51³Ô¹Ï

In the June issue of Pacific magazine, we note the passage of 50 years since the enactment of Title IX, the civil rights amendment that sought to ensure that women are treated as if they are equal to men. Many things have changed in America and at 51³Ô¹Ï since then.

When Title IX was enacted into law in 1972, few at 51³Ô¹Ï seemed to take notice. But it's clear in retrospect that the world of higher education had changed.

As Pacific contemplated its mission in the 1970s, it looked to health professions studies as a way to complement the traditional liberal arts. 

In 1876, 51³Ô¹Ï celebrated one of its early commencement ceremonies with a special distinction: Pacific became one of the first universities in the United States to welcome Japanese citizens to its alumni ranks.

One of the most prominent names connected with Pacific’s College of Optometry is Carkner, and the connection began before the beginning.

The earliest contact lenses were made of glass and could be worn only for a few hours at a time. Today’s contact lenses are engineering marvels, and Pacific’s College of Optometry is at the vanguard of contact lens research and design.

The remarkable Newton Wesley ’39, Hon. ’86, born Newton Uyesugi to immigrant parents, was a founding father of the College of Optometry. Forced from his home by Japanese-American internment policy during World War II, Wesley nevertheless laid the foundation for the College of Optometry and became a giant in the field of contact lenses.

The optometry program launched at Pacific in 1945 as a result of a combination of postwar challenges and unexpected opportunities. The needs of a small, temporarily shuttered optometry college in Northeast Portland helped meet the demands of a university that had limped through the war years. The outcome was the beginning of Pacific’s focus on the health professions.

August is National Crayon Collection Month, and Pacific is proud to celebrate its connection to the roots of Crayola.

In some important ways, 51³Ô¹Ï was ahead of its time when it came to educating women. But in other ways, women who lived, learned and taught here had to blaze their own trails. We take a look at some of the important women who shaped Pacific in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

One of the most insightful thinkers and teachers ever to be employed at Pacific was Anna Berliner, a psychologist by title, but also an anthropologist, sociologist, optometrist and visual researcher.