latest from Video

PLU move-in day 2024

Our newest Lutes have arrived! With help from family, friends and the PLU community, first-year Lutes moved into PLU’s residence halls on Friday, August 30, kicking off New Student Orientation. The day was full of joy, love and the beginning of lifelong friendships.

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PLU and MultiCare leaders discuss new partnership on ARC Seattle (KOMO News)

PLU President Allan Belton and MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson discuss the recently announced Partnership for Health Innovation with KOMO News anchors Steve McCarron and Tyra Majors on ARC Seattle (KOMO News). Announced in February 2024, the Partnership for Health Innovation unites PLU, MultiCare, and Washington…

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PLU nursing students help provide meals for Thanksgiving

PLU service-nursing club Delta Iota Chi assembled nearly 350 meal boxes which will feed over 2,000 community members this holiday week. Boxes stuffed with turkey, green beans, corn, stuffing mix and other food were distributed to local community organizations and individuals throughout the week.

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A day in the life as a cancer research center intern

PLU chemistry major Elijah Singleton ’25 takes us with him for a day in the life at his summer internship at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle.

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PLU students and faculty collaborate on summer chemistry research

Dive deeper into PLU’s summer undergraduate research program! Students Rebecca Smith ’24 and Aidan Hopson ’24 spent ten weeks collaborating with chemistry professor Andrea Munro to study colloidal nanocrystals, particles so small they are nearly invisible. #LutesEmbraceComplexity To learn more about chemistry projects, classes and…

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Newly minted PLU graduates reflect on what commencement — and earning their degree — means to them

“Commencement means the culmination of hard work and accomplishments with my teammates and my classmates — so it’s a great day.”

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Moving Moments | PLU Commencement 2023

PLU students, parents, alumni and friends gathered at the Tacoma Dome this afternoon for our 2023 commencement. PLU alumnus and filmmaker Joshua Wiersma ’18 captured moving moments from the ceremony.

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“We are uncatchable” | PLU Women’s Rowing

“There is this moment, where everything around you disappears. Where your vision goes dark, and all you feel is the handle of the oar…” Today is National Girls & Women in Sports Day, so we invite you to put on a life jacket, grab a…

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Campus Tour: PLU’s newly renovated anatomy and physiology lab

PLU Resident Instructor of Biology Michelle Crites gives a tour of the newly renovated anatomy and physiology lab in the Rieke Science Center. Learn more about the PLU Department of Biology.

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A conversation with novelist Mari Matthias ‘94, author of “The Runestone’s Promise”

Mari Matthias ‘94 loved diagramming sentences back in the ninth grade. Later, she served on the staff of Saxifrage, PLU’s student-run literary and art magazine, during all four of her years on campus. Matthias describes herself as a self-taught novelist. “Once I decided to write…

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latest from Alumni, Internships, Career

Collective Action Rooted in Reciprocity

At a summer 2023 banquet launching the Uukumwe Project, Sanet Steenkamp, executive director of Namibia’s Ministry of Education, Arts, and Culture, advised a group of Namibian and American teachers not to hold back. “The children,” she said, “deserve for us not to hold back.” Steenkamp’s…

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Heven Ambachew ’24 combines her passions and experiences to design major in innovation studies

Like many students, Heven Ambachew ’24 wasn’t yet sure of her major when embarking on her PLU journey. Four years later, thanks to PLU’s individualized major pathway, she is the university’s first graduate with a major in innovation studies . Innovation Studies at PLU Courses…

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Stuart Gavidia ’24 majored in computer science while interning at Amazon, Cannon, and Pierce County

Stuart Gavidia is a first-generation Latino student who spent most of his life in Lakewood and then Spanaway, about 10 minutes from PLU. He knew he wanted to come here for college so he could remain close to his family. He also knew from an…

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From the Court to the Classroom: Sianna Iverson’s continued resilience and drive is taking her from PLU to Duke University

Highly recruited as an outside hitter out of Chiawana High School, Sianna Iverson ‘24, a talented volleyball player, knew she found a home at PLU after a campus visit.  “As soon as I visited, I knew it was going to be a great fit for…

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Former accountant Sarah Bell Rosenlund prepares for new career in nursing at PLU’s Lynnwood campus

Sarah Bell Rosenlund has always been a people person. She radiates positive energy, and smiles broadly when she talks about her PLU experience. “I realized that my gift is to be a helper to people,” she said. “I love to be in acts of service.…

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Criminal justice major Raphi Crenshaw ’24 interned at Tacoma Pro Bono and plans to attend law school

After graduating from Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Raphi Crenshaw ’24 enrolled at PLU with plans to major in biology. “I was going to become a dermatologist, but when I started taking the classes, well, I wasn’t a fan of it,” Crenshaw remembers. By…

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Isaiah Banken ’21 earns Torrison Scholarship because of his dedication to medicine and faith

Isaiah Banken ’21 knew he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. Banken, with a B.S. in biology and a minor in mathematics from PLU, explored various medical opportunities near his hometown of Wenatchee, WA, including working at a ski resort, serving in hospice care,…

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Lifelong Parkland/Spanaway resident Kirsten Kreis leads Pierce County Navigator Program at PLU

PLU and the Parkland community are familiar to Kirsten Kreis . Her roots run deep in Parkland, from learning to swim in the PLU pool, to completing her high school assignments in the Mortvedt Library, to walking across the stage in Olson Auditorium at her…

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latest from Research and Academics

2024 Powell-Heller Conference to Spotlight Sephardic Jewish Experiences in the Holocaust

PLU will host the 16th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education from November 6-8, 2024. This year’s conference, titled Sephardic Jewish Voices and Experiences in the Holocaust, focuses on the lesser-known stories of Sephardic Jews during World War II. The conference brings together scholars and…

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Modernizing Mental Health

PLU professor and psychology department chair Tiffany Artime and her collaborator from Wellesley College Centers for Women are leading a team of researchers and stakeholders who envision a future where evidence-based trauma treatments are integrated into university counseling services, empowering students to thrive. Artime and…

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Kaden Bolton ’24 explored civics and public policy on campus and studying away in Oxford

For the graduating class of 2024, freshman year was online and confined. So by the time fall came around for sophomore year, they embraced in-person classes, study groups, lunches, dinners, and more. That’s true at least for political science major Kaden Bolton ’24, who graduated…

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PLU French professor Rebecca Wilkin wins the 2024 Translation Prize

The French-American Foundation has announced that PLU Professor of French Rebecca Wilkin is one of the winners of the 2024 Translation Prize. Wilkin and her co-editor and translator Angela Hunter, an English professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, received the nonfiction prize…

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Heven Ambachew ’24 combines her passions and experiences to design major in innovation studies

Like many students, Heven Ambachew ’24 wasn’t yet sure of her major when embarking on her PLU journey. Four years later, thanks to PLU’s individualized major pathway, she is the university’s first graduate with a major in innovation studies . Innovation Studies at PLU Courses…

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Student athlete Vinny D’Onofrio ’24 excelled in biology and chemistry at PLU

Vinny D’Onofrio ’24 majored in biology and chemistry at PLU, played at nationals with the men’s soccer team, and prepared for a career in the medical field. D’Onofrio recently sat down with PLU News to discuss his PLU experience. How did you learn about PLU?…

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Student-athletes Nasier Ford ’24, La’akea Ane ’24, and Jesse Canda ’24 utilize communication capstone to boost mental health awareness

The PLU capstone project is a meaningful culmination of a student’s academic journey at PLU. It offers students a chance to embrace complexity and ask tough questions. In a display of remembrance and advocacy, Nasier Ford ’24, La’akea Ane ’24, and Jesse Canda ’24 opened…

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latest from Student Life, Resources, Community

Three students share how scholarships support them in their pursuit to make the world better than how they found it

During the 2023-2024 academic year, 2,345 students received PLU-funded aid, with the average PLU student receiving $37,036 in scholarships. Through scholarship support, donors are part of a network of care that supports students in pursuing their educational goals, unlocking their full potential, and becoming leaders…

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From the Court to the Classroom: Sianna Iverson’s continued resilience and drive is taking her from PLU to Duke University

Highly recruited as an outside hitter out of Chiawana High School, Sianna Iverson ‘24, a talented volleyball player, knew she found a home at PLU after a campus visit.  “As soon as I visited, I knew it was going to be a great fit for…

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The 8th Annual Diversity and Inclusion Speaker Series: Dr. Richard Lapchick presents “Facing Uncomfortable Truths”

The 8th Annual Diversity and Inclusion Speaker Series presented by PLU’s Department of Kinesiology will feature Dr. Richard Lapchick and his keynote presentation, “Facing Uncomfortable Truths” on February 28th, 2024, from 7:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. in the AUC (Chris Knutson Hall). In his keynote presentation,…

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Lifelong Parkland/Spanaway resident Kirsten Kreis leads Pierce County Navigator Program at PLU

PLU and the Parkland community are familiar to Kirsten Kreis . Her roots run deep in Parkland, from learning to swim in the PLU pool, to completing her high school assignments in the Mortvedt Library, to walking across the stage in Olson Auditorium at her…

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Community Meals brings people together and feeds souls

Looking at the packed tables, “the smiles on their faces, the sense of community, and the appreciation they express are incredibly gratifying,” says junior Rayen Slama, a Tunisian exchange student at PLU who volunteered for the October and November meals. Community Meals unite many people…

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PLU nursing students help provide meals for Thanksgiving

PLU service-nursing club Delta Iota Chi assembled nearly 350 meal boxes which will feed over 2,000 community members this holiday week. Boxes stuffed with turkey, green beans, corn, stuffing mix and other food were distributed to local community organizations and individuals throughout the week.

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PLU’s Parkland Literacy Center supports local k-12 students, receives new grant

For the past four years Pacific Lutheran University student workers and volunteers have made the Parkland Literacy Center a beacon of community and learning support. Operated by PLU and located in the Anderson University Center, the center provides free one-on-one and small group tutoring for…

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