. on Saturday, August
1. You’ll get to meet Carol Taylor, reconnect with old classmates and hear
about the great things happening at
Vanguard these days. We’ll be doing
more of these regional alumni events
around the country in the near future,
so stay tuned for places and dates.
One of the best ways to stay in touch
with us and fellow alums is at www.
vanguard.edu/alumni. And speaking of staying in touch — we want to
hear from you! What have you been
doing lately? Have you moved? Had
’50s
Fred Cruse ’59 and wife Wanda June spent
more than thirty years ministering to American
Indians and Eskimos in the Alaska Arctic,
and as youth pastors and pastors throughout
Arizona, California and Nevada. They live in
Lamont.
’60s
Lynda (Faulkner ’61) and Sam Higgins
’62 live in Westminster and have been
married forty-seven years. Lynda worked
in the department of music at Vanguard for
Sharon (Smith ’63) Saalinger and husband
Lee were married thirteen years before the
Lord took Lee home in August 2008 after a
major stroke. Sharon lives in Bakersfield.
’70s
children or grandchildren? Started a
new job or career? Taken up an interesting hobby? Let us know about it
and we might include it, along with a
photo, in Class Notes (photos should
be 1MB or larger in size). And if you
get together with other VU alums,
send us a photo or write-up about
what you did. We’d love to celebrate
it in the magazine, and maybe even
partner with you on future events.
So head over to www.vanguard.edu/
alumni to send us your updates, and
to see what’s happening with other
Vanguard alumni. See you online and
in Orlando!
Cindy (Marsh ’77) Blymiller is a recovery
room nurse and infection control officer for an
ambulatory surgical center in Redlands. She
and husband Ron, a civil engineer, have been
married twenty-nine years. They have one
granddaughter and three sons: Andrew, 22,
Jeff, 19, and Jon, 17.
Richard Ringness ’72 partnered with Lowell
Norman ’72 to produce radio and film
projects for missionary Wayne Turnbull ’50
and family in Panama. He worked for World
Vision for four years, then spent many years in
radio and television sales and management.
He and wife Sharon now own a full-service
advertising agency in Stockton. They have
three daughters and seven grandchildren.
Keith Robinette ’79 is a retail manager in
North and South Dakota and lives in Fargo.
Patricia Tasonis ’78 recently retired from
twenty years of working at the State Fund
of California. She stays busy traveling and
expanding her new hobby of photography
(ptasonisphotos.com). Patricia lives in Tustin.
H
h (R
h l ’’02)
02
2) Cl
C
l
Heather
(Rachels
Clements
Director of Alumni Relations
seventeen years before she retired. They
are now on staff at Orange County Worship
Center and have two grown children, Lisa and
Todd.
Carol (Kornelsen ’67)
and Emory Longstreth
’61 have one daughter,
Renee. Carol is a
teacher and Emory is a
retired Assemblies of God pastor and owner
of Stretch Landscape Maintenance.
Sharon (Coble ’63) and Hugh Riley ’72
are retired and traveled in their motor home
for four years before settling in Bakersfield.
’80s
Leisa (Goins 19781982) and Herb Cierley
’82 are the parents of
Courtney, 26. Leisa is
in human resources
with Digital Map Products and Herb is an
insurance broker. They have been married
twenty-eight years and live in Santa Ana.
Tracie (Towner ’94) and Gerald Davis ’83
have been married thirteen years. Tracie is
a teacher with the Fillmore Unified School
District. Gerald is the manager of quality
analytical laboratories at Amgen. They live in
Fillmore with their children, Carson, 9, and
Madison, 6.
Leslie (McClaskey ’88) and Patrick Dey
’86 have been married twenty-two years and
have three children. The Deys live in Ladera
Ranch.
Class Notes, continued on page 8
vanguard magazine summer 2009 7
class notes
Class Notes, continued from page 7
Cristi Erickson ’87
received an MA in
teaching English to
speakers of other
languages from Seattle
Pacific University in June. She lives in Port
Orchard, Wash.
Kimberly (Tetsell ’89) Fitzgerald earned
an MA in clinical psychology from Azusa
Pacific University. She is a private practice
therapist specializing in trauma, life
transition difficulties and relationship issues.
Kimberly and husband Dan, an independent
contractor, have five grandchildren. They live
in Loma, Colo.
Robin (Triggs ’83) and
Glenn Garvin ’83, MA
’07 have been married
twenty-six years. Robin
is the newly appointed
director of kids ministries for the Southern
California District Office of the Assemblies
of God. Glenn is the director of mission
fulfillment for Royal Family Kids Camps
(rfkc.org). They live in Lakewood and are
the parents of David, 22, Mathew, 20, and
Janae, 17.
Adina (Burcar ’86) and Steven Madden
’86 have been married twenty-two years.
Steven is an evangelist for Madden Ministries
Evangelistic Association (maddenministries.
org). Adina made an album titled Spark
of Hope and is working on a second. The
Maddens live in Hutto, Texas, with children
Rachel, 20, Andrew, 15, and Joshua, 11.
Deborah (Hardwick ’88) Mueller and
husband Walter have two children, Walter, 5,
and Mackenzie, 3. They live in Poway.
Joshua Shankle-Jones ’82 and wife
Susanna have been married forty years.
Their family includes daughter Angelina and
grandchildren Amadea and Morgan. Joshua
and Susanna live in Arizona and serve on staff
at Sun Valley Indian School.
Paul Wernquist ’86 received an MA in
anthropology from Cal State Fullerton. He
is now retired and lives in Cabo San Lucas,
Mexico.
Margot (Bobgan ’85) and David Woodworth
’85, MA ’93 are Assemblies of God
missionaries to Colombia, where they have
established a missionary training program and
school. Margot will teach an extended English
intensive course and begin her doctoral
classes. They are the parents of Davis, 18,
Marcus, 16, and Lucas, 14.
8 vanguard magazine summer 2009
’90s
Loren Brooks ’90 received an MBA from
Ashworth College in 2007. He is a commercial
relationship manager for Wells Fargo Bank
and lives in Visalia.
Shauna (Caradonna
’97) and Scott
Dauenhauer ’97 have
been married twelve
years. Shauna received
an MA in education from National University
and is a science teacher with the Murrieta
Valley Unified School District. Scott is a
certified financial planner. The Dauenhauer
family, including children Collin, 8, and
Rebekah Rae, lives in Murrieta.
Erika (Schuhriemen ’91) and Bret Dixon ’91
have three children and make their home in
Bakersfield.
Nalaina (Duncan ’97)
and Steve Harper ’98
have been married
ten years. Steve has
been employed with
Class Notes, continued on page 10
Alum’s site
spurs cultural
conversations
Peter Schumerth ’97 helped develop
ConversantLife.com in 2007 to
be a forum for culturally relevant
conversations for Christians on a variety
of topics.
“We saw a disconnect between how
younger audiences want content and
how the faith industry was delivering it,”
Schumerth says. “Our goal is to inform,
engage and disciple people’s faith
through new media and digital content.”
The Santa Ana-based site, which
Schumerth runs with his brother-in-law
and father-in-law, a prolific author, offers
columns, blogs and video posts from
up-and-coming Christian writers.
friends who teach there or are involved
somehow. ConversantLife has opened
doors for me to speak on the Vanguard
campus and in class lectures, and teach
students about new media marketing.”
“We have some amazing writers,” says
Schumerth, who is director of marketing.
“We’re proud to give them a platform and
an opportunity to reach an audience.”
ConversantLife has had two VU student
interns in the past year. Prior to starting
the site, Schumerth worked for ten
years as a brand manager for Meguiar’s.
He received his MBA with an emphasis
in entrepreneurship from Pepperdine
University.
The site averages about 50,000 unique
visitors a month, he says. The content
is constantly changing and ranges over
topics from theology to television, social
justice to movie reviews.
Schumerth earned a degree in mathematics with a minor in business from
VU and played soccer all four years.
“Vanguard is a great alumni community,” he says. “I have so many
He hopes ConversantLife continues
offering “a compelling blend of culturally relevant blogs, video and podcast
content, as well as user-submitted news
on faith and cultural topics,” he says.
“It’s all about real conversations for a
spiritual lifestyle. Hopefully we’re making a difference for the Kingdom.”
student profile
Cultural
Emissary
A
s a student of anthropology, Cecilee Glaus
’09 tackles tough research problems the
way she used to figure out Russian pieces
as a classical piano student — by zeroing in on and
mastering each element.
“I thrive on challenges when I know if I work hard
enough I can excel,” says the soon-to-be graduate
student. “The research is hard but thrilling. It compels
me to keep studying and citing more people than I
need to because in my mind it all connects into this
huge, multi-faceted web of culture.”
After graduating from VU this past May with a degree
in cultural anthropology and a minor in religion, Glaus
is heading to Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union
to pursue a master of arts in cultural and historical
studies of religion with an emphasis in Islamic studies.
The main draw: the school’s Center for Islamic Studies. Her goal is to build bridges and forge a religious
dialogue with Muslims.
Her interest in Islamic studies was sparked in an
introduction to theology class with professor Ed
Rybarczyk, and in a current issues in missions class
with professor Greg Austring.
“I did one of my final projects on Islam and saw in
it so much of my own love for the Lord and desire to serve
says. “I feel prepared and have a strong foundation in my faith
doctrinally and theologically.”
and be known by God, and at the same time the fundamental
Glaus grew up attending Church on the Way in Van Nuys. She’s
component of my faith was missing from their beliefs, in the
always had “an itch, this compulsion” to serve overseas as a
person of Christ,” she says.
cultural emissary.
She traveled with VU staff and students to Kyrgyzstan in the
She was also trained as a classical pianist and discovered the
summer of 2008 and came away believing that her career would
depths of her own tenacity as she figured out difficult pieces by
intersect somehow with Muslim culture. Her approach to the
Rachmaninoff and other modern Russian composers. Her small
subject is both scholarly and spiritual.
hands were ill-suited to their works, but she was able to master
“Anthropology provides a way to dialogue with and understand
Muslims, to respect and be known by them, to know what
makes them tick and how to represent our culture in a way that
is meaningful and doesn’t alienate them from their culture,” she
them by practicing the difficult parts over and over. When she
got to VU, she fell in love with anthropology and began to apply
that same tenacity to her studies.
Cecilee Glaus, continued on page 17
vanguard magazine summer 2009 9
Alum named
teacher of the year
Stacie (Hodges 2002-2004) and William
Downing ’04 live in Costa Mesa where Will is
the audio and visual tech installer for Digital
Networks Group.
Rachel (Gil ’00, MA ’03) Gruwell was
named a Santa Ana Unified School
District 2009 Teacher of the Year.
“Being part of the VU credential program and the master’s program in education equipped me to be a teacherresearcher,” Gil says. “I learned to view
my classroom as a research lab filled
with opportunities for me to collect
data from my students. I learned to
reflect on and question the practices I
put forth everyday through instructional practices, curriculum development
and the assessments I create. I credit
VU for many of these opportunities
because my professors trained me to
use research-based methodology and
pedagogy in the classroom.”
Gruwell, the daughter of VU faculty members Vince and Mikki Gil,
majored in English as an undergraduate at Vanguard. After completing
her bachelor’s degree studies, she
entered VU’s graduate program in
education and earned her single
subject teaching credential in English
and her MA in education.
She has been teaching in the SAUSD
for more than eight years and is the
English and literacy coordinator at
Villa Fundamental Intermediate. She
is also in charge of the Gifted and
Talented Education (GATE) program
at Villa and is a GATE trainer for the
SAUSD. She is an adjunct professor
in the VU teaching credential program
where she shares her love for teaching with teacher candidates.
Rachel’s sister Debra (Gil ’94, MA ’99)
Muniz is also a teacher, and was honored in 2005 by the Newport Mesa
Unified School District as Teacher of
the Year.
Class Notes, continued from page 8
Mariners Church for seven years and is the
children’s director at the Beachside campus.
Nalaina is a bookkeeper for Newport Equity
Capital Corporation, a property management
company in Anaheim. The Harper family
includes daughter Zaida, 2.
students in the Czech Republic to their
current residence in Auburn. Joel works at
Starbucks and will receive his single subject
English credential In June. Chrissy teaches
English as a second language to high school
students and adults.
Julie (Swift ’00) and Jeremy Hartshorn ’98
live in Kealia, Hawaii. They are the parents of
Emily and are expecting twins this summer.
Becky (Oberg ’07) and Jesse Aguilera
’07 have been married three years. Becky
is pursuing an MA in theology at Fuller
Theological Seminary. Jesse is involved
in acting and photography. They live in
Pasadena with their Boston terrier, Guido.
Sunshine “Anne” Stevens ’94 is pursuing an
MA in English at Oklahoma State University
and lives in Stillwater.
Melinda (McNaughton ’00) and Michael
Weinstein ’97 live in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Michael is a part of the legacy group at
Professional Real Estate Partners.
’00s
Chrissy (Reid ’03) and
Joel Agee ’04 have
relocated from teaching
English to high school
10 vanguard magazine summer 2009
Gidelyn (Banez ’08)
Bonine and husband
Kevin live in Oceanside.
They have been married
nine years. Gidelyn is a
full-time mom to Devin Gideon, 6.
Mona (Chavez ’07) Pagkatipunan is the
program manager for an orthopedic business.
She and husband Celso have been married
four years and have a son, Samuel. They live
in Wilmington.
Amber (Tarleton ’05)
and Stephen Fussle
’05 have been on staff
at The Crossing Church
for the past seven
years. They are partnering with the Growing
Healthy Churches Network, The Crossing
Church and Pacific Pointe Church to start
The Awakening Church in Kahului, Hawaii
(awakeningonline.org).
David Garcia ’08 received an AA in graphic
design from Chaffey College. He lives in Rialto.
Caitlin Macy-Beckwith
’07 worked at Vanguard
as the database
recorder before pursuing
theater full-time.
She was recently featured in local theater
productions of The Sound of Music, The Full
Monty and The Taming of the Shrew. Caitlin is
also a hostess at the Clubhouse restaurant at
South Coast Plaza and lives in Santa Ana.
Briana (Helmick ’04)
and James Moore ’05,
MA ’07 will move to
Boston in July where
James will pursue
another MA and PhD at Brandeis University.
Briana works for the Orange County
YMCA and owns a photography business
(labohemephotography.com).
Tim Mullen ’04 is
the accessory supply
project administrator
for Toyota Motor Sales
USA. He plays bass and
writes lyrics for a rock band, A Long Shot. He
is active in Healing Word International, playing
for their worship team and teaching Sunday
school. Tim lives in Santa Ana and keeps
in contact with fellow alumni on the Rock
Harbor men’s softball league.
Lawrence “Low” Norris
’06 is the new pastor
of the Mariners Church
Beachside campus in
Fountain Valley. He lives
in Laguna Hills.
Class Notes, continued on page 15
Barbi Rouse, continued from page 6
that’s not going to stop them.”
They married and Barbi stayed
closely connected to VU after
Rouse earned her MS in education
graduating, performing in plays and
from Pepperdine, specializing in cur-
coaching Lions cheerleading for
riculum and instruction, in 1983. Her
fourteen years. In 1977 she was hired
main interest outside of work, aside
into her present position, which has
from the upcoming marriage of her
expanded greatly over the years. She
daughter Erinn ’04, is the nine-week
advises the general student popula-
pre-marriage seminar, “Love for a
tion on study skills and choosing
Lifetime,” she and Glenn have been
a major. She helps coordinate the
teaching at Newport Mesa Church
one-unit cornerstone class which
for twenty-five years.
provides instruction to all incoming
“Our passion in ministry is helping
students on time management, note-
couples before they get married to
taking and test-taking skills, library
make that decision, because we did
research, career exploration and
not have any pre-marriage counsel-
money management. She works with
the undeclared majors and heads up
a team of four faculty advisors to un-
“These students are my heroes.
So many of them are top achievers.”
declared students. She also oversees
ing and the first three years of our
marriage were very challenging,” she
says. “We try to help them identify
the red flags, talk about their back-
the tutorial office.
ground similarities and differences and help them to make the
In all of these roles, she puts students first.
“I try to pray with them whenever I can, especially in advising
appointments,” she says.
best decision about the relationship they’re in.”
Barbi also co-created and teaches a “mother-daughter tea”
program for public schools which invites fifth-grade girls and their
For students with learning disabilities, Rouse works closely with
mothers to an evening program about puberty and the transition
them to help them overcome their challenges. She proctors
to womanhood. Rouse presents the program in the Irvine and
exams in a quiet environment, and sometimes reads tests aloud
Tustin Unified School Districts, plus a dozen private schools.
to them or transcribes their answers. She also advocates for
But her focus remains, as it has for thirty-two years, on Vanguard.
them with other faculty.
“I have the best job in the world,” she says. “I’m having so much
“I don’t want them to feel embarrassed because they don’t learn
the way other learners learn,” she says. “I want them to know
fun. I love my students.”
Commencement 2009
The largest graduating class in Vanguard’s nearly 90-year history gathered at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on
May 9 for the 2009 commencement ceremonies. Three hundred forty-four students from the traditional undergraduate
college, 157 students from the School for Professional Studies and 79 students from master’s degree programs received
their diplomas. The graduate hooding ceremony, nursing pinning ceremony and baccalaureate took place at St. Andrew’s
Presbyterian Church in the preceding days.
vanguard magazine summer 2009 13
In the lab: Kraiss leads a team of researchers at
the University of Utah Medical Center.
you miss smelling the roses,” he says.
“The cancer diagnosis was a real wakeup call. You won’t live forever. I felt that
if I didn’t change some of these habits I
would seriously regret the consequences
at the end of my life. It was easy to justify
how I spent my time because I was helping
people. But it was more rationalization than
necessity. I struggle with this even now,
Larry Kraiss, continued from page 5
after the cancer and all the revelations
enough blood supply to survive,” says
invasive vascular laboratory at University of
about myself and my work habits that
Kraiss. “You operate to improve blood
Utah Medical Center. The Medical Center
the cancer produced, but I have a better
flow through or around it. That’s how you
serves the largest geographic area in the
perspective now.”
rescue the organ. The blood vessels are
U.S. and has a busy air ambulance service,
like the fuel lines to the body. The engine
due to the vast region it covers and the
won’t work if the fuel line is clogged.”
prevalence of outdoor sports such as
In the lab, Kraiss also encountered one
of the main problems in vascular surgery:
mountain biking, rock climbing and skiing.
He was also helped by Rick Warren’s book,
The Purpose-Driven Life.
“I can’t tell you how reassuring that book
has been to me,” Kraiss says. “Basically,
In the late ’90s the Kraisses helped start an
you will live as long as God needs you to
live to do what He has set out for you to
“I derive a tremendous amount of satisfaction from
going to the clinic, seeing the patients and applying
my professional skills to their medical problems,
and doing it in a compassionate and humane way.”
accomplish. I take great comfort in the fact
that no matter how bleak things look or
how frightening something is, we will be
here as long as God needs us to be here.”
Today Kraiss continues to publish widely in
how and why do vessels have a scarring
Assembly of God church, Capital Church in
response, called re-stenosis, after being
the City, in downtown Salt Lake City, and
operated upon or cleared of plaque? And
they remain “tremendously happy” there.
what can be done to keep vessels from
narrowing due to scar tissue within a
“It has been a very rewarding experience
all around,” he says.
couple of years of surgery?
The church’s support became especially
“That was the primary problem we were
working on, and it’s still not a completely
important when, six years ago, Kraiss
learned he had cancer.
solved problem,” says Kraiss. “It bedevils a
lot of what we do.”
“The diagnosis came out of the blue,” he
says. “I had planned for a normal physical.
After finishing his training in Seattle, Kraiss
and his wife and children moved to Salt
They did some blood tests and told me I
had cancer.”
Lake City where a position at the University
of Utah had opened up which allowed him
to pursue both surgery and research. He
soon became the chief of the division of
vascular surgery at the university, as well
as a professor of surgery, the program
director for the vascular surgical residency
and the medical director of the non-
14 vanguard magazine summer 2009
He underwent an operation which cleared
the disease, but Kraiss went through a
time of prayerful introspection. He had
become accustomed to working long days,
and now realized he had given other parts
of his life short shrift.
“You can defer gratification so much that
medical journals and is a reviewer for the
American Journal of Physiology, Annals of
Vascular Surgery and Circulation among
Larry Kraiss, continued on page 16
Class Notes, continued from page 10
Alicia (Pegg ’02) and
Brian O’Quinn (20002002) live in Medford,
Ore. Brian is healthy
after two abdominal
surgeries and two months in the hospital
last year. His company, Trinity Construction,
focuses on residential homes and additions.
Alicia is a social service specialist in child
welfare with the State of Oregon Department
of Human Services. They are involved in
children’s ministry and home groups at First
Church of the Nazarene. The O’Quinn family
includes sons Wesley, 6, and Jesse, 4.
Michelle (McAfee ’01) Rank received an MA
in education curriculum and design from the
University of Phoenix and is a kindergarten
teacher. Husband Justin is a wedding
videographer and pursuing a BA in science.
They have been married ten years and are
the parents of Audrey, 6, Allison, 4, and
Aiden James, 1. The Ranks live in Visalia.
Sarah Sherman ’01 is
a real estate agent with
Gateway Real Estate
and lives in Ashland,
Ore.
Alum cares for
Maria von Trapp
Kikuli Mwanukuzi ’94, a Tanzanian who
became a top VU student, serves as
the primary caregiver for his friend and
adoptive mother Maria von Trapp, the
second oldest daughter of Baron von
Trapp of The Sound of Music.
Mwanukuzi met von Trapp while she
was a missionary in New Guinea and he
was jobless and nearly homeless there.
He is now Maria’s main caregiver. They
She befriended him and encouraged
live down the road from the Trapp Fam-
him to attend discipleship school
ily Lodge in Stowe. Maria, who was
at Youth With A Mission in Hawaii.
called “Louisa” in The Sound of Music,
Though from vastly different cultures,
is 95 this year. Mwanukuzi also works as
their connection proved durable, and
a math tutor at Johnson State College.
later von Trapp asked Mwanukuzi to
“I really enjoy it because it covers the
assist her and her sister, Johanna,
gamut of mathematical subjects in an
while Johanna recovered from a stroke
undergraduate program,” he says.
in El Cajon, Calif. While living there,
Mwanukuzi enrolled at VU and did
so well that he received a president’s
scholarship and was the student
Mary (MacLean ’05) Vought is the press
secretary for Rep. Mike Pence, chairman
of the House Republican Conference.
Husband Russell is the policy director for the
House Republican conference. They live in
Washington, D.C.
Future Alumni
Joanna (Harrel ’02,
MA ’06) and James
Ackerman MA ’05
celebrate the birth of
their son Tyler James,
born April 15, 2009. The Ackermans live in
Costa Mesa.
Tiffany (Worthy ’97)
Bruce is a certified
school psychologist and
earned her PsyD from
Argosy University. She
and her husband have been married three
years and have two daughters, Trinity, 2, and
Lauren, born in April 2009. The Bruce family
lives on the Siesta Key in Sarasota, Fla.
Alexis (Gelder
’98) Harsh is the
owner of Watermark
Stationery, Inc.
His main duty, though, is caring for
Maria, and he continues to see God’s
hand in their unique relationship.
commencement speaker. He graduated
“She was an Austrian serving as a mis-
with a degree in accounting.
sionary in New Guinea. I am from Africa.
After serving with YWAM and starting
Trisha and Vu Tran ’02 live in Anaheim
where they are expecting their first child this
summer.
Kikuli Mwanukuzi ’94 with Maria von Trapp
and friend Brent Ogden (1986-1990)
pre-schools in Hong Kong and Cambodia, he re-joined von Trapp in Vermont
where she had moved to be near family
in her later years. She had already officially adopted Mwanukuzi to help him
gain U.S. citizenship.
I’m going to be 50, she’s 95. People
say, ‘How can you guys get along?’
But I think of her as a parable of the
love of God,” he says. “She took me in
when there was nothing to commend
me to her. It was just absolutely the
agape love of God, just as God accepts
us though there’s nothing good in us.
“She was getting up in age, was never
Maria took in a stranger, almost literally
married and had no other children,”
off the streets. For that reason I don’t
Mwanukuzi says. “She had helped
even think of other possibilities. As long
me so much that I felt I needed to be
as she needs me, I’m here.”
nearby to help her.”
SAVE THE DATE
HOMECOMING 2010
Saturday, February 20th
Welcoming home alumni from
VUSC • SCC • SCBC • SCBS
(watermarkstationery.com) which won the
Best Invitations of 2008 Award for Minnesota
Bride Magazine. She and husband Jason
have been married ten years and are the
parents of twins Wyatt James and Evelyn
Kathleen born April 7, 2009. They live in Eden
Prairie, Minn.
Shelley (Gergianni ’95) Jelderda earned a
teaching credential and MA in education from
Cal State Fullerton then taught third grade for
four years. She is now a part-time substitute
teacher. Shelley and her husband have a
blended family of two sons ages 13 and 10;
two daughters ages 12 and 8, and a son
born May 11, 2009. They attend Yorba Linda
Friends Church.
Rhiannon (Wentworth
’05) and AJ Teaters
’06, Entourage and
Delivery Boys alumni
respectively, have been
married three years. AJ is a sixth grade
teacher and pursuing an MA in counseling.
Rhiannon is a stay-at-home mother to sons
Coben, 1, and Jonan Landon, born December
2008. They live in Mesa, Ariz.
Class Notes, continued on page 17
vanguard magazine summer 2009 15
Lewis Wilson
a vine of his own planting
Academic Dean Emeritus
Vanguard’s alma mater
Emil Balliet, a San Diego pastor and longtime
member of SCC’s board, came to campus in
1964 to lead the prayer at the baccalaureate
service. He was celebrating his daughter Judy’s graduation
amidst an historic moment for the college, which had recently
received regional accreditation. In the transition to its new status,
the college had, in addition to other improvements and innovations,
constructed a new science building and library, added academic
programs, instituted an honor society and adopted a new motto.
But Balliet believed something else was needed — a college anthem, an alma mater.
He was well qualified to write it. An accomplished violinist, he had
graduated from a Minneapolis music school, served as a choir
director and written numerous songs and choruses. Balliet understood the school’s long history of preparing foreign missionaries; he
knew that the term “Vanguard” had been
adopted for the school’s athletic teams,
and he knew that the school’s new motto
was “truth, virtue, service.” Over the following months he fused these elements
into an appropriate alma mater and sent
a manuscript copy to the SCC music
department.
But it arrived as the department was
in transition, and the manuscript was
effectively ignored. Then, in 1966, Darrell
Gardner ’69, a talented trumpeter in
his second year at SCC, was asked to direct the college band
and given the Balliet manuscript for possible use. He wrote the
necessary orchestrations and that spring the new alma mater was
first used at the spring baccalaureate service. The next year the
band began playing the alma mater at the end of SCC’s home
basketball games. When the spectators joined in singing its lyrics,
a tradition was begun. Over the following years the alma mater
was also used for other college functions, and by 1970, when Emil
Balliet was elected to serve as the school’s fifth president, it had
become an integral part of college life. Few people realized that he
had composed the alma mater.
When Noel Wilson joined the music department in 1975, he recognized the alma mater’s quality and wrote the required arrangements
to enable the college choir and orchestra to perform it. For two
decades it was sung and played at graduations, academic convocations and other such occasions until the change to Vanguard
University made its lyrics inapplicable. But for many alumni, the
moving strains of the old alma mater still evoke strong memories:
Southern California, alma mater true,
hail to our College, hail to the gold and blue.
Ever in the vanguard, valiant for our Lord,
virtue, truth and service, loyal to his word.
Tho’ thy sons and daughters, journey far and wide,
tender thoughts and memories lovingly abide.
Southern California, alma mater true,
hail to our college, hail to the gold and blue,
Hail, Hail, Hail!
Larry Kraiss, continued from page 14
others. He has received several research
sional skills to their medical problems, and
gets the best I have, both professionally
awards, including the Lifeline Foundation
doing it in a compassionate and humane
and in meeting their needs as a person.
Research Award, and was named the
way. I recognize that they are individuals
The training for that extends back to
1997 Wylie Scholar in Academic Vascular
with concerns and anxieties about what
Vanguard. It comes by having a certain
Surgery. He is also Vanguard University’s
Alumnus of the Year for 2009. He and
Karen have three children: David, 20,
Jonathan, 16, and Karla, 13.
“It’s my goal to make sure that everyone gets the
best I have, both professionally and in meeting
their needs as a person.”
“The Lord has blessed us here very
much,” Kraiss says. “I feel like he placed
us here. I derive a tremendous amount of
satisfaction from going to the clinic, seeing the patients and applying my profes16 vanguard magazine summer 2009
their medical problem means to them and
attitude about the world and your place in
their family, and at the same time I have to
it. Christians are put in the world to honor
be honest and straightforward with them.
God and benefit their fellow man. I try
It’s my goal to make sure that everyone
hard to live that out on a daily basis.”
class notes
Class Notes, continued from page 15
Silina (Yohner ’04)
Vockrodt and husband
Jason welcomed son
Masen on February 2,
2009. Silina is a first
grade teacher at Calvary Chapel Christian
School while Jason works at Rebel Oil
Company. The Vockrodts live in Las Vegas.
Bethany Smith ’08 and
Paul Blankenship ’07
were married January
31, 2009. They live in
Chula Vista.
Brittany (Ruseler
’08) Cleberg married
Zachary, a video editor,
on July 13, 2008. They
live in Orange.
Just Married
Amanda (Vidito ’98)
Allen and Jay were
married August 1, 2008.
Jay is the sports director
for a radio station in
the Portland, Ore., area. Amanda recently
graduated from George Fox University with an
MA in counseling. They live in Tualatin.
Christina (Daigle ’08)
and Stephen Gaynor
’07 were married in
Needham Chapel
December 7, 2008.
Stephen is attending Trinity Law School.
Christina received her teaching credential
at Vanguard and is a sales associate at
Nordstrom. They live in Santa Ana.
In Memory
Edythe (Voshell ’52) Adams passed away
September 16, 2008.
Ted Adams ’53 passed away January 8,
2009.
Leeta Mae (Hubbard ’45) Matthews passed
away September 5, 2007.
Wendell Nick ’94 passed away March 6, 2009.
Carlos Romero ’93 passed away May 8,
2009.
Evangel (Pederson ’53) Smith passed away
March 17, 2008.
Flora Spurlock 1953-1954 passed away
March 10, 2009.
Hugh Carr, former staff member, passed away
November 2, 2007.
Send us your photos! We would love to showcase pictures of your new baby, wedding or anniversary in Class Notes. Email your photos
(at least 1 megabyte in file size) to alumni@vanguard.edu or mail your prints (at least 3” by 4”) to Alumni Relations, 55 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
Prints will not be returned.
use my craving for research to pursue change and work
toward better understanding cultural systems,” she says.
“Professors Craig Rusch, Vince Gil and Jamie Huff took
me under their wings, mentored me and guided me. They
have been amazing.”
She also enjoyed the sense of community and
personalized instruction at VU, “which made Vanguard
an incredible gift,” she says. “Studying under people who
genuinely care about my development as a human being,
and who make themselves available on so much more
than a scholastic basis, was incredible.”
Working on campus in the office of diversity programming
and mobilization for the last two years, Glaus was the
Cecilee Glaus, continued from page 9
“The Lord has given me favor with it,” she says. “More than
anything, I enjoy the research. People tease me in the reference
room at the library because I’ll be in there with mounds of books.
To me research is the candy. It’s fun finding evidence to support
my argument. Anthropology gives me an opportunity to pursue
liaison between VU and programs in the Orange County
area that serve people with special needs. She also prepared
teams to volunteer abroad in humanitarian service.
“Studying under people who genuinely
care about my development as a human
being ... was incredible.”
research on a scholastic level.”
She excelled so much that as a sophomore she presented
research on the religious education system in Indonesia at the
Santa Clara Undergraduate Research Conference. Most other
student presenters were seniors.
“At this point I’m curious to see how the Lord continues to open
doors in the academy for me to pursue anthropology on an
academic and intellectual basis,” she says. “I am thankful for
the time spent at Vanguard and there isn’t anything I would have
changed about this experience. Now I’m looking forward to new
“The opportunities I had at Vanguard opened a door to under-
places and new challenges.”
stand what anthropology is on an academic level and where I can
vanguard magazine summer 2009 17
on campus
On Campus, continued from page 3
“Seeing people from around America coming to help their
The evening plenary speaker, Esther Ntoto ’02, spoke on
neighbors in a time of need showed me that this is what makes
the horror of war crimes against women. Anaheim Vineyard’s
us Americans,” said Galveston team member David Vazquez.
Lance Pittluck launched the Saturday forum for faith-based
In Belfast, Northern Ireland, a team partnered with a 350-yearold Presbyterian church ministry, and shared their testimonies
at local high schools and youth meetings.
community leaders by discussing how to respond to the
complex issues that result in human rights violations.
Workshop leaders included Lt. Chris Sayers of the Anaheim
Family Justice Center and Lt. Derek Marsh of the Westminster
“We were amazed at the freedom we had to speak openly
about our faith during class in a public school,” says team
member Kristin Van Boxtel. “The people we worked with had a
resonating impact on each of us.”
The students who traveled to San Francisco worked with organizations and churches ministering to children. They also gave
Police Department and co-chair of the Orange County human
trafficking task force. Spanish language workshops on human
trafficking, gender equity in finance and communication, as
well as family and dating violence, rounded out the topics for
the day.
For more about VU’s CWS, please visit www.vanguard.edu/cws.
practical help and spiritual direction to the homeless. And VU’s
Hands Across the Border ministry took students to Ensenada,
Mexico, where they performed dramas and served in orphanage
ministry and women’s shelters. Others led vacation Bible schools.
Choirs perform at Lincoln Center
“What a joy it is to see these young people living out the
mission of this University,” says Jamie Brownlee, director of
diversity programming and mobilization. “They are already
world-changers.”
For more information visit www.vanguard.edu/
outreachministries.
Conference draws attention to
human trafficking
VU’s Center for Women’s Studies (CWS) hosted its annual
Gender and Justice Conference this spring.
The VU music program’s excellence was on display in New
York City this spring, where the music groups performed at
Lincoln Center.
“I was delighted to see so many committed, creative, intelligent people who are seeking a solution to the human rights issue of our time: human trafficking,” said keynote speaker and
noted researcher on prostitution, Melissa Farley. “It is my hope
that they developed a new understanding about the profound
harms to victims of human trafficking in Orange County.”
“It was an opportunity of lifetime for them to perform in Avery
Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center,” says James Melton, chair of the
department of music and director of choral activities. “Very
few university choirs get to perform there by themselves.”
In May, 107 students headed to New York City for a series of
concerts and ministry in local churches, including St. Paul’s
Cathedral at Ground Zero. But the trip highlight for many
was the University Concert Choir’s solo performance Friday
night in Lincoln Center.
“For the students it was the pinnacle of their college music
careers,” says Melton, who also has taken VU’s music
groups to Carnegie Hall three times.
18 vanguard magazine summer 2009
vu spotlight
New provost
named
J
eff Hittenberger, who held senior positions in VU’s School
of Education from 1999 to 2006, has been appointed
provost of Vanguard University.
“It is with a great deal of joy and gladness that I announce that
the board has unanimously approved the appointment of Dr.
Jeff Hittenberger as Vanguard’s provost/vice president for academic affairs,” said VU president Carol Taylor in a statement.
“Dr. Hittenberger had very strong support from the search
committee as well as faculty and staff that participated in the
interview process. I also received a number of emails from
faculty and staff who had worked with Jeff and were excited
about the possibility of his returning to this strategic position
of leadership.”
Under Hittenberger’s prior leadership as VU’s dean of the
School of Education, assistant provost for planning and
accreditation, and director of the graduate program in
education, he helped the University build one of the premier
graduate programs in education in Orange County. Vanguard
was the first university in the state of California to have its
elementary and secondary credential programs accredited
under new statewide regulations.
beginning in 2006. He brings significant experience in teaching and leadership in Christian and secular institutions, and
has a strong record of organizational leadership that cultivates
cohesive teams and improves education through strategic planning, accreditation processes and professional development and
Hittenberger grew up as the son of missionaries in Haiti during
mentoring. He continues to make academic and professional
the reign of dictator Papa Doc Duvalier. He is fluent in French
presentations and write for scholarly publications.
and Haitian Creole. He earned a PhD from the University of
Southern California in educational planning, policy and administration. His bachelor of arts degree is from Evangel University.
“Jeff has a deep commitment to diversity and missions, and
comes to us with a sense of calling to join our efforts to build a
strong Vanguard,” says Taylor.
He also earned an administrative services credential from San
Jose State University and pursued graduate studies at Fuller
Theological Seminary and l’Universite Mohamed V in Rabat,
Morocco, on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.
“I believe in Vanguard University,” Hittenberger says. “From the
time of Huldah Needham’s vision concerning this ‘vine of His
planting’ to the present, this institution has blessed the world
in incalculable ways. As Vanguard approaches the ninetieth
He was hired by Vanguard’s education program in 1999 and led
a team in undertaking the major challenge of making VU an early
adopter of California’s more rigorous credentialing standards. VU
became the first university in California to be approved for this
anniversary of its founding, the opportunities it has to serve as
a global center for equipping people to engage in God’s loving,
redemptive, reconciling mission in multiple professions across
many cultures are extraordinary.”
new credential training.
Jeff and wife Christine have two children, Ben, 16, and Brianne, 14.
Hittenberger most recently served as director of graduate
programs and professor of education at Evangel University,
vanguard magazine summer 2009 19
sports
VU’s Hana Jurcovicova ’09, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association
women’s tennis NAIA senior player of the year.
VU’s Jurcovicova named NAIA
women’s tennis senior player
of the year
“It was an honor to participate again with USA Basketball,” Davis
VU’s top singles player, Hana Jurcovicova ’09, earned the Inter-
he was a court coach for the 2005 women’s junior national team
collegiate Tennis Association (ITA) women’s tennis NAIA senior
trials. Davis is coming off a 31-4 season that included his sixth
player of the year award, only the second time a VU tennis player
Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) championship in the past
has received the honor.
seven seasons. He was named GSAC coach of the year.
“It is a real accomplishment for her,” says Mattias Johansson, the
Separately, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association select-
men’s and women’s tennis coach at VU who recruited Jurcovico-
ed Davis as the 2009 Russell Athletic/WBCA National Association
va from Slovakia. “It’s rare to find players who consistently play at
of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) coach of the year.
said. “It is great to be a part of that organization and to get to work
with the best women’s college basketball players in the country.”
This was Davis’ second coaching assignment with USA Basketball;
the top spot. She’s one of the few that could handle it day in and
day out for so many years.”
years ago and has been ranked in the top ten in the nation for
Wilkins named GSAC men’s
co-coach of the year
most of her college career.
VU cross-country and track and field coach Bryan Wilkins was
Jurcovicova had been named rookie of the year by the ITA four
“In that aspect it wasn’t a big surprise that she worked her way
into getting this kind of award because she has been ranked so
highly,” says Johansson.
named GSAC men’s co-coach of the year for the first time, largely
due to the performance of the track and field team at the 2009
GSAC track and field championships. The honor is bestowed
by the other GSAC coaches and was shared with Kevin Reid of
The Lions women’s tennis team has been consistently competitive,
Azusa Pacific University.
and is one of two teams to reach the quarterfinals six straight years.
“Our men’s team really stepped up,” says Wilkins. “It was
Davis coaches courtside at
USA team trials
Russ Davis, women’s basketball coach at VU, served as a court
coach during the 2009 USA Basketball women’s national team
trials in May at the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado
Springs. He worked with sixty athletes who were vying for spots
on the 2009 USA under 19 World Championship and USA World
University Games squads.
20 vanguard magazine summer 2009
probably one of the best performances we’ve ever had at the
conference championship.”
The Lions won three event titles, their most ever, with significant
help from late-season addition Elvis Whitelow, a basketball player
who won the 200 and 400 meters and anchored the winning
men’s 4x100 men’s relay team. Whitelow’s sprint titles were the
first in VU men’s program history at the championship meet and
met automatic qualifying standards for the NAIA outdoor national
championships.
postcards
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The column features an essay
by a different alum each issue.
Original Delivery Boy
Brea, California
When I first set foot on the
Vanguard campus I was
searching. I had put my
education on hold and joined
a national touring music group.
staff members Lee Fruh and Virgil Zeigler
Looking back, it’s amazing how those goofy,
asked me to join a new camp team to
off-the-wall skits opened doors for effective
promote Vanguard at youth summer camps in
ministry. At altar time the kids actually sought
several western states. There was no publicity
out the Delivery Boys to pray with them. As
or auditions to join. The team didn’t even have
any D-Boy will tell you, serving on the team
a name. That summer I found myself driving a
is one of the most exhausting and rewarding
I planned to finish my degree and go into
college van across the western U.S. with three
experiences you will ever have, going camp to
full-time ministry, and I really wanted an
other students and Lee, ministering at youth
camp week after week and somehow coming
academically rigorous education grounded in
camps and churches. It was in my home state
up with the reserves of energy to do it all over
Christian faith, but I had absolutely no idea
of Montana that we saw a four-guy team from
again. It remains by far the best summer job
where I should go.
another college perform, and they were at the
I’ve ever had.
When our tour brought us through southern
top of their game. They performed hilarious
California, I visited the Vanguard campus,
skits, physical comedy, and gut-busting
staying overnight in the dorms. Ron Bueno
improvisations. I was inspired. I pitched the
’90 graciously offered me the open bunk in
idea to Virgil of forming our own team of four
his room. The next morning he let me know
wacky guys to do sketch comedy ministry
that I snored so loudly that I drove him out,
the following summer. He gave it the thumbs
but we nevertheless became — and remain —
up and our team — which included Chris
friends. The next day I sat in on some classes.
Diede ’90, Dwayne Strivens ’92, Robbie Del
I fell in love with the school in one of Vince
Campo ’91 and KidMo founder John Rogers
Gil’s psychology classes. His presentation,
’93 who did unforgettable “food impressions”
demeanor and interaction with the students
— prepped hard for the summer of 1989,
were engaging, enlightening and intellectually
writing and rehearsing skits and getting our
challenging. It was exactly what I envisioned
bits down. Thus the Delivery Boys team
I’m so grateful God led me to Vanguard at that
for the rest of my college education and I
was born, and I’m proud that the timeless
critical crossroad in my life. Oh, and Ron —
started at VU that fall.
tradition of juvenile gross-out comedy-
sorry again about that lost night of sleep.
In the spring of my junior year, admissions
I ended up working at Vanguard for nearly
ten years after I graduated. Today I’m on the
pastoral staff at a local church and I still entertain kids with some of the nutty stuff I did
as a Delivery Boy. The experiential education
I got at Vanguard remains invaluable to me.
The opportunity to have creative license to
do ministry in such a fun and non-traditional
form was exciting, energizing and affirming. It shaped who I have become, and I still
draw from it today.
ministry continues to be a vital outreach and
recruitment tool to this day.
Joe McCarthy ’89
“I can’t begin to say how much the late season addition of Elvis energized our men’s team,” says
Wilkins. “What he accomplished this weekend was truly spectacular.”
The men’s team score was the second highest in school history. The team also performed well a few
weeks later at the outdoor national meet in St. Louis, even without Whitelow, who had surgery on a
bone spur. Three athletes were named all-Americans, finishing in the top six in an event.
“I was thrilled at how the athletes performed better than their seeding and competed at a very high
level,” says Wilkins. “It was our best performance in five years.”
Rebecca Sopp placed fifth in the 10,000 meters and was an All-American in that event. She was the
female athlete of the year for VU and an NAIA indoor All-American in the 5,000 meters. Aze Perkins,
a 110-meter hurdler, finished sixth and was also an NAIA indoor All-American in the 60-meter hurdles.
Kelsie Davis tied for sixth in the high jump.
vanguard magazine summer 2009 21
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