This summer seems to me to have been the busiest I can recall, with only two more weeks remaining before the fall semester of the 1985-86 college year begins.
On Wednesday, August 7, we held our annual summer graduation exercises, this time in the Lower Gardens of the Ambassador College campus. Fourteen Ambassador College students were given degrees. (Six received B.A. degrees, two received A.S. degrees and six received A.A. degrees.) Because we had more students graduating this summer than in past summers, we decided to hold a more formal ceremony.
Mr. Les McCullough, deputy chancellor of the Big Sandy campus, recently informed me that they still plan to enroll about 180 freshmen this August. On the Pasadena campus, we plan to enroll only about 130 freshmen, or about 30 less than last year.
The smaller freshman enrollment at Pasadena is due to the fact that we decided to accept more of the two-year graduates (A.A. and A.S.) from Big Sandy and Pasadena than we originally planned. Since a number of the twoyear graduates had very good faculty recommendations, but would have been denied entrance into the four-year program if we took only about 50% of them, we felt, and Mr. Armstrong agreed, that it would be much wiser to accept a larger group and cut down on the size of the Pasadena freshman class.
We feel that if students show good potential, it is far better to let them go into the four-year program and build on their two-year foundation. By doing so, they will become more valuable employees serving in God's Work, or will be more valuable in the local congregations.
This summer we have again sent many Ambassador College students and faculty members to serve in numerous places around the world. Seven Pasadena faculty members served at SEP in Orr, and one served at the Big Sandy SEP camp.
During the summer, eight students were sent to German-speaking areas of Europe; seven were sent to French-speaking areas of the Continent; and four were sent to Mexico to study Spanish. About 50 students and faculty members spent the summer at the Jerusalem Dig, eight students were in China studying Chinese, two were in Thailand, and one student and one graduate were in Sri Lanka. Eight students are now in Jordan assisting Mr. and Mrs. Weber.
Also during the summer, we had six Chinese and 73 Japanese students studying English here at the Pasadena campus. On Thursday, August 15, a banquet was held at Ambassador College at which the six Chinese students and the Ambassador students who had just returned from China dined together, along with various College officials.
We are thankful that a number of Ambassador College students receive the opportunity to travel to many countries around the world. Mr. Armstrong has always stressed the importance of travel in helping our students understand more about other peoples, nations, languages and cultures.
All of us at Pasadena eagerly look forward to another fantastic college year. We hope it will be the best and most fruitful year the College has ever had. Please continue to remember the faculty and administration at both campuses in your prayers. We are happy to have been given the priceless privilege of training the precious young people of God's Church. We sincerely pray that we will go above and beyond the call of duty in helping prepare these young people to go out into the world and set a proper example. And we are happy to know that many of these young people will be hired full time by the Church after graduation, thereby serving the ever-growing needs of the Work of the living God.
I hope all of you have had a very busy, productive and enjoyable summer. Those of us serving here in Pasadena always look forward to and enjoy seeing you ministers and your wives from around the world come to Pasadena for the Ministerial Refreshing Program.
AMBASSADOR COLLEGE UPDATE (Pasadena Campus)
Worldwide Church of God