President Lu Hardin shares about PBA's excellent faculty

Easter Break

The 40 days of lent are almost over and Holy Week has begun.  This, as I am sure you are already aware, is one of the most important weeks in the church calendar. I congratulate those of you who were able to keep their Lenten commitments and fast during the past 35 days up to today.  Fasting is a very powerful and meaningful experience, if done correctly and completely.  There is a lot of joy involved in this week including two of my favorite Sunday mornings.  The first being Palm Sunday, I love when the children of the church parade in with palm branches to signify the entering into the city of Jesus on that Sunday many years ago.  Then again, there is nothing quite like Easter morning.  The joy and celebration during morning worship, either at sunrise or a reasonable hour.  Altogether it is a good week.  There is, and should be, a few days of sorrow also included in the celebratory week.  Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are two of those days that remind the believer of the sacrifice of Jesus for each of us.  Remembering these two days helps to make Easter morning that much more of a celebration!

There is also another, although somewhat less important, reason why I greatly enjoy Holy Week. 

Easter Break.  Class has begun to get a little crazy and the assignments have begun to pile up all around it seems in the two weeks since Spring Break.  I know that I need some time to rest and relax before I plunge into the rest of the semester.  At Palm Beach Atlantic we are graced with two days off of school in celebration of Easter.  We get Good Friday and Easter Monday off of classes so that we can travel home to spend time with family on this most important of Sundays.  It allows for time to paint Easter eggs, or go on an egg hunt (either letting you act like a kid, or maybe just spending time with important children in your life).  Either way, the Easter Break is a vital and important part of the spring semester at PBA.  All of my friends who attend secular universities are always jealous!

PBA's FLY ON US Program

Today on campus, many prospective students and their parents can be seen walking around because of the fact that there is an Open House today.  One of the best ways for a student to know if PBA is a good fit for them is to come and visit campus.  Open House provides a glimpse into the real everyday life of a PBA student.  It allows the student to stay in the residence halls with real students and also experience the cafeteria and a chapel service.  While I was wondering around the school website I noticed a new and exciting program offered out of the admissions office.  The new incentive is called FLY ON US.  The logistics of the program are that Palm Beach Atlantic will reimburse a prospective student's airfare up to $200 for one visit to PBA.  That is a fairly large amount of money that can be put toward the cost of tuition.  This program is to encourage students to come to campus, because when they do they will surely be hooked and enroll.  The campus is beautiful and full of life, even on a day when it seems that the sky will open up in any minute and a monsoon will occur. It seems like students do not have any excuse for not visiting campus anymore and anyone who is interested should contact the admissions office and schedule a visit today.

Palm Beach International Boat Show

This weekend a huge event is coming to the waterfront in downtown West Palm Beach.  It is time for the 25th Annual Palm Beach International Boat Show.  This is one of the best boat shows in the entire country and features more than $350 Million worth of watercrafts and accessories to go along with them.  The Intracoastal Waterway is filled with boats and yachts plus a few floating islands to spend the day.  Many PBA students attend the event every year to check out everything from small inflatable boats to 150 foot mega-yachts.  Admission to the event allows you to take tours of all of the boats and just enjoy a day in the sunshine.  The event allows for PBA students to see what they can, maybe, afford if they work hard.  This is good motivation at this moment in the semester when exams and papers are piling up. Tickets are $12 online or can be purchased at the event for $14.

Bring on the Warm Weather

Spring has begun, well, it did two days ago.  I have been waiting, impatiently I might add, for this winter to end.  I do not like cold weather.  There is one exception to this rule, I can handle cold only when I am snow skiing.  It helps to have all the specialized clothing and layers.  I tolerate the cold for that week, and then want to be home in sunny Florida, hopefully on a beach.  I want to give all of you props who spend the winter up in the northern states, and when I say northern I mean Georgia and Alabama.  Everything else even farther north just seems ridiculously cold to me and I cannot even imagine an entire winter spent up in Illinois or North Dakota.  Despite a little bit of rain this morning, this has turned into a nice day in south Florida.  Much nicer than I would assume is happening in Chicago with a wind chill of 39° or even New York City for that matter, at 52°.  I am thankful that I was born in Florida but even more thankful that I decided to move south and get away from the artic cold in West Palm Beach.  I am pretty sure that no one is basking in the sun in a bathingsuit on Lake Michigan today, yet the beaches down here will be occupied.

Spring Break!

Ah, Spring Break, just saying the words would make any student happy. At PBA we just finished up our Spring Break and students are returning to campus from all around the world. The adjustment is difficult, as always. Mission Trips are a very important part of the PBA experience, and I would highly recommend taking at least one during your time in college. I went to Santa Cruz, Bolivia my freshman year and it was an experience I will never forget. Sophomore year I took a trip to Guatemala City, Guatemala with a couple friends. Junior year a couple of friends and I road tripped up to Ponce Inlet, Florida to spend the week together at the beach.

Every break I felt the need to travel somewhere to have a fun and relaxing spring break. This year, my final year, it hit me. Why would I want to leave this paradise where I live for school for spring break? The stress of travel takes away from vital beach and relaxation time. In the past PBA has charged students to remain on campus during spring break, this year they decided to drop that expense which means free housing ALL spring break right near the beach. What more could a college student ask for? I do not actually live on campus, I live with 3 roommates in a downtown condo within a mile of campus, but I would have enjoyed living on campus for the break as well.

Being that I am from the metro Orlando area, I have many friends from home who attend the large state schools in Florida. In the past, PBA has always had spring break at another week than everyone else in the state. This year was different, we lined up with mostly everyone. We also happened to line up with the college one of my roommates transferred from in Illinois. What does this mean? My condo was full of good friends the entire week. Every college student around the country dreams of spending their spring break in sunny south Florida. So I stayed here and brought old and new friends here to spend a great and tranquil spring break getting my tan on at Clarke Beach (below) and at the pool/hot tub (mid right) in my condo. If only spring break was two weeks!

Spring Break Presidential Address

Spring Break Mission Trips

Palm Beach Atlantic University senior Ashley Anderson has been to the Dominican Republic twice on mission trips, and she's headed there for a third time this weekend. "In my mind there is no better way to spend my spring break," said Anderson, 22, who is majoring in psychology and minoring in cross-cultural studies. "I love to help those in need and to serve God and my brothers and sisters in Christ." Anderson, of Bowie, Md., is co-leader of an eight-member team that leaves Friday and will spend the week in the mountain town of Peralta, where the University partners with a network of churches. In the past, team members have volunteered with construction projects, interacted with local children and led church services. "We're just trying to prepare ourselves to be flexible for whatever they have us do," said senior international business major Jeffrey Boyle, 22, the team's other co-leader from Bartlett, Ill.

Similar mission projects will take place in various countries across the Caribbean and Central and South America next week. In all, more than 100 students serving on 10 PBA mission teams will visit such places as Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti, Peru and Jamaica for spring break, which runs from March 7-13.

This year, the 13-member Haiti team has received a great deal of attention in the wake of the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake in the island nation. The decision to proceed with the trip came after numerous discussions with Mission of Hope, the University's partner organization near Port-au-Prince that operates a church, school, orphanage and hospital. The students' safety was a top priority, said Christian Dzadek, the University's coordinator of interational service projects. Team members said they expect they will be helping with the relief effort to some degree, as well as assisting the organization with its ministries. The Haiti team, like the others, has undergone extensive training for the past several weeks. Students also raised their own money for the trips.

icole Valentin, one of the leaders of the seven-member Guatemala team, said her team has met once a week since November to practice the leadership activities they will be teaching at different schools there. The group is sponsored by PBA's Impact Leadership Team. "We also shared our personal testimonies with one another and discussed our motivation for the trip," said Valentin, 20, a junior accounting major from Orlando. Her co-leader, senior mathematics major Rod Venegas, 23, is a native of Guatemala City. He believes the leadership activities that his team will share with local students will benefit his homeland in years to come. The team's aim, he said, is "to plant seeds, knowing the impact it can have in the individual lives of those kids."

Sarah Thomas, 19, a freshman nursing major from Boca Raton, also is looking forward to interacting with young people this spring break. She is co-leader of a 10-person team that is departing for Cochabamba, Bolivia. The team will lend its assistance to Children's International Network, which operates an orphanage and ministers to boys on the street. "I have been very anxious to go all last semester and even more so now," said Thomas, who went on her first mission trip to Mexico at age 11. "I feel like my best self on mission trips, almost like I am fulfilling my purpose here on Earth."

Musical Theater Production: She Loves Me

During this past weekend and this week the Musical Theater department at Palm Beach Atlantic University will be putting on the production She Loves Me for their annual spring musical. The musical is based upon a book by Joe Masteroff, the song lyrics are by Sheldon Harnick and the music in the production is by Jerry Bock. This production is one of the world's most charming musicals. This little gem of a show by the creators of Fiddler on the Roof and is about two perfume shop coworkers who dislike each other, but are actually in love with each other's pen-pal persona. Based on Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo, this story has been made into three popular movies: The Shop around the Corner with James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, In the Good Old Summer Time with Van Johnson and Judy Garland, and most recently, the romantic comedy blockbuster You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It is a timeless classic that originally premiered upon Broadway in 1963 and enjoyed a reward winning revival in 1993. The original Broadway poster from the original show is pictured to the right, and two of the cast members from the PBA production are pictured to the left (Sierra Minot and Daniel Schwab). The production is excellent at PBA and one of the many perks of the university during the springtime when the annual musical comes around. I would highly recommend seeing it this week at the remaining performances in the Helen K. Persson Recital Hall in Vera Lea Rinker Hall. Tickets are $15 general admission or 2 for $25, $10 seniors 65 years and older, and only $5 for students.

New Downtown Waterfront

Just in case you are unaware, the city of West Palm Beach is located directly upon the intercoastal waterway which is locally referred to as Lake Worth Lagoon. Across the lagoon is Palm Beach island. Palm Beach Atlantic University is located in the southern section of downtown WPB also adjacent to the intercoastal. Water is a huge part of the life of a PBA student and citizens of Palm Beach County. Many changes have been occurring in downtown to make WPB a world-class city. Recently the old library was shutdown and a new, and beautiful library and city government complex was created that would rival that found in any major city. With the relocation, the old library property became vacant. This property is located in the core of downtown on Lake Worth. It is prime real estate that could have been sold the the highest bidder. This did not happen, the land was modified and fixed to create a beautiful city park complete with brand new landscaping, walkways and three city docks that extend into the intercoastal.

This past Saturday night was the grand opening celebration for the new waterfront downtown. The event began at 4:00pm and continued until 11:00. PBA students and faculty participated in the performances and entertainment and also attended the event as spectators. The new downtown waterfront is located within a few minutes walk from campus right near all of the downtown restaurants. The evening culminated with a fireworks extravaganza over Lake Worth. It was an excellent event, and fun was had by all. There are very few colleges that can boast as having such entertaining events and amazing public facilities, right in their backyard, as PBAU. It is truly great to be a Fish!


Here is the promo video for the event from youtube. A video of the fireworks show was, sadly, not available.

Fourty Days Until Easter

Today is Ash Wednesday and many PBA students are using today to reflect and prepare for the Lenten season. Lent is a great reminder to refocus one’s life upon the eternal and truly meaningful aspects of life found within Jesus and his message. Many students on campus are choosing to give up some aspect of life, maybe chocolate or facebook for example, so that they can focus upon their faith and relationship with God much easier. The Newman Club, which is composed of a group of the catholic students and faculty on campus, will be hosting its annual Ash Wednesday chapel at 3:00 this afternoon. This is always a very meaningful and moving chapel, helping students and faculty to focus their attention on the Jesus of Good Friday, and that of Easter morning. The Newman Club is a very active club on campus. Ash Wednesday also serves as a reminder to the student body that the middle of the semester is approaching and it is most definitely time to buckle down and complete all necessary tasks before Midterms and Spring Break arrives. The coursework and study in college should be used as an act of worship to God because he is our Creator and Sustainer.

I hope that you are able to take a moment today, either corporately or in private to reflect upon your own Faith and work to improve your own relationship with God.

Implosion of a Downtown WPB Building

This Valentine's Day morning at 9:00am a 30-story abandoned condo building was imploded just two blocks from campus. Most of the student body, and surrounding community was in attendance to see the 3rd largest building in United States history implode. This is just another amazing aspect of the urban environment of Palm Beach Atlantic University that I am glad to be able to take advantage of. The video does not do it justice, but it is still pretty cool. This video was taken from Palm Beach Island and you can see the southern section of campus at the far right side of the video.

Sailfish Baseball Set to Open Season at Roger Dean Stadium

JUPITER, Fla.- With the 2010 baseball season just around the corner, the Palm Beach Atlantic University squad is gearing up for what they hope to be a successful year under new head coach and Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Gary Carter. The Sailfish will have the special opportunity to host the defending NCAA Division II National Champions of Lynn University at Roger Dean Stadium for their first game on Tuesday, February 2nd at 6 p.m.

As a part of the season opening festivities, admission to the game will be free to all visitors as will be the team’s second home game which will take place a week later against Florida Tech, also to be played at Roger Dean Stadium on Tuesday, February 9th at 6 p.m.

One of the finest minor league complexes in all of baseball, Roger Dean Stadium plays host to both the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals during Spring Training each year while also acting as the home facility for the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins Single-A affiliate) and the Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinal Single-A affiliate).

With a seating capacity of over 7,000, the Sailfish and Fighting Knights won’t be expecting to fill the stadium to reach its max however it does provide both teams with the unique opportunity to play at a state-of-the-art facility while fans on hand will get to watch and experience a first-class stadium atmosphere.

Fans entering the stadium are required to enter through GATE B where there will also be opportunities for them to get information on Palm Beach Atlantic University, buy Sailfish merchandise, and also visit the concessions stand.

Those fans and parents that cannot make it out the game will be able to tune in live and listen to the game via the Sailfish Sports Network. 

Money makes the world go round

Private Christian education can be quite burdensome economically upon the individual. It does not matter if your parents are a billionaire or do not have any money, university education is expensive. An education at Palm Beach Atlantic University is not cheap, yet I believe it is definitely worth it. I am currently a senior, graduating this coming May. I am excited, yet also terrified (we will not get into that at the moment), about the coming changes that will occur in my life. I know that I will be prepared for whatever comes my way because of the excellent education I have received inside and outside the classroom. The professors at PBAU are very knowledgeable in their specific areas and are able to impart much of that wisdom into their students. The campus atmosphere and surrounding city also allow for learning outside the classroom. Downtown West Palm Beach is a great place to go to school and allows for numerous opportunities to experience college life, as well as a world-class urban city.

With all of that said, the current economic situation in our country does not allow for much financial freedom. PBA has a great scholarship program that awards monies to almost all admitted students. There are other government programs that can help to defer the cost of the education. One of those programs is provided by the state of Florida to Florida Residents. This scholarship is called the Florida Resident Access Grant, or FRAG for short. (you can access more information about the grant by clicking here). This grant is given to all Florida residents, regardless or need, to help offset the cost of a private school education. It allows you to choose a school that is perfect for you, without having to worry about the cost as much. The grant is usually around $3000 per semester, but has lowered slightly in recent years due to the economic turmoil and budget deficits currently attacking Florida.

Miss Florida and Hall-of-Famer Share About PBA