INTRODUCTION
Mission of Pacific University
Pacific University is a comprehensive teaching institution comprised of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, Health Professions, and Optometry. We provide a close-knit environment and challenging opportunities that foster undergraduate education in the liberal arts tradition and graduate education for specific service-oriented professions.At Pacific, effective teaching and learning are the highest priorities. Our faculty of scholars is dedicated to instilling in our students a passion for learning through dynamic curricula and close faculty-student interaction. Pacific creates critical thinkers who become life-long learners who can make informed decisions and valuable contributions to society and the world.
In addition to our mission, Pacific University values:
- Students
The fundamental value and organizing principle that underlies our decisions and actions at Pacific University is our dedication to our students as individuals, providing all with an environment for learning to achieve their aspirations and potential.
- Academics
Pacific University is a scholarly community valuing academic rigor, integrity, creative endeavors, and ethical professional applications.
- Community
The Pacific University community is one of belonging, respect, and recognition of individual worth, whose members share a joint commitment to goals and one another.
- Service
Pacific University fosters a sense of purpose grounded in principled action and belief in responsibility beyond the self.
- Transformation
Pacific University provides the context in which people expand knowledge of their own identity, respective disciplines, and larger community, transforming themselves, and their places in the world.
Pacific: An Overview
Pacific University, founded in 1849, is an independent, comprehensive university recognized as one of the best universities in the West. With a rich liberal arts tradition and acclaimed health profession programs, the University presents a distinctive combination of learning opportunities.Faculty and staff work with students in a dynamic small-class environment to weave together classroom experience, service learning, international education, internships, research, and co-curricular activities. Pacific also seeks to provide students with opportunities for personal growth and development, creating living tapestries of understanding about themselves, their disciplines, and their world.
Pacific University, with an enrollment of more than 2,500, provides attractive, state-of-the-art facilities for living and learning in a rich environment. Administrators and staff join faculty in their dedication to students and promote a comfortable and unpretentious atmosphere. The main 55-acre Forest Grove campus is a picturesque setting of green lawns and tall shade trees. The architecture is a pleasant blend of the old and new, represented at one end of the spectrum by historic Old College Hall (1850), the University's first permanent structure, and at the other by modern science, music, and professional buildings. Facilities also include the Pacific Athletic Center and the Tom Reynolds Soccer Field.
In addition to its Forest Grove campus, the University has a satellite campus in Eugene, which serves the needs of the College of Education, and in Hillsboro, where the new Health Professions Campus is located. Additional facilities in Portland support the academic and clinical programs of the College of Optometry and the School of Professional Psychology.
By staying true to its unique history, strong sense of community, and tradition of enhancing student experiences in remarkable ways, Pacific University enjoys a national reputation for transforming individual lives and enriching the quality of life wherever its graduates may be found.
An Early History of Pacific University
Pacific University was established by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Oregon in 1849, but traces its beginnings to an orphan school established in 1848 by the Rev. and Mrs. Harvey Clark, Congregational missionaries who came to the Northwest from Chester, Vt. With the help of Alvin T. Smith, they built a log cabin for a school on the corner of what is now 15th and Elm Streets in Forest Grove, Ore.In 1847, Mrs. Tabitha Moffett Brown reached Oregon by wagon train and visited the Clarks. She became interested in their work and partnered with them in teaching the children. Inspired by her assistance, Rev. Clark and Mr. Smith made arrangements for the children to be taught in a log church that they built on what is now the campus of Pacific University.
In the summer of 1848, the Rev. George H. Atkinson arrived in Oregon. Rev. Atkinson was commissioned by the Home Missionary Society of Boston to found an academy that shall grow into a college. Rev. Clark and several others drew up plans for the new institution.
On Sept. 26, 1849, the Territorial Legislature granted a charter establishing Tualatin Academy, and in 1854, a new charter was issued granting full privileges to Tualatin Academy and Pacific University. Rev. Clark and Elkanah Walker donated Thirty acres of land as a building site.
Rev. Atkinson secured the Rev. Sidney Harper Marsh of Union Theological Seminary of New York to serve as the first president of the new school. Rev. Marsh was the son of the president of the University of Vermont, and grandson of the first president of Dartmouth College. He served as president from 1853 to 1879.
Disclaimers
Pacific University has made every effort to ensure that the information herein is accurate at the time of publication, but reserves the right to change the provisions in this catalog. This includes the right to discontinue courses, change requirements for admission and graduation, adjust fees or change any other regulation or policy in this catalog. The information and policies in this catalog are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an agreement or contract between Pacific University and students, staff or faculty.NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION | It is the policy of Pacific University not to discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, age, religious preference, disabled veteran or Vietnam Era status in admission and access to, or treatment in employment, educational programs or activities as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1072, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and their implementing regulations. Questions or complaints may be directed to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, 2043 College Way, Forest Grove, Oregon 97116, 503-352-2215. Periodical Postage Paid at Forest Grove, Oregon © 2007 Pacific University. All rights reserved.
