Pacific Wins Best Portland Sports Logo
Congratulations Boxer Nation!
Pacific University has earned the title of Portland's Best Sports Logo in PortlandSports.com's online competition.
The epic support of Boxer students and alumni, employees and friends, gave Pacific a decisive victory this week in the championship round against the Portland Stags. Pacific bested the Stags by a margin of more than 3,800 votes.
In earlier rounds of the bracket competition, Pacific defeated Portland Uprising Paintball, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Rose City Rollers and the Steelheads.
Pacific's victories were fueled by an enthusiastic social media campaign that resonated within the Boxer Nation. Even local leaders got into the fray, as Forest Grove Mayor (and Pacific alumnus) Pete Truax '69 and Portland Mayor Charlie Hale made a public side bet on the competition.
Pacific students also jumped into the fun, painting the Spirit Bench in support of the logo competition.
It's not the first time that the Boxer Nation has rallied to show its support of the university. Earlier this year, Pacific was named Oregon's Best College Town in an online contest that pitted Forest Grove against Eugene, Corvallis, Portland and a forceful write-in campaign from McMinnville.
About the Boxers
Pacific’s mascot is Boxer, based on a Chinese dragon-dog statue that came to campus in the late 1800s. The statue was something of a talisman for students, who took to stealing it first from the university and then from each other in a display of school spirit. The raucous “Boxer tosses” continued until the 1960s, when the statue disappeared. A new Boxer was recast in the 1980s, but it too vanished. Pieces of the original, including an ear, foot and tail, have been returned to the university by alumni in recent years, but the balance of the body remains missing.
In 1968, just before the statue went missing, students voted to replace their longtime sports mascot, Badgers, with the Boxer. Today, Pacific University student-athletes compete on 24 NCAA Division III varsity teams. Pacific also offers three junior varsity sports and a host of club and intramural activities.
In 2014, just five years after reinstating football, Pacific claimed a share of the Northwest Conference championship. Additionally, the Boxers are known for their strong club handball team, which has won two consecutive national titles. Pacific is one of just a few schools to offer women’s wrestling, and it launched a new women’s rowing program in 2014.
About the Logo
The current Pacific University logo was unveiled in 2008 as part of the university’s first comprehensive marketing campaign. It is a stylized line drawing of the Boxer with an emphasis on the fiercer dragon aspects of the mythical creature, designed to capture the unique identity of the university and the Boxer spirit.
About Pacific University
Pacific University offers a unique combination of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in the liberal arts and sciences, business, education, health professions and optometry. The oldest chartered university in Oregon, it originated in Forest Grove, where its residential campus remains, and now has additional campuses in Hillsboro, Eugene and Woodburn, as well as offices in Portland and Honolulu, and healthcare clinics throughout the greater Portland area. Pacific serves about 3,600 students — an even mix of undergraduate and graduate students — in a small, nurturing learning community committed to discovery and excellence.