[5] She and Harvey L. Clark started a school and orphanage in Forest Grove in 1847 to care for the orphans of Applegate Trail party.

[6] In 1872, three Japanese students, Hatstara Tamura, Kin Saito, and Yei Nosea, started at the university as part of Japan's modernization movement.

[17] Qilin (pronounced chee-lin or ki-rin) is a mythical Chinese creature with a leonine stance, a unicorn-like horn, and deer or ox hooves from the Qing Dynasty.

Said to be a good omen of wisdom and prosperity, the Pacific qilin was nicknamed Boxer by its Chinese and Japanese students as an embodiment of the community's cultural diversity.

[21] In 2006, the university commissioned a 12-foot sculpture to replace the missing Boxers, which now stands in a central park welcoming students to Vandervelden Court residence hall.

Kept in trust as part of the university's art collection, the statue and exhibits on its cultural and community history are on display in the Tran Library.

Most courses and clinics are on the Hillsboro campus, where the curricula focuses on interprofessional cooperation, and students gain practice in caring for underserved populations.

Pacific's College of Optometry also offers a master of vision science degree and operates eye clinic and eyeglass dispensaries in communities throughout the Portland area.

Old College Hall is the oldest educational building west of the Mississippi and today serves as Pacific University's museum.

[39] Several buildings have Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, including the Tim and Cathy Tran library, built in 2005 and remodeled with more study rooms and makers space in 2019.

[42] Outside the Stoller Center is the entrance to Hanson Stadium, which includes a FieldTurf soccer, lacrosse and football surface, a nine-lane track and grandstands.

The Woodburn campus opened in 2012 to offer professional pathways in education with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and teaching diverse students.

The 5,000 square foot, 14-room Victorian home of Woodburn founder, nurseryman Jesse Settlemier, is the heart of two degree programs in education.

The MFA in Writing program maintains an office in Portland's Pearl District in the period between residencies—during winter held at Seaside, Oregon, and in the summer in Forest Grove.

In addition, six locations of the optometry college-affiliated Pacific Eye Clinic and a mobile unit are dispersed across the Portland metro area.

With Forest Grove described as "a picture-perfect little town",[50] works shot or set there include: In addition to Pacific University Press and its two imprints founded in 2015, Tualatin Books and 1849 Editions, campus-based print publications include All of the Greek societies at Pacific University are "local", meaning that they are unique to the campus.

Today, men compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.

Women's programs include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.

[58] In addition to the amenities of the Stoller Center and Lincoln Park Athletic Complex, Pacific has indoor and outdoor tennis courts[59] on campus and shares a competition-size pool with the City of Forest Grove.

The MFA faculty has including award-winning writers such as Kwame Dawes, Tyehimba Jess, Dorianne Laux, Marvin Bell, Ellen Bass, and Garth Greenwell, among others.

Pacific University College of Optometry hired its first African American educator, Breanne McGhee, a full-time optometrist who practices in New Orleans.