Andrew Miller ’14 leverages his PLU MBA to help Tulip Town adapt during COVID-19
Andrew Miller ‘14 and his partners at Mount Vernon’s Tulip Town were counting on a big haul in April. That’s when 350,000 tourists normally flock to the area to celebrate the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and admire seas of colorful blooms. A graduate of PLU’s…
Answering the call: PLU nursing alum volunteers for COVID-19 testing unit transfer
TACOMA, WASH. (May 5, 2020) — After a lifetime devoted to care and service, Kathy (Welsh) Krogstad ‘85 wasn’t going to stand on the sidelines during the COVID-19 global health crisis if she could help it. “I just always wanted to be a nurse,” she…
PLU alumni husband-wife duo doing their part in New York City’s COVID-19 battle
TACOMA, WASH. (April 14, 2020) — In a parking lot outside Stony Brook University Hospital, two tents allow physicians to triage up to 100 patients per day. They discern between the “worried well” and those showing more severe symptoms of cough, fever and low oxygen…
Kari Plog ‘11 on telling the stories of those most impacted by COVID-19 pandemic
TACOMA, WASH. (April 7, 2020) — No matter what field or industry you work in, the COVID-19 pandemic has probably dramatically reshaped the way you do your job every day. For Kari Plog ‘11, a digital journalist for local NPR affiliate radio station KNKX, telling…
PLU donates medical supplies to help Pierce County in fight against COVID-19
TACOMA, WASH. (March. 30, 2020) — Pacific Lutheran University has donated more than $10,000 in essential medical supplies to the Pierce County Emergency Operations Center for use in the fight against COVID-19, thanks to the collaboration of campus partners. The university’s Division of Natural Sciences,…
From foster care to doctoral degree: Lizbett Benge’s educational journey
Lizbett Benge ’11 describes her educational journey as “a long and winding road.” It began with her immersion into foster care and deeply influenced her time at PLU, where she grappled with a set of life experiences few of her peers could understand. Benge felt…
Carson Bergstrom and Nate Sager start a podcast to showcase capstones of fellow 2020 graduates
Recent graduates Carson Bergstrom ‘20 and Nate Sager ‘20 struggled with quarantine boredom and the bittersweet end of the school year when they thought of a cathartic project to help share the capstone projects of their peers and burn some creative energy. The series, titled…
Tacoma Rescue Mission Executive Director and PLU alumnus Duke Paulson on adapting through the pandemic
Duke Paulson ‘93 graduated from PLU in 1993 with a major in biology and a minor in psychology. While at PLU, he was on the swim and rowing teams, played soccer for a bit, and was heavily involved in Young Life. Today, he’s executive director…
PLU helps celebrate Tacoma Pride Week by raising the rainbow flag on Red Square
On Tuesday, Pacific Lutheran University celebrated Tacoma Pride Week with its second annual pride flag raising. Hosted by the dCenter, the online/campus hybrid event featured five student speakers, who spoke about what pride means to them, especially in 2020. “Although this is only our second…
Special education teacher Erin Azama ’01, MAE ’06 discusses her distance learning transition
Erin Azama ’01, MAE ’06 is a special education teacher at Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, an arts-focused elementary school in Tacoma’s North End. She works with children from kindergarten to fifth-grade, so her work-from-home transition was not only a break from her routine…