Commemorating 100 Years: Centennial Celebrations Overview

La Sierra University this year launched a series of celebrations to commemorate the determination, dedication and strenuous effort of its founders who opened the school on Oct. 3, 1922, and the many significant contributions throughout its history of its presidents, faculty members, staff, students, alumni, benefactors and community supporters.

Celebrations centered around three main events that began on Feb. 15, 2022 with the dedication of a new campus sculpture depicting the biblical parable of the lost sheep. The nearly 10-foot tall bronze illustration was contributed by the Hwang and Toh families and sculpted by artist Victor Issa. It is the third and final piece in a series titled “The Glory of God’s Grace” that is based on three parables in Luke 15 – the prodigal or lost son, the lost coin and the lost sheep. A sculpture depicting the lost coin was unveiled on La Sierra’s campus in April 2017 while the anchoring work, an iconic sculptured tableau of the prodigal son story, was installed in 2002 surrounded by a reflecting pool and centering the university’s main plaza.

Around 250 people attended the outdoor ceremony at the base of the sculpture to launch the university’s centennial events. They included the university’s four presidents who have led the school since its separation from Loma Linda University in 1990, respectively Drs. Fritz Guy, Larry Geraty, Randal Wisbey and Joy Fehr, La Sierra’s current president.

During opening remarks, Fehr noted the deep conviction, faith, and determination of La Sierra’s founders from the Seventh-day Adventist Southern and Southeastern California conferences who laid the groundwork for a an institution of higher learning, the first in Riverside County, aided by numerous volunteers, donors, and the Riverside civic community which ponied up $15,000 to help secure its location.

The university again celebrated is 100th milestone with special activities during alumni weekend on April 29 and 30. These included ceremonial cake and 1920s period attire for the annual alumni weekend Recognition Banquet, Centennial Campus Walk, a presentation on La Sierra’s history by history professor Andrew Howe, and a Saturday evening fireworks display over the campus.Centennial festivities were capped by a gala on Oct. 3, 2022 at the Riverside Convention Center, 100 years to the day of the school’s opening with 84 students on agricultural property that was once part of a Mexican land grant.

Around 600 guests filled the convention center’s main hall where evening entertainment centered around dynamic classical pianist Alpin Hong and an appearance by La Sierra alumnus and international award-winning operatic tenor Anthony León. The evening’s highlights included the release of a 643-page book on the history of La Sierra University written by current and former faculty, administrators and alumni, and the recognition of 100 Presidential Awards announced by La Sierra University President Joy Fehr. Awardees hold various ties to the university and have made significant contributions to the university and its standing, to their chosen fields and the spirit of innovation and excellence, to the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, and to the betterment of the Riverside community and wellbeing of society. Awards included posthumous recognitions.

“It was great to hear the history of the dairy farm, I’d heard so many of his stories.” -- George Bryson, Class of 1992, Presidential Awardee

Recipients included the school’s first president, founding principal of La Sierra Academy James I. Robison; La Sierra College President Erwin E. Cossentine who worked to free La Sierra’s Japanese-American students from internment camps during World War II; Seventh-day Adventist philanthropists Thaine B. Price, a La Sierra alumnus, and Tom and Vi Zapara whose respective contributions allowed the construction of the university’s newest buildings; La Sierra University President Emeritus Larry T. Geraty whose tenure oversaw the creation of the foundation board and a $100 million endowment through redevelopment of university property; Brian Wright, a Zapara School of Business graduate and general manager of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs; Christian recording artist Patty Cabrera, La Sierra University Master of Arts in Religion program participant and Latin Grammy and Gospel Music Association Dove Awards nominee; and the late Frank Jobe, La Sierra alumnus, celebrated sports orthopaedic surgeon and inventor of the groundbreaking ‘Tommy John’ elbow ligament reconstructive surgery.

Class of 1992 alumnus and Presidential Awardee George Bryson said that his grandfather Elmer Bryson also attended La Sierra and worked on the college dairy farm during the 1930s. “It was great to hear the history of the dairy farm, I’d heard so many of his stories,” Bryson commented. “I feel very connected to the community so it was nice to be recognized.”