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  • TACOMA, WASH. (March 17, 2016)- Joshua Cushman ’08 stood in front of a crowd at the Wang Center Symposium last month and recalled his childhood in which nobody asked him about his future. The Tacoma native was the product of a broken home, plagued by…

    his education at PLU was fundamental in helping him channel those experiences into vocation. “PLU showed me that education can change your life no matter what circumstance you come from,” Cushman said. “I owe a lot to the PLU community. They have been my rock.” Read Previous PLU Summer Academy: First-year students spend five weeks earning six credits, making new friends and adjusting to life on campus Read Next First-year student pulls from roots, helps introduce religious diversity to PLU through

  • TACOMA, WASH. (Nov. 24, 2016)- It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas at Pacific Lutheran University. Throughout its history, PLU has developed numerous holiday pastimes that honor a variety of traditions, cultures and forms of joyful expression. UPCOMING EVENTS Celebration of Light   Nov.…

    Red Square! The evening kicks off at 3:30pm with hot beverages, cookies, religious and cultural tabling and a holiday scavenger hunt. After the hunt, there will be a tree lighting ceremony at 5:15pm with caroling! All are welcome. Breakfast with Santa  Dec. 3 | 9 – 11 a.m.  | Scandinavian Cultural Center Get in the holiday spirit by joining us for a Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 3 on campus. Bring your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or other future Lutes in your life for

  • 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…

    growing up in a small Alaska town. Once enrolled at PLU, her knowledge concerning sexual identity broadened. “It was kind of exciting to be around that many people,” she said. “I really had the chance to meet other people and learn a lot more about other sexual orientations. It was extremely educational.”QASULearn more about Queer Ally Student UnionBrewer said she hails from a religious family, and often felt “stress” when it came to sexuality. She said she struggled reconciling Christianity and queer

  • Sophia Barro ’22 is a senior education major and religion minor at PLU. She recently completed full-time student teaching at Lakeview Hope Academy. We spoke with Barro about her experiences at PLU and as a student teacher, and about the values she hopes to inspire…

    teach those values in a Catholic school and tie it all back to faith. Being Catholic and attending religious schools is a big part of who I am, and bringing faith into my teaching has been something I have been longing to do. I am so excited to experience all that intersectionality, and to use what I have learned in my religion minor as well.  Barro leads an activity with students at Lakeview Hope Academy. Barro’s “Word of the Week” poster A mural based on the children’s book “Dreamers" made by

  • “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…

    ’ footsteps, vocation, philanthropy and service remain the foundational pillars of Watness and his family. Regarding his heritage, Eric says, “I’m proud to be a descendant of Bjug Harstad, but it’s really just genetic happenstance. A truly meaningful thing we did inherit is the ethical, moral and religious framework for our lives. I’ve done what I can to pass it on to our daughters and grandchildren.” Watness and his wife Carolanne have two kids who now have children of their own. Watness enjoys watching

  • 2016 CONVOCATION |  President’s Remarks | September 6, 2016 On behalf of the whole university community, I welcome all new members of the PLU community: students, faculty, staff, administrators, regents, and the voting members of the PLU Corporation.  We’re all delighted that you are part…

    , but it can be a real challenge to understand and feel for people outside of your circle.  At PLU, you will be encouraged to value, respect and understand another person’s views, even when you don’t agree with them. Empathy is a function of both compassion and of seeing from another person’s perspective, and it is the key to civil discourse and thoughtful inquiry.  We have all been witnesses to a political season enveloped by a cloud of racial, ethnic, and religious animosity – much of it poorly

  • Each election cycle I’m reminded of how incredibly multi-disciplinary the responsibilities of our elected officials have become. Similarly, the challenges faced by the leaders of the world’s most successful corporations and NGOs grow ever more global, complex, and nuanced, seemingly by the day. Very few,…

    dilemmas can be solved without broad, multifaceted expertise. Addressing climate change requires business savvy. Understanding modern racial unrest takes an understanding of American and world history. International diplomacy is often informed by religious traditions. Some of the most successful business managers are experts in psychology. Yet, despite these realities, far too many American universities are neglecting to provide an integrated education—an education that fuses the liberal arts

  • In her free time, professor of religion Dr. Bridgette O’Brien likes to participate in ultrarunning—completing runs longer than a marathon (26.2 miles). While Professor O’Brien is out on the trail, she often takes that time to think about her connection to the outdoors, a connection…

    on the trail, she often takes that time to think about her connection to the outdoors, a connection that she has found to be spiritual in nature. Professor O’Brien noticed that many ultrarunners expressed beliefs or feelings toward nature that resemble characteristic beliefs of Dark Green Religion. “Dark Green Religion,” a term coined by Dr. Bron Taylor, a religion professor at University of Florida, describes religious beliefs or practices that regard nature as “sacred and is therefore due

  • TACOMA, Wash. (May 23, 2019)— With Commencement on May 25, Pacific Lutheran University sends its next class out into the world—more than 800 Lutes are eligible to graduate, with 700 expected to participate in the Commencement ceremony. Judging by the accomplishments of the Class of…

    ); Act Six Scholar; Rieke Scholar; Spirit of Diversity Award; International Honors Program; Pinnacle Society; organizer, Let’s Talk About: Religious Diversity forum series; At-Large Senator, ASPLU; At-Large Board Member and Website Content Manager, National Organization of Women (NOW), Seattle chapter; Development Coordinator, Korean Women’s Association (KWA), Tacoma Post-graduation plans: Working as an HR Advisor at Providence Healthcare, considering graduate studies in political communication For

  • Karen Hille Phillips, Pacific Lutheran University’s largest single benefactor. Her $15 million gift funded the new Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, which will open in October 2013. (Photography by PLU Photographer, John Froschauer) By  Greg Brewis A Lifetime of Service to Others…

    about her, reflective of her roots as a farm girl. And you would have been quite wrong. Karen Phillips, who passed away in 2010l at age 78, was all of those things and much, much more. She was modest and shy, but well known for her charming smile and distinctive laugh. Her friends say she had a keen intellect and was a voracious reader of everything from faculty authors to newspapers and periodicals. And, they say, she was just plain fun to be around. She was a deeply religious Christian and member