PLU to host environmental symposium and Earth Week events exploring the violence of natural resource extraction
Pacific Lutheran University will host the Steen Family Symposium for Environmental Issues and Earth and Diversity Week April 17-23 . Series events will explore the theme of “Sowing Resilience in Fractured Land.” Guest speakers, dialogues, and hands-on activities will invite attendees to examine the wide-ranging…
PLU MBA alum Nancy Nelson discusses her work directing career and technical education at Chief Leschi Schools
Nancy Nelson’s path to a career in education was a nontraditional one. So it’s no surprise that her journey led her to a special kind of school. Since fall 2020, Nelson has served as director of career and technical education (CTE) at Chief Leschi Schools,…
Author David Treuer Will Discuss Being “Adrift Between Two Americas”
For Pacific Lutheran University’s 2023 Natalie Mayer and Raphael Lemkin Lecture, the university will welcome award-winning author David Treuer to give a presentation titled “Adrift Between Two Americas” on April 13 at 7 p.m. in the Regency Room (Anderson University Center.) Treuer is an Ojibwe…
PLU alumna Jenifer Leavens ’18 leads elementary education at Chief Leschi Schools
Jenifer Leavens was an experienced educator when she decided it was time to pursue a master’s degree in education. A transplant from California, she wasn’t sure which Puget Sound area university had the best program. So she asked some of her colleagues. “Hands down, people…
Dhaval Patel on Forging His Own Path
Dhaval Patel found his calling when he was a computer engineering major at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Spoiler alert — it had little to do with binary digits, buffer or bandwidth. “I was drawn to student affairs because when I was a college student,…
Building Community: A PLU Special Education Major Discovers the Beauty of Returning to His Childhood School District
Gavin Knapp ’23 reflects on Fife Public Schools with a new lens, now student teaching with one of his former educators. Gavin Knapp discovered his vocation for special education in an unusual way – volunteering with unified sports in high school. Although his former high…
Spring edition of The People’s Gathering will encourage attendees to ‘Double Down on Justice’
Pacific Lutheran University’s Center for Graduate and Continuing Education will host the spring virtual convening of The People’s Gathering: A Revolution of Consciousness conference on March 30. The People’s Gathering conference is a day-long Zoom-based professional and personal development experience offering a supportive space to…
PLU Earns 2023-2024 Military Friendly School Designation
Pacific Lutheran University announced today that it has earned the 2023-2024 Military Friendly School designation. PLU received a “gold” designation and was ranked the sixth most “military friendly” institution among private universities offering doctorate degrees. Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using…
Melanie Helle ’97 applies lessons learned at PLU to her work at Chief Leschi Schools
Melanie Helle ’97 walked into a new job in 2020, during the first year of the Covid pandemic. “That was my first year — the pandemic, virtual learning. I was learning on the job,” says the director of special services at Chief Leschi Schools, operated…