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The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional and interdisciplinary areas of study. The university is affiliated with the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
.


History

The University of Puget Sound was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1888 in downtown Tacoma. The idea for a college in Tacoma originated with
Charles Henry Fowler Charles Henry Fowler (August 11, 1837 – March 20, 1908) was a Canadian- American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church (elected in 1884) and President of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois from 1872 to 1876. Early life Charle ...
, who had previously been the president of Northwestern University. Fowler was in Tacoma for a Methodist conference when he spoke of his vision of a Christian institution of learning in the area. The conference released a report: Two cities vied for the location of the school: Port Townsend and Tacoma. The committee eventually decided on Tacoma. A charter was drawn up and filed in Olympia on March 17, 1888. This date marks the legal beginning of the school. At this time, the school's legal title was "The Puget Sound University". In September 1890, UPS opened its doors, taking in 88 students. The beginnings of the school were marked by moral conviction: students were warned against intoxicating liquors, visits to saloons, gambling, tobacco use, and obscene drawings or writings on the college grounds. The university also had a financially tumultuous beginning. There was no endowment and the school often struggled for funds to pay the professors. It moved locations three times in 13 years and, at one time, the school was merged with Portland University (former campus is now the University of Portland). It opened up a year later (1899) back in Tacoma on the 9th and G Street. In 1903, the school was "reborn" and re-incorporated as a different entity, different trustees, and a different name: the "University of Puget Sound". The character of the school changed dramatically during the presidency of Edward H. Todd (1913–1942), who worked tirelessly to bring financial and academic stability. During his tenure, the "Million Dollar Campaign" was started, raising $1,022,723 for buildings, equipment, and endowment. With this money, the campus moved in 1924 to its current location in the residential North End of Tacoma, with five buildings, setting a stylistic tone for the institution. In 1914 the university was renamed the "College of Puget Sound". President R. Franklin Thompson (1942–1973) led a massive physical and institutional expansion: During this era almost all of the university's buildings were constructed. In 1960, the university's name changed from the "College of Puget Sound" back to the "University of Puget Sound", as it is known today. Phillip M. Phibbs presided from 1973 to 1992 and endeavored to change the tone of Puget Sound. In 1980, the university divested its attachment with the Methodist Church, and an independent board of trustees assumed full fiscal responsibility of the university. Also during this time, the university began to focus on undergraduate education, phasing out all off-campus programs except the law school and most graduate programs. During this time the library collections were broadened and the faculty greatly expanded. With the advent of President Susan Resneck Pierce (1992–2003), the law school was promptly sold to Seattle University, in a move that was calculated to focus the university's resources on its undergraduate campus. During her tenure, the university completed almost $100 million of new construction and renovation. Collins Memorial Library and four academic buildings were renovated, and Wyatt Hall was constructed to house the growing class and office space needs of the Humanities Department. Trimble Residence Hall was constructed, bringing on-campus student residency to 65%. SAT scores rose from 1067 to 1253 and the endowment more than tripled. Puget Sound's president from 2003 to early 2016 was Ronald R. Thomas, affectionately called "Ron Thom" by many students, a scholar of Victorian literature, and the former vice-President of
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
. In February 2016, the university announced the selection of Dr. Isiaah Crawford to be its next president, upon Thomas' retirement. President Crawford assumed office on July 1, 2016. Thompson Hall, home of the sciences at the university, underwent a major renovation, including the construction of a new wing (Harned Hall, completed 2006) on the building's western side against Union Avenue and extensive renovations to the current wings and courtyard to allow for upgraded labs and facilities. The entire project was completed in mid 2008. The entire complex is now known locally as "The Science Center at Puget Sound." The now completely enclosed courtyard contains a striking Plexiglas structure where a coffee shop, Oppenheimer Cafe, is located. In fall 2013 Puget Sound opened Thomas Hall, a residence hall for upper-division students featuring 11 "houses" organized around five academic-residential programs: the Humanities Program, environmental outdoor leadership, international experiential learning, entrepreneurship, and the Honors Program. The hall is home for 135 students, and includes a seminar room, four studies, and an event/meeting space for approximately 150 people, accommodating special events, guest lectures, performances and more.


Presidents


Campus

The campus is located in
North Tacoma, Washington {{dablink, "North Tacoma" may also refer to the purported toponym of the state that contains Springfield, the fictional town where The Simpsons takes place. North Tacoma (also called the North End) is a neighborhood in Tacoma, Washington, in t ...
in a primarily residential setting a few minutes' walk from downtown Proctor and the Sixth Avenue district. The campus is made up of mainly brick buildings in the Tudor-
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
architectural style. Buildings are mostly arranged into quads. The three main quads are the North Quad and South Quad, which contain residence halls, and Karlen Quad, which contains Jones Hall, Collins Memorial Library and the Music Building. The library was designed by Tacoma architect Silas E. Nelsen in 1954. It was later renovated. President Thomas recently wrote a piece explaining his opinion that new buildings should maintain the gothic style that the university is known for.


Academic buildings

Harned Hall, named for alumnus and local real estate developer H.C. "Joe" Harned, was dedicated on September 29, 2006. The building is and cost $25 million to construct. It was designed and built to meet the
U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...
's
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...
Silver Standard. The building features labs for
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
, geology, chemistry,
environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...
, and physics, a courtyard with a crystalline glass gazebo in the center, a Foucault pendulum designed by Alan Thorndike, as well as Gray whale skeleton named Willy. After Harned Hall was completed, the university began a $38 million renovation of Thompson Hall, the "old" science building. Harned and Thompson Halls form a square with a courtyard in the middle, and are collectively named the Science Center. Thompson Hall has an area of and was originally constructed in 1968. The renovation was completed in spring 2008. Wyatt Hall is the second newest academic building on campus, dedicated in 2003. It houses the English, History, Foreign Languages & Literature, Politics & Government, Philosophy, Honors, Science Technology & Society, Classics, and Religion departments. Many of the classrooms in the building are seminar style, meaning a circle of tables that students sit at to encourage discussion between students and the professor, rather than a lecture. The building features glass art by
Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly () (born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is best known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture". Early life Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on September 20 ...
that represents the ivy leaves covering the campus buildings. The Wheelock Student Center, known as the "SUB" (Student Union Building) is the main hub of life on campus. It features a rotunda used for lectures and catered events, KUPS (the campus radio station), the cafeteria and dining area, Diversions Cafe (a student-run coffee shop), and The Cellar (a student-run pizza parlor). Other buildings include McIntyre Hall, home of the School of Business and Leadership, the Departments of Economics, Sociology and Anthropology, and International Political Economy; Howarth Hall, home of the School of Education, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Career and Employment Services, and more; Jones Hall, home of theatre arts, communication studies, and several administrative offices, including the Office of the President; and the Music Building (which is the only building on campus without a name). Kittredge Hall, the original student union building, now houses the art department and Kittredge Gallery. The Gallery is now affiliated with Tacoma Art Museum. Collins Memorial Library houses over 400,000 books and over 130,000 periodicals, is a partial federal government repository, and has substantial microform holdings. The Library was named after former trustee Everill S. Collins. The current Library building was built in 1954. A larger addition was completed in 1974. In 2000, a major renovation brought new technology and media resources into the Library's spaces, making it one of the most popular campus gathering places for students. Construction for the William T. and Gail T. Weyerhaeuser Center for Health Sciences began in spring 2010. At , the center provides the resources and flexibility needed to support new areas of study in the fields of health and behavioral sciences. Specially designed to encourage cross-disciplinary interaction, the center houses Puget Sound's undergraduate departments in exercise science and psychology, graduate programs in occupational and physical therapy, and interdisciplinary program in neuroscience. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson/Seattle, Weyerhaeuser Hall conforms to the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards.


Residential buildings

Harrington, Schiff, Anderson/Langdon, Smith, and Oppenheimer halls make up what is called the "North Quad", and Todd/Phibbs, Regester, Seward, Trimble, and Thomas Hall make up the "South Quad." Theme Row, which runs to the south end of campus, contains around 20 different theme houses that students may apply to live in. The Music House is the longest standing house, originating in 1989. After the Music House, the Outhaus and the Track and Cross Country Theme House are the two longest standing houses. There are also about 55 non-theme university-owned houses available. Currently around 65% of students live on campus. Students are required to live on campus for their first two years of enrollment at the university. In 2009, the university upgraded residential Internet bandwidth by more than two-fold, to 100 Mbit/s. During that year, a new connection to the Washington State K-20 Educational Network was also installed, bringing the university's aggregate
bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
to 150 Mbit/s. Further bandwidth upgrades have brought student bandwidth to 250 Mbit/s for the 2012-13 academic year.


Academics

The university offers more than 50 traditional and nontraditional areas of study in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as graduate programs in occupational therapy,
physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

education
and most recently launched Master of Public Health Program.Dedication of new science building, Harned Hall, set for September 2006
The student to faculty ratio is 12 to 1.


Rankings and reputation

In 2012 Puget Sound was named one of 40 schools nationwide in the college guide '' Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges''. The guide cites the college's dynamic curriculum, close interaction between students and professors, ideal location, and enduring success of its alumni as qualities that set it apart from other schools. The university has ranked among the top five small liberal arts colleges for the number of graduates who participate in Peace Corps; in 2007, it ranked first. Puget Sound professors have been named Washington State Professor of the Year seven times by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.


Admissions

For the Class of 2022 (enrolling fall 2018), University of Puget Sound received 5,730 applications, admitted 5,060 (88.3%), and enrolled 653 students. For the freshmen who enrolled, the middle 50% range of
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores was 1130-1350, the ACT Composite range was 25–30, and the average high school grade point average was 3.50.


International programs

The university sponsors
study abroad International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
programs in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Australia,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim, Scotland, Spain, Taiwan, and Wales. The program in the Pacific Rim, known as PacRim, or the Pacific Rim/Asia Study-Travel Program (PRAST) is unique to Puget Sound. Every three years a group of 15-25 students are selected to spend two semesters traveling, studying, and researching in eight Asian countries. Students must have taken three courses in the Asian Studies program and completed a course of readings assigned by the director. Over the program's 40-year history students have visited: Mongolia, People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand,
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, and Yugoslavia. Previous lecturers have included: Johan Galtung,
Ken Yeang Ken Yeang (6 October 1948) is an architect, ecologist, planner and author from Malaysia, best known for his ecological architecture and ecomasterplans that have a distinctive green aesthetic. He pioneered an ecology-based architecture (since 1 ...
, Dr. M.S. Nagaraja Rao,
Jack Weatherford Jack McIver Weatherford is the former DeWitt Wallace Professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota. He is best known for his 2004 book, '' Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World''. In 2006, he was awarded the Order o ...
, the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
, Swasti Sri Charukeerthi Bhattaraka, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, and
Sogyal Rinpoche Sogyal Rinpoche (; 1947 – 28 August 2019) was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and forme ...
.


Tuition and finances

For 2015-16 the cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, and fees) is $56,456. Approximately 90% of all students receive some form of financial aid. All students are considered for Alumni, Faculty, Dean's, President's, or Trustee scholarships, which range from $5,000 to $30,000. No extra application is required to be considered for these scholarships. Additional scholarships are available through separate applications or by audition. Puget Sound offers scholarships for music, forensics (speech and debate), art, and other talents. Scholarships based on academic interest—such as the sciences, humanities, and Asian studies—are offered as well. Four full-ride scholarships are provided to four incoming students by the university every year. Two students are awarded the Lillis Scholarship, which focuses on "academic passion and achievement", and two students are awarded the Matelich Scholarship, which honors leadership skills.


Athletics

The Puget Sound athletics teams are known as the "Loggers" with "Grizz the Logger" as their mascot. The Loggers participate in the NCAA's Division III
Northwest Conference The Northwest Conference (NWC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington. It was known as the Pacific Northwest Conference from 1926 to 1984. History ...
, competing with George Fox University,
Lewis and Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...
,
Linfield College Linfield University is a private university with campuses in McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participates in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. Linfield reported a combined 1,755 students after the fal ...
, Pacific University, Pacific Lutheran University, Whitman College,
Whitworth University Whitworth University is a private, Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1890, Whitworth enrolls nearly 3,000 students and offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate ...
, and
Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliate ...
.


Varsity sports

The University offers 23 different varsity sports teams: Men's
Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, Men's and Women's
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, Men's and Women's
Crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved ...
, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's Football, Men's and Women's
Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...
, Women's
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, Men's and Women's Soccer, Women's Softball, Men's and Women's Swimming, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field, and Women's Volleyball. On a minor note, former national soccer team coach
Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...
got his coaching start at Puget Sound in 1976 as head of the men's soccer team.


Club sports

There are both men's and women's club soccer teams, as well as men's club lacrosse (which competes in the
Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League The Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) is a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association. The PNCLL is divided into two divisions, Division I and Division II, and incorporates teams from the U.S. States of Oregon, Was ...
). The university also has a men's club
Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *'' Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *'' The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilat ...
team known as the "Postmen", and a women's club Ultimate team known as "Clear Cut". The university is well known for its successful men's rugby club. The club has achieved regional and national success over the past three seasons under coach Mark Sullivan. In 2012 the club was ranked 10th in the nation for small college rugby and traveled to Cal Maritime University in Vallejo, California for the regional tournament. The success of the men's rugby club is attributed to the hard work of the players and continual dedication of their coaches. Also, an intense rivalry has developed between the UPS rugby club and the Seattle University rugby club. Known as the Seatac Cup, UPS has achieved eight straight victories over their rivals. In 2012, the victory over Seattle University clinched the Loggers' playoff spot. The UPS Loggers hockey team was founded in 2005 and is currently an ACHA division II team. The team's most prominent victories include defeating the University of Washington Huskies in a 3-game series in the 2006-2007 season, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the 2007-2008 season. Loggers hockey is subsidized by ASUPS (the Associated Students of UPS) student body and ticket sales for home games. Home games are currently played at the Sprinker Ice Arena in south Tacoma. Players come from the student body, and mostly consist of students hailing from Canada, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, and states on the East Coast.


Achievements

Several sports teams have achieved some degree of success in recent years: *The men's basketball team won three straight Northwest Conference championships beginning in 2004, with an average .826 winning percentage over the 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. In 2005, the Division III Loggers defeated the Division I Highlanders of the University of California, Riverside, making it their first Division I defeat since the 1970s. In the 2009 regular season, the Loggers went an undefeated 16-0 in Northwest Conference play, becoming the first team in conference history to do so, capturing the conference title in the process. *From 1992 to 1995 the UPS women's Cross-Country team were national champions. This tremendous 4-year run earned coach Sam Ring coach of the year honors in 1993. *The women's soccer team took second place in the nation in 2004 and ended the 2005 season ranked fifth nationally. *The women's swim team won the Northwest Conference championship for eleven consecutive years, from 1997 through 2007, before finally finishing second to
Whitworth University Whitworth University is a private, Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1890, Whitworth enrolls nearly 3,000 students and offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate ...
in 2008. This remains a Northwest Conference record. The Logger women reclaimed their title in 2009. *The women's basketball team made the Division III Elite 8 in the 2007 season after upsetting #12 ranked
McMurry University McMurry University is a private Methodist university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural scienc ...
and #2 ranked
Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Howard Payne College was founded by Reverend Noah T. Byers and Dr. John David Robnett in 1889. The institu ...
. They finished #10 overall. *The women's crew has earned a bid to compete at the Division III Rowing Championship every year since 2003. The team placed second overall in 2003 and third in 2008, as well as fourth in 2004, 2005, and 2007.


Student life


Traditions and events

In 2013 Puget Sound celebrated its 125th anniversary with a series of special events, anniversary programs, and shared memories by Loggers past and present. Celebrating the milestone of 125 years in the community, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland declared March 17, 2013, to be "University of Puget Sound Day." LogJam! is a campuswide celebration that ends the first week of fall classes. Tables are set around the perimeter of Todd Field and the Event Lawn, and clubs and teams set up to recruit potential members. Foolish Pleasures is an annual student film festival showing films written, directed, acted, and produced by students.


The Hatchet

The Hatchet is the official symbol of sports teams at the University of Puget Sound. It was first discovered in 1906 when students were digging up a barn at the old campus. They decided to carve their class year into it. This became a tradition of sorts, as the seniors would hand the hatchet to the juniors on senior recognition day. This turned into a competition where each class would try to possess the hatchet for as long as possible. It disappeared for 15 years until it was anonymously mailed to former President R. Franklin Thompson. Thompson displayed it in a trophy case in Jones Hall, where it mysteriously disappeared again, only to resurface at a homecoming game in 1988. In 1998, the hatchet's return was negotiated through an intermediary, and it was permanently displayed in a display case in the Wheelock Student Center. It was stolen in 1999 during a false fire alarm in one of the dormitories. On September 30, 2006 (homecoming) a student rappelled into the football field at halftime, brandishing "the hatchet". It was later revealed by the student newspaper ''The Trail'' that this hatchet is a replica of the actual hatchet, commissioned by the former student government administration without the knowledge of the student senate. The replica hatchet was painstakingly carved to look exactly like the original, using over 150 photos as a guide. The original hatchet was finally returned to President Ronald Thomas in 2008 by two anonymous alumni and was displayed at Homecoming.


Sustainability

The campus has a notable recent history of sustainability. On February 10, 2005, President Ronald R. Thomas signed the
Talloires Declaration {{Short description, Declaration for sustainability The Talloires Declaration is a declaration for sustainability, created for and by presidents of institutions of higher learning. Jean Mayer, Tufts University president, convened a conference of 22 ...
, committing the University to certain standards regarding sustainability. The Sustainability Advisory Committee, consisting of one faculty co-chair, one staff co-chair, and a mix of faculty, staff and student volunteers, organizes the majority of sustainability efforts on campus. These efforts have included: *''
Fair trade coffee Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards by fair trade organizations, which create trading partnerships that are based on dialogue, transparency and respect, with the goal of achieving greater ...
'': The student-run Diversions Café serves only organically-grown, fair trade coffee. In 2005, of coffee was consumed by students, faculty, and the campus community. University of Puget Sound was the first college in the Northwest to offer fair trade coffee exclusively.P.S. Facts
*''Sustainable Move-Out'': Starting in 2005, the University organized a sustainable move-out program during finals week. Mixed-material recycling dumpsters were placed near all residence halls, allowing students to recycle rather than simply throwing all unwanted items away. *''Sustainability Mugs'': Upon entering the college in 2005, all students were presented with a "sustainability mug" imprinted with the UPS logo. Students were encouraged to re-use the mug to get coffee instead of using paper cups. *''No-Waste Picnic'': A 2005 picnic welcoming incoming freshmen and their families to the campus produced a surprising ONE bag of trash for over 1700 people. This was accomplished by using recyclable paper and plastic products. In 2007, President Thomas signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment on behalf of the university.


Fraternities and sororities

UPS is home to four fraternities and five sororities. 20% of male students and 29% of female students are involved in Greek life. Represented fraternities include, Phi Delta Theta (1848/1952),
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
(1855/1950), and recently reinstated Sigma Alpha Epsilon (1856/2010) and
Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...
(1839/2013). Represented sororities and women's fraternities include
Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...
(1867), Kappa Alpha Theta (1870),
Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the f ...
(1872), Gamma Phi Beta (1874), and Delta Delta Delta (1888). Puget Sound has a "deferred recruitment", which means that fraternities, sororities, and their members are not allowed to have any official contact with freshmen outside of class, athletics or club activities until the organized recruitment events in the first two weeks of the spring semester. Freshmen may not join a chapter until January. In the fall, chapters are permitted to give "snap bids" to upperclassmen, as well as participate in an organized fall recruitment open only to upperclassmen. A ceremony called "Crossover" took place annually on the third weekend of spring semester. Members of the Greek community partake in an entire day of celebration to honor the new members as they run across the field to their selected fraternity. The university is one of just five independent colleges in the Northwest granted a charter by
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...
, which claims to be the nation's most prestigious academic honor society. Previously, several other organizations, including
Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlvaine Riley shortly after Hopkins witnessed ...
, Theta Chi, Kappa Sigma,
Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...
, and Kappa Kappa Gamma were represented on campus, however those chapters have all closed for a variety of reasons.


Media

KUPS Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times ...
90.1FM (The Sound) is a student-run, non-commercial, educational college radio station that began in 1968. In 2002, KUPS began streaming its standard live programming online to the world. The radio station broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and serves the greater Tacoma area with programming in a variety of genres. KUPS has earned various awards while broadcasting over the years. In 2005, KUPS was named by The Princeton Review as one of the best college radio stations in the country (#12). In 2007, KUPS was ranked #9 by the Princeton Review in the Top Ten Best College Radio Stations in the Country. Most recently, in the spring of 2010,
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
honored KUPS with the national title of Best College Radio Station at the MTVu Woodie Awards. In the fall of 2011, KUPS was ranked third in a list of "10 great college radio stations" in the '' Washington Post''. ''The Trail'' is an independent student-run organization that provides Puget Sound students, faculty, staff, and the local community with a credible weekly newspaper that serves as a comprehensive source of information, entertainment and discourse relevant to its readership. ''The Trail'' provides opportunities for students interested in journalism and acts as an archival record for the university. In addition, The Trail serves as a link between Puget Sound and the greater Tacoma community and provides an open forum for student opinion and discourse within the university. "Crosscurrents" is the school's literary and arts magazine and was established in 1957. Crosscurrents is published two times during the academic year, once during the Fall semester and once during the Spring semester. Magazines are free to the campus community. It is staffed by students and publishes student artwork, photography, prose, poetry, and the occasional miscellaneous piece. Crosscurrents also features a guest artist or writer in each issue- usually a notable person from the pacific northwest who is interviewed about their work. "Wetlands" is a recent student-organized magazine focusing on sexual exploration and gender expression to encourage inclusive and open-minded conversations across the campus community. The magazine features community-submitted photography, poetry, and prose. "Elements" is the school's student-run science magazine. Published twice during the academic year, Elements primarily contains student articles about science, research, math, the environment, and technology, as well as student artwork. Copies of Elements are free and are distributed at the end of Fall semester and Spring semester. "Black Ice" (or the Black Student Union Zine) is a student magazine by the focused on issues for the betterment of all students of color. The magazine is published by The Black Student Union, which was founded in 1968 making it one of the university's oldest clubs.


Notable alumni

* Suzanne Anderson (1979), Professor of Geophysics * Kiʻilani Arruda (2024),
Miss Teen USA 2020 Miss Teen USA 2020 was the 38th Miss Teen USA pageant. Originally scheduled to be held in spring 2020, the competition was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later rescheduled for November 7, 2020 at the Exhibition Centre ...
*
Bill Baarsma Bill Baarsma is an American politician and academic who served as the 37th mayor of Tacoma, Washington from 2001 to 2009. Early life and education Baarsma was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, and earned a bachelor's degree in political sc ...
(1964), mayor of Tacoma, 2002–2009 *
Scott Bateman Scott Bateman (born January 30, 1964) is an American filmmaker, author, animator, and cartoonist. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1986. Filmography * ''Scott Bateman Presents Scott Bateman Presents'' (TV series, Plum TV, 2 ...
(1986), nationally syndicated cartoonist * Ted Bundy (non-degreed alumnus), serial killer *
Jose Calugas Jose Cabalfin Calugas (December 29, 1907 – January 18, 1998) was a member of the Philippine Scouts during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan. At the age of 23, Calugas joined the Philippine S ...
(1961),
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...
recipient * William Canfield (1976; 2008) glycobiologist who developed an enzyme that can stabilize
Pompe disease Glycogen storage disease type II, also called Pompe disease, is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder which damages muscle and nerve cells throughout the body. It is caused by an accumulation of glycogen in the lysosome due to deficiency of th ...
. *
Terry Castle Terry Castle (born October 18, 1953) is an American literary scholar. Once described by Susan Sontag as "the most expressive, most enlightening literary critic at large today," she has published eight books, including the anthology ''The Literatu ...
(1975), Professor of English, Stanford University *
Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly () (born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is best known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture". Early life Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on September 20 ...
(non-degreed alumnus), glass artist * Jori Chisholm (1997), Champion bagpiper *
Kai Correa Kainoa T. Correa is an American professional baseball coach. He is the bench coach and infield/baserunning instructor for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the University of Puget Sound. Cor ...
, Major League Baseball coach for the San Francisco Giants * Greg Craven, climate change activist who produced a viral video on YouTube * Helen Engle (née Harris), an American conservationist and activist *
Gretchen Fraser Gretchen Kunigk Fraser (February 11, 1919 – February 17, 1994) was an American alpine ski racer. She was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in skiing. She was also the skiing stand-in for ice skater Sonja Henie in the movies ...
(1941), gold medalist, slalom,
1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...
*
Scott Griffin Scott Griffin, (born 1938) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist best known for founding the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2000, one of the world's most generous poetry awards, and Poetry In Voice, a bilingual recitation competition for Canadia ...
( MBA 1982), CIO of
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and produc ...
* Marion Higgins (1897),
supercentenarian A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases u ...
who died at age 112 and was briefly the oldest California resident *
Bayard Johnson Bayard Richard Johnson''Washington, Marriage Records, 1854-2013'' (September 9, 1952 – February 10, 2016) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He is best known as the co-writer of '' Damned River'' in 1989, '' The Second Jungle Book: ...
, screenwriter ('' The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo'', ''
Tarzan and the Lost City ''Tarzan and the Lost City'' is a 1998 American adventure film directed by Carl Schenkel, and starring Casper Van Dien and Jane March with Steven Waddington. The screenplay by Bayard Johnson and J. Anderson Black is loosely based on the Tarzan s ...
'') *
Edward LaChapelle Edward Randle "Ed" LaChapelle (May 31, 1926 – February 1, 2007) was an American avalanche researcher, glaciologist, mountaineer, skier, author, and professor. He was a pioneer in the field of avalanche research and forecasting in North America ...
(1949),
avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...
researcher and glaciologist *
Judy MacLeod Judy MacLeod is an American sports administrator and the current commissioner of Conference USA. She previously served as the athletic director at the University of Tulsa. MacLeod is the first woman to commission a conference in the NCAA Division ...
, commissioner of
Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...
intercollegiate athletic conference * Rachel Martin (1996), Host, NPR's ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' * Colleen Moffitt (1991), co-founder of Communique Public Relations and author of "Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR". * Charlie Lowery, NBA player * Rochelle Nguyen, attorney and member of the
Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member district ...
* T'wina Nobles, educator and member-elect of the Washington State Senate *
George Obiozor George A. Obiozor CON (15 August 1942 – 26 December 2022) was a Nigerian professor and diplomat who was the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States. Early life and education Obiozor was born on 15 August 1942. He studied at the Institute ...
(1969), Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S. *
Mike Oliphant Michael Nathaniel Oliphant (born May 19, 1963) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. He also played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Sacram ...
(1988), professional ( NFL) football player *
Sean Parnell Sean Randall Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American attorney and politician. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014.Governor of Alaska * Chris Pirih (1987), creator of
SkiFree ''SkiFree'' is a single-player skiing computer game created by Chris Pirih and released with '' Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3'' for Windows 3.0 in October 1991. The player controls a skier on a mountain slope, avoiding obstacles while racing a ...
, one of the seminal computer games in the early days of Microsoft Windows *
Mike Price Michael Bruce Price (born April 6, 1946) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach at Weber State College from 1981 to 1988, Washington State University from 1989 to 2002, and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 2004 ...
(1969), head football coach at
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...
and the
University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...
* Christine Quinn-Brintnall (JD; 1980),
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
state
Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
judge * Debbie Regala, former member of the
Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State S ...
* Roald Reitan, Metropolitan Opera star *
Ross Shafer Ross Alan Shafer (born December 10, 1954) is an American comedian, network television host, and motivational and leadership speaker/consultant. He has authored nine business books, won a stand-up comedy competition, and earned six Emmys as a netw ...
(1975) comedian and
motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ...
*
Darby Stanchfield Darby Leigh Stanchfield (born April 29, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Abby Whelan in the ABC political drama series ''Scandal'' (2012–2018). Stanchfield is also known for roles as April Green in the CBS po ...
(1993), television actress ('' Mad Men'' and '' Scandal'') *
Rick Steves Richard John Steves Jr. (born May 10, 1955), known professionally as Rick Steves, is an American travel writer, author, activist, and television personality. His travel philosophy encourages people to explore less-touristy areas of destination ...
(non-degree alum), producer of the popular ''Rick Steves tour guidebook series as well as "Rick Steve's Europe" on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
. Attended Puget Sound for only one semester. * Jeff Smith (1967), TV Chef, "
The Frugal Gourmet Jeffrey L. Smith (January 22, 1939 – July 7, 2004) was the author of several cookbooks and the host of ''The Frugal Gourmet'', a popular American cooking show. The show began in Tacoma, Washington, as ''Cooking Fish Creatively'' on local ...
" * Brian Sonntag (non-degreed alumnus), Washington State Auditor *
Hari Sreenivasan Hariharan "Hari" Sreenivasan, born in 1974, is an American broadcast journalist. Biography Sreenivasan was born in Mumbai, India, around 1974.NewsHour with Jim Lehrer ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the prog ...
*
Max Vekich Max M. Vekich (born 1954 or 1955) is an American politician and labor leader who serves as a commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission. A member of the Democratic Party, Vekich previously served as a member of the Washington House of Repre ...
, former member of the
Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...
and labor leader * Adam West (non-degree alumnus), actor most notably portraying Batman. Transferred to Whitman College *
Lael Wilcox Lael Wilcox (born July 18, 1987) is an ultra-endurance bicycle racer who won the Trans Am Bike Race in 2016, and set Tour Divide's women's course record on an individual time trial (ITT) in 2015. She was the first American to win the Trans Am. She ...
, ultra-distance cyclist *
Milt Woodard Milton P. Woodard (June 4, 1911 – March 3, 1996) was an American sports writer and sport executive. He was the President of the American Football League until it merged with the NFL in 1970. Woodard served from July 1966 to March 1970, succ ...
(1933), sports executive, co-founder of
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
Milt Woodard 1930-33
*
Bang Wong Bang Wong is the creative director of the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard University. He is considered "one of the leading innovators at the interface of art and medicine" by ''Nature Medicine'', and is a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow ...
(1994), creative director of the
Broad Institute The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The insti ...
at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
and Harvard University


References


External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puget Sound, University Of North Tacoma, Washington University of Puget Sound Educational institutions established in 1888 Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges in Tacoma, Washington 1888 establishments in Washington Territory