From Utah Policy Daily, June 26, 2024
The Trustees of Mount Liberty College are pleased to announce that Ralston College, in Savannah, Georgia, has accepted a second graduate of Mount Liberty College to its prestigious Master of Humanities program. Mount Liberty will have two alumnae in Ralston’s 2024-25 class.
Ariella Nounna, of Las Vegas, Nevada has been accepted for the fall of 2024, and awarded a full scholarship, covering her tuition and expenses, worth more than $60,000. The admission committee judged Ms. Nounna’s qualifications worthy of this substantial award and are excited to have her in the program. In a letter to her, Ralston President Stephen Blackwood said that he has high expectations that Ariella and her fellow Master’s candidates will serve as ambassadors of the college “engag(ing) in various forms of service, giving of your time and talent to endeavors that will enhance our common collegiate life.” The Ralston Master’s program is unique in that candidates spend one semester in Greece, studying ancient and modern Greek and the associated culture, and then complete the program at the Ralston campus in Savannah. During the students’ time in Greece, they will read and analyze historical documents in their original languages.
Jordan Peterson, Chancellor of Ralston College, describes Ralston’s philosophy in the following words: “What universities are called to do…is to present their students models of people deeply engaged with what they genuinely love…we are attempting to help further the development of people who value and take responsibility for themselves.” Jennifer Jensen, President of Mount Liberty, notes that the philosophy of education Peterson describes could come from Mount Liberty’s mission statement. “Our graduates are prized by schools like Ralston,” she says, “because we are guided by a firm commitment to the same underlying values of Truth, Beauty, and Humility.”
Ms. Nounna agrees, crediting the preparation she received at Mount Liberty College for her admission to the program: “The foundation that I received from my undergraduate studies at MLC has well prepared me for my future at Ralston. I look forward with eagerness to building upon that solid foundation with an even deeper study of the greatest works in our literature. I feel privileged to have this opportunity!”
“In its short history, Mount Liberty graduates have obviously impressed graduate school admission committees,” said Jensen. “Ariella is now the third alumna admitted to Ralston, and other graduates have been admitted to other Master’s and post-graduate programs. Their success validates the importance of a solid foundation in the humanities that MLC provides.”
President Jensen was referring to Ari Johnson of Orem, Utah and Mahayla Bassett of Hyrum, Utah, both of whom were also admitted to the Ralston program, and to Julie Greenman, currently completing a Master’s at Ashland University in Ohio. Ms. Johnson, who received her Master’s from Ralston in May, will begin a fellowship with Encounter Books in the fall of 2024. She was also admitted to the Columbia School of Journalism Writing Project at Oxford.
Ms. Johnson had this to say about her classmates’ coming experience: “Ralston College introduced me to the Greek language so that I could study the ancient works of philosophy and the New Testament in the original language. It was an experience that helped me gain a sense of my inheritance and put me on a lifelong path of exploration and study.”