In naming the university, the Norwegian immigrants who founded it recognized the role that a Lutheran educational institution on the Western frontier could play in the region.

Attempting to eliminate the debt plaguing the school, Bjug Harstad left for Alaska to search for gold.

[10] In 1902, the PLA athletic club celebrated its first victory in men's basketball with a 15–12 win over the University of Washington.

[12] By 1914, PLA received full accreditation meaning students could transfer to universities and retain their credits.

[15] That same year Polly Langlow, a member of PLC's women's basketball team, scored 270 points in 12 games setting a national record.

During the early 1940s, PLC's student body was almost all female as most men were fighting in World War II.

In 1952 the new Chapel-Music-Speech Building was constructed and later named Eastvold Chapel (renamed in 2013 as the Karen Hille Phillips Center for the Performing Arts).

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great change on PLU's campus when restrictions on student life began to loosen.

[20] Several well known entertainers performed at PLU including Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, The Steve Miller Band, The Righteous Brothers, B.B.

To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, PLU awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to King Harald V of Norway.

[28] In June 2020, PLU was added to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) list of censured administrations.

[44] The academic calendar at PLU is divided into two semesters, fall and spring, with a one-month term during January known as J-term.

This type of institution was called a New American College by Ernest Boyer in a series of influential essays and speeches in the 1990s.

[46][47] In the same year PLU matched a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create an endowment to assist low-income students to participate in study away programs.

In 2000 Xavier underwent a $5 million renovation project that saw the addition of the Philip Nordquist Lecture Hall.

This building houses the all-campus cafeteria, called The Commons, and the Old Main Market convenience store.

These include Olson Auditorium, Memorial Gymnasium, Names Fitness Center, and the university swimming pool.

PLU requires that all students under 20 years of age or junior status on or before September 1 live on campus or at home with a parent, spouse or child.

The agreement called for universities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but PLU has taken the initiative to set their goal of becoming carbon neutral by December 31, 2020.

The goal is for each building to obtain a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating of Gold.

This 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2), $21 million building requires no fossil fuel to operate and is heated and cooled by using a geothermal heat-pump system that regulates its temperature with water stored in 85 wells located 300 feet (100 m) underground.

Following the completion of the 2006–2007 academic year, the University Center underwent $14 million in construction renovations and as a result earned a LEED Silver rating.

[67] All of the programs in the PLU Sustainability Office are student-led i.e. Bike Coop,[68] Community Garden,[69] surPLUs store,[70] and habitat restoration.

It is now a converged media group which includes Mast TV and Lute Air Student Radio.

In nearby Fort Lewis there was a large mooring structure for the airship and the students derived the name from this in honor of the famed ship.

[72] KPLU-FM (88.5 MHz) is a news and jazz format National Public Radio member station that was owned by Pacific Lutheran University.

[73] On November 12, 2015, it was announced to KPLU staff that PLU intended to sell the radio station to the University of Washington, which already operated KUOW.

[74] On May 26, 2016, Friends of 88.5 FM announced that they had raised $7 million to match the offer made by the University of Washington.

PLU is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III, as well as the Northwest Conference.

[77] In 2014, PLU was honored as first recipient of Diversity Spotlight award for LGBTQ inclusion efforts by student-athletes.