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The University of Puget Sound has received a $1,050,000 gift from Richard N. Laurance ’74 to establish the Puget Sound Endowed Fund for the university’s crew program. The endowment will provide unrestricted support for the Loggers, helping sustain the school’s 60-plus-year tradition of competitive rowing.

In 2009, the University of Puget Sound awarded honorary degrees at the commencement ceremony to 36 Japanese American students whose education was abruptly stopped when they were sent to relocation camps in 1942. 

It’s been 83 years since Executive Order 9066 led to the forcible removal of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast to internment camps during World War II—including 36 students who were attending what was then the College of Puget Sound. But despite the passage of time, there are still many ways the campus community remembers and honors those whose educations and lives were interrupted by the mass forced removal and incarceration. 

During the 1939–40 academic year, 16 students of Japanese ancestry formed the Japanese Students’ Club at what was then known as the College of Puget Sound and, as a gift to the school, planted 16 Japanese cherry trees in a “friendship circle” next to Anderson Hall. 

Just two years later, on the heels of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government ordered that the 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast be removed and incarcerated in internment camps. That number included 36 students at Puget Sound. 

Beneath city streets, a stream of data flows, revealing the health, habits, and challenges of entire communities. Scientists from around the world will gather at the University of Puget Sound to tap into that hidden current at the Testing the Waters 8 conference, from June 1–4, 2025. This will be the first time the U.S. will host the international conference, welcoming global experts in wastewater testing—a growing field that turns sewage into public health data.

She volunteered at a local zoo in her hometown of San Jose, Calif., thinking she was interested in being a veterinarian, but later shifted her focus to human health. As a second-year Matelich Scholar at Puget Sound, Jiang was accepted to a prestigious medical school through an accelerated pathway with support from staff in Puget Sound’s Health Professions Advising program. But it was an internship with the Neighborhood Clinic in Tacoma that solidified her passion for helping patients navigate the complex world of healthcare. 

The University of Puget Sound Business Insights event brought together students, faculty, alumni experts, entrepreneurs, and business leaders in March for an engaging conversation about leading in an AI-powered world. The Arches team asked President Isiaah Crawford to share his thoughts on the event and discuss some of the opportunities and challenges of AI. Here’s what he had to say: