It is another beautiful spring morning at Pacific Lutheran University, the early rhodies are in full bloom, and the birds chorus their favorite tunes. Yet as I walk across the campus, I note that students are looking a bit more focused and tense, faculty members a bit more weary. But do not be alarmed! — it is a change that happens each semester as major projects begin to come due, deadlines for term papers approach, and a once distant finals week seems suddenly within reach. So in these next days, I can assure you that your PLU student will be hard at work, and they do work hard as we wind up another academic year.
Spring also means that the campus is bustling with a number of notable events. Recent campus lectures included a talk on business ethics and integrity by an Enron whistleblower named Lynn Brewer. Faculty-student research projects were highlighted for the campus community through public presentations at a recent reception. The annual natural science festival was a prime example of our senior students displaying and explaining their capstone experiences. We were dazzled by a collaborative concert between PLU and the Sichuan Conservatory of Music from China.
Amidst it all, PLU students find time to lead and to care. The second annual Relay for Life, which raised over $47,000 for the American Cancer Society was organized and planned primarily by students. Students also demonstrated their maturity and compassion for the Virginia Tech community by arranging a number of events including a Day of Solidarity.
PLU is indeed a gifted place and our students, your family members, are the greatest gift of all. So I thank each and every one of you for supporting your LUTE and for keeping them and PLU in your thoughts and prayers as another wonderful academic year moves to conclusion.
