![11 PLU communication students stand in front of their classroom and smile for a photo.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/11/strategic-comms-class-banner-725x408.jpg)
PLU students apply their communication knowledge to a campaign to help relieve medical debt
PLU students in Professor Amy Young’s strategic communication class have spent the fall semester working with RIP Medical Debt , a nonprofit organization that competes with collections agencies to purchase unpaid medical debt for a fraction of the cost and helps folks run crowdfunding campaigns…
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.
![Kaila Harris sits at her laptop and smiles at the camera. On a white board beyind her "Parkland Literacy Center" is written in marker.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/10/harris-plc-banner-725x408.jpg)
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…
![Eva Dumeni, a teacher from Namibia, works with a student in Brianna Wells' class at Clover Creek Elementary School in Pierce County, Washington.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/uukumwe-2-725x408.jpg)
Beyond pedagogy: from Tacoma to Namibia, a partnership reframing teacher development practices
In Kwangali and Oshindonga, widely spoken languages in Namibia, “Uukumwe” means “togetherness.” For six teachers in Washington and seven teachers from Namibia, the word personifies the relationship-building that lies at the heart of education. “It was a vision that was bubbling in my mind because…
![PLU and Nisqually leaders stand in a meeting room in PLU's Xavier hall.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/repatriation-group-banner-725x408.jpg)
PLU Department of Anthropology completes repatriation of materials to the Nisqually Tribe
Leaders from the Nisqually Indian Tribe visited Pacific Lutheran University earlier this month to take possession of materials from a PLU anthropology excavation done around Woodard Bay, Washington in the 1990s. This repatriation process was led by Associate Professor of Anthropology Bradford Andrews and Faculty…
![Aaron Bell smiles at the camera. There is a white wall behind him and he is wearing a blazer and glasses.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/aaron-bell-banner-725x408.jpg)
Aaron Bell ’04: A Philosopher in Finance
PLU graduate Aaron Bell ’04 learned early on that life is full of pathways — and that it was his responsibility to pursue his interests with passion to find his purpose. He grew up in Wisconsin where he was a standout student — an Eagle…
![Emily Peterson standing on the street in a New York alley. There is a brightly painted mural behind her. She is smiling, looking up above the photographer, and wearing a grey sweater.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/peterson-banner-725x408.jpg)
Emily Peterson ’14 : Global policy, politics and partnerships
Like many students, Emily Peterson ’14 began her time at PLU unsure of what, exactly, she wanted to do. “I wanted to work for the United Nations,” she says. “Although at the time, I didn’t know what it was, to be honest, when I was…
![Dayton Campbell-Harris stands on a park deck with water and the Brooklyn skyline behind him. He's wearing a blue blazer and half-smiling.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/campbell-harris-banner-725x408.jpg)
Dayton Campbell-Harris ’16: Fighting for voters’ rights
Originally, Dayton Campbell-Harris ’16 planned for a career as a high school history teacher and high school football coach — he played football for PLU when Scott Westering was an inspirational coach. But during his junior year at PLU, a social work class moved Campbell-…
![David Ward stands on the stairs of the PLU nursing center. There is a large gold image of the PLU rose window on the wall behind him. He is smiling and wearing a light blue shirt.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/david-ward-resolute-banner-2-725x408.jpg)
Therapeutic Leadership: David Ward discusses his approach to leading PLU’s College of Health Professions
David Ward is a practicing therapist who says the origins of his vocation go all the way back to his childhood home. “I grew up in a family where I benefited from strong family ties, and I saw the impact of imperfect but strong relationships,”…
![Ellie Dieringer sitting at a desk in a PLU clasroom with a big map of the world behind her.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/dierenger-banner-725x408.jpg)
Ellie Dieringer explores impact of the Holocaust in South America
Close to 50,000 Jewish refugees fled to Argentina during the rise of Nazism and World War II. In fact, between 1933 and 1945, Argentina received more Jewish refugees per capita than any other nation in the world, except Palestine. But to most – outside of…
![a photo banner split into two portrait photos. One the right is Stephanie Millett wearing nursing scrubs standing in front of Tacoma General Hospital. On the left, Raven Lopez is standing in front of NYU Langone hospital. Both women are smiling into the camera.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/09/military-to-medicine-banner-2-725x408.jpg)
Military To Medicine: Air Force, Navy veterans become nurses after second chances at college
Stephanie Millett ’22 was in her early 20s when she walked into a U.S. Navy recruiting office after dropping out of the University of Oregon in 2010. The decision to enlist, she says, was “a bit of a last resort” to get her family and…