PLU’s women’s lacrosse: How PLU’s newest varsity sport centers community
Pacific Lutheran University’s most recent addition to the varsity roster is gearing up for its inaugural NCAA season! Women’s lacrosse takes the field this weekend as the university’s first new varsity team since 1996, and the group is ecstatic to start playing Division III games…
PLU professor curates an Oxford Univ. museum collection at the intersection of religion, medicine and disability
In April 2023, PLU religion professor Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen , Ph.D., attended the Natural History Museum Late Night with PLU students at the University of Oxford. At Late Night events, the Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum host tours and various evening activities offered…
Questioning Barriers: Angela Pierce-Ngo ’12 understands post-secondary success requires questions
While at PLU, Angela Pierce-Ngo ’12 was worried by a troubling pattern. After the first year of college, many peers and friends — especially classmates of color — left school or took an extremely long break. Even as she worked as a diversity advocate and…
Collective Impact: George Zeno talks Parkland, equity and community partnerships
Nearly a year into his new role as PLU Associate Vice President of Advancement, George Zeno and I took a walk through Parkland and discussed one of my favorite questions, #WhyPLU? Zeno is essentially a community matchmaker for social progress. Mentored at the University of…
People’s Gathering fosters timely conversations about race, perspective and inclusion
PLU Director of Multicultural Outreach and Engagement Melannie Denise Cunningham has an uncanny ability to get folks talking. In 2016, she noticed the community was yearning to discuss one pressing topic in particular. That summer, the news of Philando Castile, a Black man fatally shot…
Zooming for an Important Endorsement: How PLU is empowering teachers in Eastern Washington
Toppenish school district had long wanted district teachers to obtain an English Language Learners (ELL) endorsement to boost the district’s inclusion model for English-language learners. The endorsement is added to a teacher’s basic certification and allows them to be certified in English language learners and/or…
Professor Samuel Torvend on Martin Luther’s teachings during the plague
The trials, tribulations, and big questions that confounded 16th century Europeans as they faced the bubonic plague are eerily similar to what we are facing right now with COVID-19 and other social issues. German professor and priest, Martin Luther, had a lot of ideas of…