A lot has changed at Linfield in recent years, as we evolved to meet the needs of a new generation of students. What will never change is our commitment to helping prepare students to become effective citizens and to lead lives of purpose.
In the fall, we hosted two non-partisan candidate forums, one for Oregon House District 24 and the other for the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners. In this time of extreme partisanship and widespread divisiveness, it’s more important than ever for students to have an opportunity to see calm and thoughtful discussions of issues from potential lawmakers. Our republic, after all, will be in their hands in the years ahead.
In November, in the immediate aftermath of the election, we hosted the inaugural NW Media Fest – a two-day symposium focused on journalism, music and entertainment. A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and a well-known celebrity chef were among the presenters who gave public talks and visited Linfield classrooms. Our goal is to make it an annual event moving forward, giving students and others in our community a chance to interact with influential people in the broader culture. This is one way to operationalize our mission of “connecting learning, life and community.”
More recently, we hosted the Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium for the first time since 2013. You can read more about our history with this premier event in this magazine. Bringing back this event provides an unparalleled opportunity for students, faculty and others to interact with some of the brightest minds on the planet.
Linfield, in short, is doing everything possible to meet the challenge of an evolving world. The new science complex that opened this spring represents the largest capital construction project in university history and provides some of the best lab and teaching spaces of any institution in the United States. Every step of the design process was centered around collaborative research – between faculty and students and between various scientific and business disciplines.
We are living out our mission. From the new Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing program that debuted in January to wine studies’ new tasting room opening soon on Third Street in McMinnville, we’re creating opportunities to expand beyond traditional classrooms to develop a broad and deep learning community.
Thank you for being a part of this exciting journey with us.
