University holds belated inauguration, draws regional, academic leaders

The inauguration program included official greetings from Wolde-Ab Isaac, chancellor of the Riverside Community College District, Kim Wilcox, chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, and Loren Agrey, president of Burman University in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada where Fehr previously held academic and administrative posts. Special greetings were also delivered by Julian Melgosa, an associate director of education for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Silver Spring, Md., by Steve Hemenway, Riverside City Council Member for Ward 7, as well as from representatives of university faculty, staff and students.

“La Sierra University although small in numbers, has stood tall in the community by offering opportunities that can change one’s world." -- Dr. Wolde-Ab Isaac, chancellor, Riverside Community College District

Letters of congratulations were also presented from universities and colleges around California and other regions of the country including from the presidents of California State University, Los Angeles, California Institute of the Arts, the University of Portland, West Texas A&M University, Texas State University, University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, the University of Central Oklahoma, and many others.

“I am very proud to honor my dear friend Dr. Joy Fehr on her installation as the fourth president of La Sierra University,” Isaac said in his remarks. He cited Fehr as a leader committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and who will contribute great leadership, vision and inspiration. “La Sierra University although small in numbers, has stood tall in the community by offering opportunities that can change one’s world. On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Riverside Community College District, I extend my heartfelt congratulations and support to you and to this exemplary institution.”

Wilcox noted the importance of the two universities’ partnership in dealing with a vast region and “the vastness of knowledge and wisdom. It’s a true honor today to be here with my good friend and colleague, President Fehr to think about the future of our universities, to think about the future of our regions and think about the future of the world in a way that only universities can. Congratulations La Sierra, and congratulations President Fehr.”

Agrey, who also represented the Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities offered “hearty congratulations and best wishes” from Burman University in Canada as well as from the association’s presidents. “Your presidential peers were so excited that they voted at our next regular meeting that we will share with you their most prized and highly coveted piece of presidential knowledge -- the secret handshake,” he joked. “We wish you God’s richest blessings as you lead La Sierra University into its second century. If you ever do decide to come home let us know. I'll send the dog sleds.”

Golden eagles and tambourines

Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, provost of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md. delivered the inaugural address. She drew inspiration from the university’s 100-year history and from an unexpected source -- its mascot, the golden eagle. “The female golden eagle is known for her ability to soar [like] the male, but she is known for agility, she is known for nesting abilities through which the offspring and the next generation is secured. And I thought, that’s our President Fehr. She is our inaugural presidential female golden eagle,” Kisunzu said.

She noted the golden eagle’s ability to rise on the currents, to take those entrusted to her to new heights. In that vein, Kisunzu played off the word rise, using it as an acronym for resilient, inclusion, service and excellence. “Yes, she has had to be resilient over these last two and a half years,” Kisunzu said of Fehr. “Never, never in a million years would she have thought that shortly after six months into her presidency she would have to navigate the assault of a global pandemic.” After the university moved its operations online in March 2020, the university’s emergency management team under Fehr’s direction met weekly for months to make operational decisions as the pandemic worsened, and to hammer out a detailed and adaptable overall response plan.

"When you learn here at La Sierra University, you will learn to lead and to serve in a way that empowers you to live God’s grace." -- Dr. Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, provost, Washington Adventist University

“I am confident that President Fehr is infused with wisdom, clarity, quietness and confidence through which La Sierra University will continue to grow from glory to glory, from strength to strength,” Kisunzu said.

To illustrate the word inclusion, she cited Fehr’s distinction as the first female president in the life of the university, and within a denominational union that recognizes and supports the leadership of women. “Those who enter and leave here will not be mere reflectors of other men’s thoughts because there will be inclusiveness in the exchanges and the debates,” she said.

Service, the ‘s’ in Kisunzu’s RISE acronym is reflected in the university’s new purpose statement which Fehr recently presented to the university that says, “when you learn here at La Sierra University, you will learn to lead and to serve in a way that empowers you to live God’s grace,” Kisunzu noted.

“The final letter in the word rise stands for excellence,” she continued. “The excellence I’m referring to is that which emerges from the women who are part of that great crowd of witnesses that [Apostle] Paul invites us to be attentive to.” She went on to imagine the words of wisdom that might be imparted to Fehr from noted biblical female figures which she described as members of Paul’s Hall of Fame. She began with Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron of the Old Testament. Kisunzu described how Miriam took a tambourine and led other women in a joyful dance following the Israelite’s passage through the Red Sea, reminding them of God’s faithfulness and “of having joy in the journey. …[This] reminds us that we must create and celebrate short-term wins for institutional momentum and empowerment.” Kisunzu said. She raised up a tambourine as she spoke and then presented it to Fehr as her “inaugural tambourine.”

Kisunzu also imagined the words of wisdom that might come from several other notable women of the Bible including Deborah, the Book of Judges prophetess and judge; Esther, the Jewish girl chosen to be queen of Persia; and Mary the mother of Jesus whose song spoke of her joy in magnifying the Lord. Lastly, she noted Priscilla who along with her husband, Aquila, worked as missionaries with the Apostle Paul. Kisunzu drew a parallel to Fehr and Fehr’s husband, Cornelius and the excellence that derives from a shared calling and commitment.

“So there you have it, an acronym RISE—resilience, inclusion, service [so] those who leave here leave as individuals who will live God’s grace; [with] distinctive excellence as informed by the women in Paul’s Hall of Fame. And as a result, La Sierra University, new heights you will be gaining every day, knowing that you are to be the benchmark for the world, moving ever upward, blessed in your going out, blessed in your coming in, blessed in your labor, blessed in your leisure, for the Lord's promise is to prosper you, to give you a future and a hope.”

Commitment to serve

Bradford Newton, president of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and chair of La Sierra’s Board of Trustees conducted the program’s installation ceremony which included the presentation of the presidential medallion and confirmation of the appointment of president. He began the ceremony by recounting Fehr’s first day of her presidency when he served as the union’s executive secretary. He witnessed two key leadership traits in Fehr that day, he said -- the gift of storytelling and the ability to pivot quickly when faced with challenges.

“I’ve watched both leadership traits in action during her almost three years as president, and her keen intellect is combined with a grounded practicality.” -- Bradford Newton, president, Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

He recalled how on that day in 2019 Fehr stood before a group of visiting denominational world division secretaries who were touring La Sierra and, following a technology failure that thwarted her planned digital presentation, gave an unscripted depiction of the university’s story. “The power of that story washed over the group as she culminated her storytelling with a baptism of several students. They suddenly became riveted in their attention. And I watched emotion come to their faces. And I can bear witness that it was from that moment on, that an openness and joy came to our visiting group for the remainder of our tour.

“I’ve watched both leadership traits in action during her almost three years as president, and her keen intellect is combined with a grounded practicality,” Newton said. He noted the indispensability of those traits when the Covid-19 pandemic swept over the university and the region in March 2020, immediately shuttering on-campus instruction. “But during this extraordinary time of challenge, this university continued to experience genuine excellence. Joy, your passion for excellence, your ability to see around the corners as we work on the strategic future of our university together, and your deep commitment to the enterprise of Seventh-day Adventist higher education instills confidences for the future,” Newton said.

In response, Fehr expressed her thanks to the program’s participants and guests, university members and alumni, her family and friends. She offered special thanks to Kisunzu who prayed with her in March 2019 for God’s leading in Fehr’s life and in the decision to consider the presidency of La Sierra University. “Friend, here we are today. Thank you for that prayer,” she said to Kisunzu.

Fehr continued, “I've witnessed the inspiration, the impact, the grace that happens here in this space many, many times throughout my La Sierra University journey.” She relayed a story of an adult student with a family who chanced an application to enroll, received donor support, and discovered their life’s purpose through successes in scientific research.

“You created the environment,” Fehr said to the campus community, “the grace that caused [the student] to realize passion, gifts and a future they had never ever dreamed possible. This is what we do. This is why I'm honored here today to stand in this spot and publicly declare my commitment to you, this university, and this call to shepherd us through whatever life brings our way.”

Wisbey offered a closing prayer for the inauguration ceremony, gathering around him Fehr, her husband Cornelius Fehr, Newton, and board trustee and retired pastor John Brunt.

Great expectations

Among the many notable guests who attended the presidential inauguration was U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, whose 41st District includes Riverside. “I regard La Sierra University as such an important force in our community, my community, and I’m looking forward to working with the president to do great things. It’s a very joyful day for me,” he said following the ceremony.

“It was kind of the pinnacle beyond any dream or expectation.” -- Wendy Wasylucha, Abilene, Texas, childhood friend of President Joy Fehr

For Fehr’s husband, Cornelius, the inaugural celebration was a moment of pride. It represented the culmination of his wife’s quick aptitude for academics and love of learning, a process that got a jumpstart with an impromptu and successful entrance exam at a regional college in northern Canada in Grande Prairie. The couple’s later move to Calgary facilitated Joy’s rapid progression from the completion of a bachelor’s degree to a master’s and then a doctoral degree in English literature from the University of Calgary. “I was always there to support her and whatever decisions. I always told her that you can be whatever you want to be and [I’ll] support you in whatever you decide you want to be,” Cornelius said. “She loved school, she did so well. I’ve always been proud of her and her abilities.”

Joy served as professor of English at Burman University, then called Canadian University College, where she received the Excellence in Teaching Award. She also served as dean for the division of arts and vice president of academic administration from 2010 to 2015 before arriving at La Sierra University.

Fehr’s childhood best friend Wendy Wasylucha also attended the inauguration. Wasylucha is a retired nurse who immigrated from Canada to Abilene, Texas with her husband a year and a half ago. She recalled Fehr’s wide range of interests in her youth that included automotive mechanics and reading, and responsibilities beyond her years that encompassed directing their church’s Vacation Bible School program at age 14. Wasylucha recalled how as children she daydreamed of being a nurse and Fehr of being a doctor. Their goals ultimately came to fruition, but in unexpected ways for Fehr.

“The ceremony was surreal,” Wasylucha said of the inauguration. “It was kind of the pinnacle beyond any dream or expectation.”