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…
Virtual convening of The People’s Gathering to facilitate timely conversations about race
On July 9 PLU’s Campus Ministry and Center for Graduate and Continuing Education will be hosting a virtual edition of The People’s Gathering, a dialogue-based event series focusing in-depth on the topic of race. The People’s Gathering is an annual professional/personal development experience and supportive…
Mark Hernández ’20 has been an advocate, storyteller and student leader at PLU
As a first-year student, the initial adjustment to life at PLU was challenging for Mark Hernández. They’d attended a high school that was over 90 percent students of color. PLU, which is around 40 percent, felt daunting. “I was so culture-shocked at not seeing people…
A message from President Belton
Traducción Española Dear PLU community, I’m heartbroken over the continued loss of Black lives across our country. With the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery, I’m angry at a system that collectively excuses and perpetuates racist violence. As frustrations…
New NSF grant will support PLU students studying to become STEM educators
Twenty-one new scholarships will be created for PLU students from underrepresented backgrounds preparing to become STEM educators, thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant, which provides funding over the next three years, will help extend existing collaborations between the…
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…
Aminda Cheney-Irgens ’20 on her chemistry and Hispanic studies double major, research in Puerto Rico, and preparing for graduate school
Aminda Cheney-Irgens is a smart, driven, and globally-minded Pacific Lutheran University senior who, like her peers, spent her spring adjusting to a new way of doing college. She’s learned to record Zoom lessons, sharpened her Google Docs skills, and misses the real-life campus interactions. She’s…