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 Students thrive in internships through pandemic
Across the world, we’ve seen a change in our daily routines as we seek to socially distance and help flatten the curve of the current pandemic. Nearly every part of daily life has been affected from how we learn, to how we work. What does…
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…
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…
PLU senior Daniel Hachet leaves a legacy of green on campus
Daniel Hachet ‘20 might be graduating this spring, but his green initiatives will continue on at PLU. On-campus restaurants now recycle thousands of cereal bags—and are even getting paid to do so. Residence Halls now offer recycling during summer camps. Reusable dishes and compostable straws…
PLU Regent and Virginia Mason Chief Nursing Officer Charleen Tachibana ‘77 Discusses Service, Leadership and Self-Care
TACOMA, WASH. (April 22, 2020) — As a senior vice president at Virginia Mason Health System, Charleen Tachibana ‘77 serves as the chief nursing officer and oversees the quality and safety of the Seattle-based hospital and healthcare nonprofit. We recently spoke to Tachibana, who also…