A graduation ceremony at the Seventh-day Adventist Church's world headquarters today is the culmination of the church's efforts to offer values-based education to business students in Vietnam.

Some of the first graduating class members received their diplomas a year and a half after enrolling in the program, a partnership between Griggs University, the church's distance learning institution, and Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Twenty-eight of the class' 86 members are touring the United States and had requested the special ceremony.

"A lot of things we learned about leadership were very new to us in Vietnam," Nguyen Van Hung, a brand manager, said following his address to fellow graduates.

For most students, the program was a chance to earn a master's of business administration from a university in the United States. Church leaders said they hope that in addition to the increased knowledge of business, graduates will also take with them ethical principles presented in the program's curriculum.

In her commencement address, Ella Simmons, Griggs University board chair and a vice president of the Adventist world church, said she expected graduates to use their degrees not to just become successful people, but to become people of value.

"True success is using your educational attainments, your power, your position, your connections, all your resources to make a positive difference in the world," Simmons told graduates.

Griggs President Don Sahly said partnerships with other universities expose students to the philosophy that drives Christian education through Griggs curriculum and periodic lectures by Griggs staff. In an interview with Adventist News Network last year, Sahly said he hopes students become more motivated by service than by greed.

"People who serve live longer, are happier and are more productive than those who are self-centered," Sahly said.

Today's ceremony was also an opportunity for Griggs officials to share the institution's history -- this year marks 100 years since Griggs University/International Academy first launched as a distance-learning institution. In 1909, the Adventist Church's Education director, Frederick Griggs, established The Fireside Correspondence School, one of the original members of the Distance Education & Training Council in the United States.

Today, Griggs has about 4,000 students enrolled in elementary, secondary and university classes. The MBA is the most popular university program, with about 1,250 students enrolled around the world. Most students are not Adventist.