In the 1840s, Tabitha Brown crossed the Oregon Trail, eventually making her home in what would become Forest Grove. In her new community, she saw a great need: Children left orphaned or abandoned along the trail or by the gold rushes in California and Alaska. She dreamed of creating a home and a school, “to receive all the children, rich and poor.” That dream became the Orphan Asylum, then Tualatin Academy, and eventually Pacific University.

For 175 years, Pacific University has lived Tabitha Brown’s vision, providing care and education to uplift those who uphold others.