President's Newsletter Message

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the first president’s newsletter of the 2024-2025 academic year, and welcome to a campus community that is on the cusp of change and new growth, where our mission of seeking truth, knowing God and serving others secures and guides us as we journey together.

This is the first of many reports I plan to send you with information about key news and events of the campus as well as insights into plans and strategies, thoughts on current issues facing us as a community, and ways that we can join forces to create a culture of action and belief in our institutional excellence, of innovation, intellectual and spiritual growth, and above all, a culture of Christ-centered support for one another and sense of belonging for all who wish to join the La Sierra family.

As you will read in the news articles below, La Sierra has much to be proud of—as an overview, strong rankings in September’s U.S. News & World Report 2025 Best Colleges guide, new faculty to further our just-off-the-shelf Sustainability Studies Program, and significant achievements and growth in our athletics program, among other things. We welcomed the arrival of a Gates Scholar to La Sierra’s campus community, the first from her local high school to win this prestigious award and the first to enroll with us. Her goal is to serve others through nursing. We have much for which to be both proud and grateful.

It is the fifth month of my presidency at this special and beautiful place called La Sierra. I am excited about the possibilities ascending from the horizon and the near-term realization of many of them with God’s help and the hard work of La Sierra’s dedicated faculty and staff. Most of all, I am deeply inspired by the students we are privileged to serve, whose brilliance will shine forth as they emerge from their time with us to become agents of change in their communities.

As you will notice in our messaging, this academic year is an inaugural year. It celebrates through a series of events (outlined in the article below) the university’s many remarkable attributes and culminates with the presidential inauguration on May 20. The primary purpose of this year-long celebration is to strengthen our connections with all of you as part of the La Sierra family, to provide additional support for our students through fundraising, and to make clear our resolve to throw open our doors ever wider as a welcoming Seventh-day Adventist faith community. At this campus, there is a place for everyone!

Christon Arthur,
President
La Sierra University