What’s in a name? As it turns out, just about everything.
Every person’s name — given or chosen — is infused with meaning. Some names connect us to our ancestors or our families, while others represent a purposeful break from our past. The PLU Names Are Sacred initiative promotes the concept of honoring someone’s name in…
Caitlyn Babcock ’25 wins first place in 2024 Angela Meade Vocal Competition
For the fourth year in a row, Pacific Lutheran University hosted the Angela Meade Vocal Competition , an event that has become a key opportunity for student performers to hone their skills and gain real-world experience in a competitive setting. This year’s competition saw Caitlyn…
PLU professors Ann Auman and Bridget Yaden share teaching and learning experiences in China
Two PLU professors were recently invited to teach a summer intensive course at Sichuan University, a 70,000-student public university in Chengdu, China. PLU and Sichuan have a decades-long relationship that dates back to the 1980s. PLU faculty visits took place in 2023, and in summer…
Lutes celebrate another impactful Bjug Day of Giving: a PLU tradition in support of students
The PLU campus community is grateful to the nearly 2,000 Lutes who came together to celebrate and support what they love at PLU during Bjug Day of Giving on October 17-18. Together, $1.2 million was raised in support of student success and experiences. Through the…
Angela Meade ’01 Vocal Competition Returns to PLU for Fourth Year
Pacific Lutheran University will host the fourth annual Angela Meade Vocal Competition on Nov. 3, 2024, offering students the chance to experience the atmosphere of professional vocal auditions. Internationally acclaimed soprano and PLU alumna Angela Meade ’01 founded the competition in 2018 to provide students…
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…
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…
A family with a “Bjug” legacy of giving and service
“Our place in this world is to be of service to other people,” notes Eric Watness, a descendant of PLU’s founder and first President, Rev. Bjug Harstad. Bjug is also the namesake of Bjug Day , PLU’s day of giving, which started in 2013 and…
PLU hosts the 14th Annual Lutheran Studies Conference: Celebrating Cecelia Svinth Carpenter, Indigenous education and tribal sovereignty
The 14th Annual Lutheran Studies Conference is titled “Where the Waters Begin: Indigenous Education, Tribal Sovereignty, and the Legacy of Cecelia Svinth Carpenter.” This year’s conference will honor the life, work, and commitments of PLU alumna Cecelia Svinth Carpenter, connecting PLU’s past, present, and future…
PLU Welcomes the Class of 2028: Trailblazers
As Pacific Lutheran University welcomes the Class of 2028, the university celebrates not just a new academic year but a new generation of students defined by the spirit of innovation, resilience, and transformation. The Admission staff has dubbed this cohort “Trailblazers” due to their distinctive…
Ethos in Action
Five 2024 graduates who exemplify PLU’s commitment to asking tough questions, centering community, embracing complexity, making it happen and opening doors. #LutesAskToughQuestions Emma Stafki ‘24 Advocating for Orcas Emma Stafki ‘24 grew up on Washington’s Key Peninsula, hearing stories about the heart-wrenching capture of Hugo,…
Present & Future Providers
After graduating from PLU, Melissa Wollan Francis ’02 spent two years in a University of Washington genetics lab before joining the Air Force and attending Yale School of Medicine, where she became a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN). “I’ve always been drawn towards challenges…