Pacific University is pleased to welcome students and families, alumni and employees, friends and neighbors to explore our campuses during several special events each year. The following are major university events hosted annually or on special occasions.
In addition to these major events, we also proudly present music, theatre and dance performances by our students; art installations in the Cawein Gallery; and a variety of camps, conferences and workshops on our campuses.
Convocation is a formal ceremony launching the beginning of a new academic year. Undergraduate Convocation is held annually as part of Undergraduate Orientation on the Forest Grove Campus. The ceremony includes a traditional academic processional, with faculty donning their academic regalia as they march into the ceremony space. Incoming students are welcomed with remarks from university leadership and fellow students as they kick off their Pacific experience.
A separate convocation is hosted by the College of Optometry.
Homecoming & Family Weekend takes place each fall, typically around a home football game. The weekend full of events includes class reunions, campus tours, tailgating and sporting events, and opportunities to engage in lectures, meals with university leadership, and other campus fun. Families also are invited to return to campus to visit their students and take part in Boxer activities on campus.
Boxer Giving Days is an annual online and in-person fundraising campaign designed to rally support for Pacific University students. As a nonprofit university, Pacific University gratefully relies on the philanthropic support of our community to support student tuition and support, as well as program development and innovation.
Pacific University is home to one of the largest student-run Lū‘au & H‘ōike events on the U.S. mainland. Sponsored by the Pacific University Nā Haumāna O Hawai‘i club, the April event celebrates Pacific’s rich connections to Hawai‘i and Boxer o‘hana.
In the culmination of their college studies, Forest Grove undergraduate students at Pacific University complete a senior capstone. Each student presents their capstone — a research, creative or scholarly project — on Senior Projects Day each April.
Pacific University hosts three Commencement — or Graduation — Days each year. May Commencement includes two ceremonies: one for undergraduate students and one for graduate/professional students. June Commencement celebrates the graduation of students in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing program. August Commencement marks the graduation of students in a variety of Pacific health professions programs.