Lutes sing their way through the Southwest on Choir of the West tour
TACOMA, WASH. (March 13, 2017)- Hop on my pink tour bus and let me tell you about the craziest days I experienced this past January — or the days we called the Choir of the West Southwest Tour (for hashtag purposes, #COWthwesternTour). Over 11 days,…
PLU alumna serves as interim director of Tacoma’s Rainbow Center
TACOMA, WASH. (March 8, 2017)- Laura Brewer ’03 was no stranger to activism when she started volunteering at the Tacoma Rainbow Center in 2000. An active Lute, Brewer engaged in a variety of LGBTQ advocacy work on Pacific Lutheran University’s campus through Harmony, known today…
White House competition honors PLU health care efforts
TACOMA, WASH. (Feb. 28, 2017)- As Michelle Obama congratulated a room full of healthy-campus advocates last month at the White House, one of the three Lutes in attendance couldn’t contain her emotions. “When she stepped in the room, I immediately started crying,” said Tolu Taiwo,…
Coach Dickerson retires after 14 years of support on, off the court
TACOMA, WASH. (Feb. 24, 2017)- Emotions ran high for senior Brandon Lester in his final basketball game at Pacific Lutheran University. Lester and his teammates fought hard through a lingering double-digit deficit against Linfield College. The Lutes never took the lead that night, and eventually…
PLU Peace Corps program prepares Lutes for service work abroad
TACOMA, WASH. (Feb. 22, 2017)- Bonnie Nelson ’08 didn’t always plan on joining the Peace Corps. But when she met a returned volunteer in graduate school who helped her learn more about the organization, her plans changed. “It was through conversations with her about her…
MBA students get their hands dirty, help brand Skagit Valley
TACOMA, WASH. (Feb. 8, 2017)- Last semester, master’s students in Pacific Lutheran University’s School of Business got their hands dirty and counted craft breweries, farms and grocery stores as their classroom. The MBA Marketing Management course brought them to the agricultural community of Skagit County,…
Lutes learn about law enforcement, policing issues in the U.S.
TACOMA, WASH. (Feb. 3, 2017)- You know it’s a good class when even the professor goes home shouting: “You’re not going to believe what we learned today!” Joanna Gregson, professor of sociology, says she told her husband just that throughout her January Term course “Policing…
PLU nursing student earns national study away scholarship
TACOMA, WASH. (Dec. 13, 2016)- Grace Zimmerman ’18 was already thrilled to pursue a study away experience in Namibia. But her excitement compounded after learning she received a competitive scholarship, one of more than 2,800 awarded by the federal government to students such as herself…
Student poets showcase their work at local coffee shop
TACOMA, WASH. (Dec. 12, 2016)- Jane Wong knows good poetry when she hears it. The published poet, who is a visiting assistant professor of English at Pacific Lutheran University, was impressed with her students’ prose and wanted to share them off campus. “They are real…
Lute catches ‘activism bug,’ gains confidence in political arena
TACOMA, WASH. (Dec. 2, 2016)- Pacific Lutheran University junior Austin Beiermann struggled to find confidence as a political activist. Beiermann’s sense of political engagement heightened after Bernie Sanders announced his candidacy for president. As the election cycle progressed, he began attending monthly dinners hosted by…
Lutes give back to community, troops ahead of Thanksgiving
TACOMA, WASH. (Nov. 17, 2016)- Thanksgiving break is right around the corner. Pacific Lutheran University students are ready to go home, spend time with family and eat a nice home-cooked meal. But PLU’s service-based nursing club, Delta Iota Chi, has a way for students to…
PLU student recounts election-night experience in TV newsroom
TACOMA, WASH. (Nov. 17, 2016)- Editor’s note: A group of Pacific Lutheran University students volunteered in a TV newsroom on election night, as they have for every election in newsrooms across the region since the early 2000s. Here is a first-hand, real-time account from one…