Pacific Donors Make Big Impacts

By 
Jenni Luckett

Pacific University donors make a tremendous difference in the everyday lives of students.

From funding new learning facilities to helping launch innovative programs to establishing scholarships, Pacific’s supporters make sure that the Boxer experience is always growing, always evolving — and always available to students, no matter their background.

In 2019-2020, despite the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific donors made record-breaking gifts to the university to continue paving the way to a brighter future. The $14.4 million in gifts last year was more than $2 million beyond the university’s previous high-water mark. And by early December of this year, the university had received $71.7 million in gifts and pledges toward its $80 million goal in Lead On: The Campaign for Tomorrow at Pacific University.

Every gift — from a $20 monthly donation to the Student Emergency Fund to a $1 million facility investment — matters to Pacific students.

President's Circle Recognition AwardWe are especially honored to recognize our most generous donors this year with induction into the university’s giving societies. Typically recognized at the President’s Celebration of Giving — on hiatus this year due to the pandemic — these inductees represent transformational gifts that will create opportunities for Pacific students for generations to come.

Teagle Foundation

The New York-based Teagle Foundation will be inducted into the President’s Circle after issuing a grant of $300,000 to the Pacific University College of Arts & Sciences, Willamette University and the College of Idaho. The foundation, which strives to improve the quality and value of education in the arts and sciences, offered the grant to help the universities streamline curriculum and reduce overlapping course requirements.

Pew Charitable Trust

The Pew Charitable Trust will be inducted into the President’s Circle after serving as lead donor on a pilot program in dental therapy. Pacific University and Willamette Dental Group has partnered on the pilot program, which is training restorative dental hygienists as dental therapists, hoping to expand the professionals’ scope or practice and make dental care more affordable and accessible to people in underserved areas.

Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020
Parents and children at the Brim Learning Center during pandemic
Transforming Education

On Fridays, families arrive one by one at the Brim Family Outdoor Learning Center at Pacific University. Completed just last year, the outdoor learning space and gazebo classroom were meant to augment hands-on discovery and nature opportunities for students in the university’s Early Learning Community — a preschool through second-grade demonstration school operated by Pacific’s College of Education.

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Kim and Barb honored at Ledbetter Field
Launching Careers

Four recent Pacific University alumni are pursuing careers in business thanks in large part to the Ledbetter Endowed Scholarship, which provides support for juniors or seniors in the College of Business.

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Dusty Meyer '19 playing baseball as a student
Reaching Potential

Former baseball player and current assistant coach Dusty Meyer ’19 is a recipient of a scholarship from the Roloff family.

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Rachel Harshorn SLP '19 works with children
Modeling Success

Clark ’65, MSEd ’70 and Rae Peters ’65 found love at Pacific — love of teaching, love of speech, and love of each other. And more than 50 years later, they’re not letting go.

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