Fulton Adventist University celebrated its first graduation as a university on November 23, with the highest number of graduates in its 120-year history.
More than 300 graduates were addressed by special guest Steven Chand, chairman of the Higher Education Commission in Fiji. Academic awards were presented and vice chancellor, Professor Ronald Stone, also addressed the gathered students.
The graduation ceremony began a week of celebration for the newest Adventist university in the South Pacific, with more than 500 alumni, church members, stakeholders and friends gathering at the Sabeto campus from November 25-29 for the institution’s 120th anniversary.
The highlight of the program was the opening of a new $F3.6 million chapel by Dr John Hammond, former Fulton head of teacher education from 1982 to 1983 and principal from 1984 to 1985. Students had previously worshipped in the multi-purpose centre, but the campus now has a dedicated worship space.
Three new classrooms are located under the chapel and were also dedicated along with a new gym and health clinic.
“The program paid tribute to alumni contributions and generations of learning faith and service,” said Dr Elisapesi Manson, South Pacific Division education director.
According to Dr Manson, approximately 80 per cent of the new chapel “was generously donated by alumni, friends and church members—an overwhelming affirmation of denominational loyalty to Adventist education through Fulton Adventist University”.
During the week, ground was broken on new student accommodation—two new duplex houses that will become home to married students from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Attending the groundbreaking ceremony were a former prime minister of the Solomon Islands, president and secretary of the Vanuatu and Solomon Islands Missions, and the Trans Pacific Union Mission president.
Some attendees also travelled across the island to the old Fulton campus.
The roots of Adventist education in Fiji are traced back to as early as 1905 when Fulton College started as Fiji Training Institute at Buresala, Ovalau. Set up to train indigenous workers for the expansion of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its mission in Fiji and the wider Pacific, Fiji Training Institute started with only 10 students.
Early restructuring of the Adventist Church in Fiji to include a Central Polynesian Field warranted the renaming of Fiji Training Institute to Central Polynesian Training Institute in 1918. In less than five years, the Central Polynesian Training Institute further expanded to add three different training institutions in Navuso, Wainibuka also in Samabula, Suva and Vatuvonu, Vanua Levu and was renamed Buresala Training School in 1922. A major restructuring took place in 1940 when the three training institutions were phased out and Buresala Training School was relocated from Ovalau to Korovou, Tailevu and was renamed Fulton College after John Fulton, an early Adventist missionary to Fiji. More than 70 years later, Fulton College was relocated to Sabeto, Nadi in 2014 where it continues to thrive as an influential Adventist higher education provider in the Pacific.
“Fulton Adventist University’s 120-year journey of faith with Adventist education in Fiji and the Pacific is more than a number,” said Dr Manson. “According to the vice chancellor, Professor Ronald Stone, soli deo gloria, glory to God alone. [This milestone] is a testament of God’s faithfulness, Adventist education’s perseverance and to the power of a shared mission for others until Jesus comes again.”
