Author: WUpedia Contributor
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Kimball School of Theology
Written by Lilly Thies, Class of 2026 Many students are aware that Methodist missionaries founded the Salem landmarks of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1841, and Willamette University in 1842. But fewer know that where the modern building Ford Hall stands now, for thirty-five years, there was once the Kimball School of Theology, a pioneering Read more
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Wulapalooza
Written by Lilly Thies, Class of 2026 Wulapalooza, Willamette’s Earth, Art, and Music festival, was a hallmark of student life from its conception in 1998 to its last show twenty years later in 2018. In the first week of May, students, momentarily freed from studying for exams, would stream out onto Brown Field to bask Read more
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Leonard Jackson Powell
Written by Monte Remer, Class of 2026 At the age of fifteen, Leonard Jackson Powell left to work in the California gold mines. He parted with his family’s newly-tilled homestead outside of Portland, Oregon and his grieving father. The family had already traveled half a year from Missouri, trudging across “the then trackless desert”1 and Read more
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Charles E. Lambert
Written by Monte Remer, Class of 2026 At the end of the 1879 school year, Willamette’s President Thomas Gatch resigned along with his entire faculty.1 The school’s debt was ever-increasing, its expenses were constantly insurmountable, and the Board of Trustees refused to alter its operations to meet its budget. The Board decided that if Gatch Read more
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George Whitaker
Written by Monte Remer, Class of 2026 As newly-appointed president, George Whitaker arrived at Willamette demanding complete and rigid control over the university. He didn’t stay for long. Whitaker’s two-year presidency was defined by the school’s financial disarray, bitter interpersonal conflict, and the 1891 fire which consumed part of what is now Waller Hall. At Read more
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Martha Springer Garden
Written by Lilly Thies, Class of 2026 Tucked behind Sparks Athletic Center, The Martha Springer Botanical Garden is an idyllic yet easily overlooked corner of campus. Newly revitalized in Summer 2025, it is home to many species of interesting and beautiful plants, many of which are native to Oregon. The garden is a lush and Read more
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Phi Delta Theta
Written by Lilly Thies, Class of 2026 The role of sororities and fraternities in the context of a liberal arts education has been frequently debated in recent years, especially when it comes to small private schools like Willamette. The history of Greek life at Willamette is one that spans more than 100 years, and has Read more
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WU Literary Magazines, 1965-Present
Written by Lilly Thies, Class of 2026 In Spring of 2025, Willamette’s literary magazine The Mill launched their annual publication with a reading in the Writing Center, where writers, artists, editorial staff, and friends were invited to be in community, hear writers read their work, and celebrate the 60th year since the founding of Willamette’s Read more
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Willamette University Medical College
Written by Lilly Thies, Class of 2026 Willamette students are all aware of the stately red-brick Art building that stands on the Northwest corner of campus. Fewer, however, are aware that this same building once was home to the Willamette College of Medicine, a department which endured a rollercoaster of changes during its operation, whether Read more
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Mt. Hood Summit Trip of 1894
Written by Juliette Burns, Class of 2026 “At the dawn of the fourteenth day of August a party of professors, students and friends of Willamette University; twenty in all, left Salem with loaded wagons and upright alpen-stocks plying the college colors, the baggage wagon heaped high”1 So begins the six chapter chronicle in the Collegian Read more