Tech teacher is the marrying kind COAT Professer gets licence to officiate friend’s wedding

get the proper qualifications.

Joseph Perret has a habit of taking a leading role in any group he’s apart of. Whether it’s being a father to his three children, being a principle figure in his church, or instructing skiing programs on Mammoth Mountain. Now he’s taking a key position in a new endeavour, certifying his friends wedding.

In January 2017, Perret received a call from his best friend’s son Sean Cagle about officiating his wedding.

“We thought about it for months on end and we kept coming back to Joe even before we discussed it with him,” Cagle said. “We weren’t concerned that he’s never done it. We know that being a professor, speaking in front of a small crowd is something that he’s done as long as he’s been around. He’s an excellent communicator.”

Even though Cagle’s fiancé Ashley Rowlett had not come into contact with Perret as much as Cagle, her feelings toward Perret were similar.

“I have not known Joe my whole life like Sean has,” Rowlett said. “I’ve been around Joe three or four times now, and feeling his excitement toward us has made us really confident that we made the right decision.”

Perret quickly agreed to wed the couple and he went through the process of getting his certificate of ordination.

“I found out the laws in California were really rather strange,” Perret said. “To officiate a wedding ceremony, you have to be a deputized commissioner of civil services.”

Perret found an alternative way to

“If you are an ordained minister, you can officiate at any wedding and sign any wedding certificate,” Perret said. “So I went online, and sure enough, I could get ordained into this ministry that does weddings.”

According to Cagle, they wanted someone special to them and thought it was a great opportunity to get a life-long friend involved in the ceremony.

“He was my dad’s best man,” Cagle said. “And we thought it would be special for us and my dad to have his best friend marry us.”

The couple were a bit hesitant about having a religious aspect to their ceremony, however they thought Perret’s approach was tasteful.

“We were okay with that as long is it wasn’t the overarching take-away from the ceremony,” Cagle said.

Perret wants to bring spirituality into weddings and make them memorable and fun.

“There is going to be videos of this that will far out last me, so I want to do a good job for sure,” Perret said.

When it comes to Perret, it seems he can’t get away from his daily job as a professor, even in other areas of life.

“I don’t view my role as a lecturer, I view my role as a coach,” Perret said.

Perret was raised to have a strong sense of community and to give back to his family.

“Some people give money, some people give their time. I give my time. I was a boy scout for years, and I got far more out of it then I put into it,” Perret said. “It’s fun to see kids I’ve mentored grow up and have families of their own.”

Students Against Student Hunger hosts open pantry every Tuesday

away as much food as possible to students in need. The St.A.S.H. pantry is open Tuesdays from 2:05 to 3:30 p.m. in Iris 910.

Outward expressions conceal internal struggles—Every day, homeless students pass by, hiding in plain sight, struggling to pass classes, not knowing where their next meal will come from, while the rest of the student body is none the wiser. This student-led food pantry seeks to change that.

According to Juan Ornelas, the president of the Students Against Student Hunger (St.A.S.H.) club, there are 250 students at Pierce who are registered as homeless or hungry. St.A.S.H. was founded in summer 2016 with the goal of ending student hunger.

“We saw this issue right under our noses that no one was doing anything about,” Ornelas said.

The club members spent the fall semester gathering food through donations and outreach. This semester, they are hoping to give

“The beautiful worry is that we will get rid of it too fast,” Club adviser Christopher Lay said.

At the pantry, Ornelas waits to give away the food that has been gathered. He said that when students stop by the pantry, he takes food off the shelves and packs it in bags for them to take. If students have any specific dietary needs, he can pack accordingly.

According to Ornelas, the pantry has been open for two weeks, and not many students have come so far, but this does not discourage him from moving forward with the club.

He said he has spoken to members of similar clubs at Cal. State Northridge for advice.

“They told me that the first month can be a little slow, but over time, more people start coming consistently,” Ornelas said.

Lay hopes to work with the club to raise awareness of student hunger and de-stigmatize it.

“If you’re hungry, you can’t learn well,” Lay said. “We want to normalize the idea that food is part of one of the things that are necessary for success. We want to make this resource as normal as going to the library. Students shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed that they need help.”

Mary Anne Bromley, a nursing student at Pierce, did not know that