The SPU Art Department is pleased to present the 2024 Senior Art Exhibition titled, "in • finite." This culmination of artworks features projects by students Chloe Christopher, Alfie Riley, Seorin Park, and Kade Franco. Though diverse in style, their works all hold the central message of honoring the human experience.

in • finite brings together a dynamic collection of paintings, each offering a unique perspective on the world through the lens of these emerging artists. Through bold brushstrokes and intricate details, to imagined worlds and dynamic storytelling; the artworks on display showcase the depth and breadth of talent nurtured within this creative community.

Please join us for a public reception with refreshments on Thursday, May 9, 5–7 p.m. at SPAC Gallery in the Seattle Pacific Art Center. The exhibition will be on view from May 6 to May 17.

The Center for Faithful Business 2024 Bruce Kennedy Ethical Leadership Lecture will feature Dr. Richard Stearns, president emeritus of World Vision U.S. He will deliver the evening’s lecture, “Lead Like It Matters to God.” Joe Sprague, regional president of Hawai’i-Pacific for Alaska Airlines, will be the evening’s lecture respondent. The event will take place Thursday, May 23, 7–8:30 p.m., in Upper Gwinn Commons. Please mark your calendar and plan to join the Center for an evening of insight and reflection. Register online.

Join the School of Theology for their annual Book Celebration featuring recently published books by SOT faculty. Celebrate their work and hear reviews from local pastors and friends.

School of Theology Book Celebration
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
4–5:30 p.m.
Upper Gwinn (Queen Anne Room)

The Faculty Life Office, in collaboration with ASSP and English/Social Justice and Cultural Studies, invite you to attend a book talk with Professor of English and Cultural Studies Kimberly Segall on Wednesday, May 8, at 12 p.m. in Demaray 150. Kim will talk about her new book, Superheroes in the Street: Muslim Women Activists and Protest in the Digital Age.

The 10th of each month is the last day to make changes to your upcoming payroll check. Do you need to add or remove your spouse and/or children from your health care plans? If so, contact Human Resources (HR) to complete the appropriate form. Changes might include events that are expected to impact your benefits and deductions, such as your spouse or children gaining or losing coverage due to employment, birth, marriage, etc.

Additionally, any changes to your 403b account may take up to seven days to be provided to SPU for processing, so please contact Transamerica by the first of the month prior to your requested change. For changes to your 403(b) account, contact Transamerica Retirement Solutions at 1-888-676-5512 (5 a.m.–6 p.m. PST), or 1-800-755-5801. If you have any other benefits-related changes, call Cherylin Shdo in HR at 206-281-2816.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published every Monday during the academic year or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday. The next deadline is Thursday, May 9. The next issue will be published Monday, May 13.

If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible with an image or graphic to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity.

At the annual Celebration of Service ceremony on May 2, faculty and staff received awards and were honored for their years of service. 

The Associated Students of Seattle Pacific named Assistant Professor of English and Writing Jeffrey Overstreet as the Undergraduate Faculty Member of the Year.

Graduate students named Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy Hee-Sun Cheon as Graduate Faculty Member of the Year.

The SPU Staff Council awarded the Oral V. Hemry Non-Exempt Staff Person of the Year Award to Sharon Hagerty, academic programs manager in the School of Health Sciences. The Exempt Staff Person of the Year Award went to Celeste Cranston, director of the Center for Biblical and Theological Education in Seattle Pacific Seminary.

Faculty and staff who have served SPU for five, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 40 years were also honored. Receiving an award for 45 years of service was Gary Karns, professor of marketing and associate dean for graduate programs in the School of Business, Government, and Economics. Congratulations!

School of Theology faculty Segbegnon Gnonhossou, Matt Sigler, and Doug Strong were part of the authorial team that wrote Awakening to Justice: Faithful Voices from the Abolitionist Past (Intervarsity Press, 2024). They are also featured in a film documentary with the same name. Learn more at awakeningtojustice.com.

An article by adjunct history faculty member Nathaniel Weston titled, “Racializing Pacific Islanders: Jewish Facial Features, Popular Anthropology, and the German Colonization of the Palau Islands, 1873–1925," was published in Genealogy, 8, no 2: 49.

A personal essay by Jason Thornberry titled, "Red Stained Surrender," appears in Issue 5 of the Bicoastal Review.

In March, Alberto Ferreiro, professor emeritus of European history, attended in Rome the festakt for Prof. Dr. Johannes Grohe in the Aula Minor of the der Pontificia Università della Santa Croce. A festschrift in his honor was presented. An essay by Alberto titled “Did Priscillian Have a Manichaean View of Creation?” was published in Synodalis consonantia: Festschrift für Johannes Grohe. (Konziliengeschichte als Spiegelbild kirchlicher Diskussionskultur. F. Forlani, A. Frenken, T. Prügl, (eds.) Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2024, pp. 105-116.) The short answer is no, this was one of many false accusations leveled at this charismatic ascetic who flourished in the fourth century in northwestern Spain and was tragically executed for heresy and magic (all false charges) in 385 in Trier by a usurper emperor. Alberto to date has published about a dozen studies on Priscillian, convinced of his orthodoxy and innocence — a "Jan Hus" of the fourth century.