Pacific University is a private university located in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States about 38 km (23 mi) west of Portland. Established as Tualatin Academy in 1849, the school has an enrollment of 3,000 students. Founded by the United Church of Christ, the University's motto is Pro Christo et Regno Ejus, which is Latin for "For Christ and His Kingdom". A small liberal arts school, it offers graduate programs in education, optometry, writing, and health professions.
History
Pacific University traces its origins to a private school, the Tualatin Academy, which was established in 1848 to care for orphans from the 1846 Applegate Trail party, and was officially chartered by the territorial legislature in 1849.[2] Tabitha Brown, a pioneer emigrant from Massachusetts who was in that 1846 party, helped start the academy, and later taught at the academy. Eliza Hart Spalding, part of the Whitman Mission, was its first teacher. The current campus was deeded in 1851.
In the late 1890s an alumnus gave Pacific a Chinese statuette. The statuette was purchased from a Chinese family who used it as a sort of coat of arms. It appears to be a mix of a several different mythical creatures although it is often simply called a "dragon dog" and serves as the foundation for the university's mascot, the Boxer.[3]
The central building on the Pacific campus is Marsh Hall, built in 1895 and named for Pacific's first president, Sidney Harper Marsh. It houses several classrooms, in addition to administrative offices, including the financial aid office, president's office, University Relations, and faculty offices. Marsh Hall was gutted by fire in 1975, but its shell was preserved, and the structure reopened in 1977.
Dr. Phillip D. Creighton became Pacific's sixteenth president in August 2003, and will retire in June 2009.[1] Tommy Thayer, lead guitarist of the band KISS was elected to the university's board of trustees in 2005.[4]
Current programs
In national surveys, Pacific University has consistently received high ratings in the category of private regional liberal arts universities with a limited range of graduate programs. The majority of its students are resident undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences.
At the graduate level, Pacific University is probably best known for its College of Optometry, but also offers graduate programs in several allied health fields via its College of Health Professions in physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, professional psychology, dental health science, and pharmacy.
Pacific also has a full range of undergraduate liberal arts degree programs and a College of Education. The College of Education offers an undergraduate major in early childhood education and elementary education. There are also a number of graduate education programs including MAT/MAT Flex, MAT Special Education and M.Ed. in Curriculum Studies and a joint program with the Optometry school in visual function in learning.
Pacific University is presently in the process of expanding. A state-of-the-art University Library was completed in 2005, as well as a separate campus for the health professions in Hillsboro. A new residence hall was completed in August 2006. In February 2008, Berglund Hall was opened to house the School of Education and the business department. As of 2008, another new residence hall is under construction in the northwest corner of the campus.
In 2007, Pacific University's MFA In Writing program was named one of the top five low-residency MFA programs in the United States.[5]
Student life
Pacific's newspaper, the Index, was first published in 1893. The next year an annual yearbook began as the Heart of Oak.
Pacific University is one of the few U.S. programs to officially have women's wrestling as a Varsity sport.citation needed
All of the Greek societies at Pacific University are "local", meaning that they are unique to the campus.[6]
Fraternities
Sororities
Notable alumni
References
- ^ a b Christensen, Nick. “Search on for new Pacific University president : Creighton led university's growth, within Forest Grove and east to Hillsboro”, The Hillsboro Argus, September 22, 2008.
- ^ Hastings, Terry; Joe Montalbano (1980). Hillsboro: My Home Town. Hillsboro Elementary School District 7.
- ^ RHA's Boxer Bash. Pacific University, accessed September 15, 2007.
- ^ Tommy Thayer Goes To College - Board Approved. TommyThayer.com, accessed September 15, 2007.
- ^ Edward J. Delaney, Where Great Writers Are Made Atlantic Monthly (2007 Special Fiction Issue), p. 88.
- ^ Greek Life FAQ.
- ^ Gamma Sigma Fraternity homepage.
- Drury, Clifford Merrill. 'Henry Harmon Spalding: Pioneer of Old Oregon." Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID, 1936.
- Smith, Alvin T. Original diaries at Pacific University Archives
- Spalding, Henry H., in collections of Oregon Historical Society, Protestant Missions in the Pacific Northwest
- Brown, Tabitha, in "Centennial History of Oregon"
- Deed, 3 April 1851, Washington Country, Oregon
External links
Coordinates: 45°31′16″N 123°6′29″W / 45.52111, -123.10806
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