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…
Rick Steves to Present “Travel as a Wildly Hopeful Act” at PLU
Pacific Lutheran University’s Wild Hope Center for Vocation is pleased to announce that travel expert, author, television host and activist Rick Steves will visit campus on Wednesday, March 22 to receive the 2023 Wild Hope Award and give a presentation on “Travel as a Wildly…
On the Court and in the Classroom: A Brother and Sister Find Success at PLU
On the day of high school class choices, a middle school teacher noticed the normally outgoing Jackson Reisner sitting quietly, acting withdrawn. Jackson grew increasingly anxious as the morning progressed. A movie buff, the Burlington eighth grader had seen all the difficult depictions of high…
Quan Huynh ’25 Discusses her Internship at the Washington State Senate
Pacific Lutheran University Pre-Law Club President Quan Huynh ’25 unexpectedly stepped into the world of state government, with a bold new perspective. A self-described political newcomer, Huynh proudly represents PLU in Olympia as an intern at the Washington State Senate. As a member of Sen.…
Koller Menzel Memorial Lecture to explore bioethics and “Enhancement”
Join Pacific Lutheran University on March 16, 2023, from 4 to 6 p.m. for the annual Koller Menzel Memorial Lecture. The night will feature a bioethics discussion with University of Washington professor Tim Brown and Stanford University professor Hank Greely. The two esteemed speakers will…