Education

Story by Donna Bigler

Maryland Comptroller and Honorary Alumnus Peter Franchot will be the commencement speaker for Washington Adventist University’s 2017 Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, April 30. Franchot is one of four state-wide elected officials in Maryland, and is the state’s 33rd comptroller, currently serving his third term in that office. Commencement will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Show Place Arena, located at 14900 Pennsylvania Avenue in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Story by Angie Peach
 
Spring Valley Academy begins construction of its new worship and performing arts center with a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, April 22, at 2:00 p.m. Spring Valley Academy is located at 1461 E. Spring Valley Road in Centerville.
 
The ceremony will start in the gymnasium prior to the groundbreaking at the new building site.
 
The worship and performing arts center will be built in three phases. The first phase will be approximately 11,000 square feet and will include a 425-seat chapel/auditorium space. Phases two and three will include space for the music department (band and choir rooms, offices, practice spaces) and a large atrium lobby.
 
The facility will be available for community use.
 
Cost for the first phase is approximately $5.5 million. Phase one construction is expected to begin this summer and be completed by spring 2018. Danis Building Construction Company will manage the construction. The New York design firm of EYP and the local architect LWC are collaborating on the design.
 

Story by Donna Bigler

Washington Adventist University’s Enactus business team earned the title of Regional Champion at this year’s Enactus United States Regional Competition, held March 31 in Washington, D.C. The event is one of six regional competitions held across the United States. 

During the competition – which included teams from Rutgers University, University of New Hampshire, University of Virginia, Elmira College and West Virginia Wesleyan College – the Washington Adventist University (WAU) team was judged on three projects that it worked on this academic year.

Story by Celeste Ryan Blyden

At its March meeting, the Columbia Union Conference Executive Committee voted to move the REACH Columbia Union Evangelism School—currently based in Philadelphia—to Washington Adventist University (WAU) in Takoma Park, Md.

The REACH School opened in 2014 when the union and university teamed up to provide young adults an opportunity to enroll in a yearlong, immersion program that combined a 15-credit classroom curriculum with hands-on ministry experience.

Committee members believe the move to an academic setting is a natural fit that will provide access to the university’s infrastructure and make it more cost-effective.