Linfield University

Following sexual abuse charges against a former trustee that involved students in 2017 and 2019, faculty members voted 88 to 18 on a motion of no confidence in David C. Baca, the chair of the college's board of trustees, in May 2020.[15] The board continued to support Baca[16] who offered to resign.[17]

Students then circulated a petition calling for Baca to step down from his position.[16] An outside agency also investigated a claim made by a faculty member of "inappropriate touching" by two trustees.[17]

In April 2021, President Miles K. Davis was accused by several faculty members of making anti-Semitic remarks. Davis denied the allegations in a letter to the Anti-Defamation League, which has suggested an investigation into the claims as well as anti-Semitism and bias training for institutional leaders. An earlier investigation into alleged remarks by Davis substantiated one allegation but was unable to confirm the other claims. One of the faculty members filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, claiming religious retaliation and harassment by Davis and Baca.[18] On April 19, 2021, faculty members passed a resolution of no confidence in Davis and Baca, and called for their resignations.[19] The college fired one of the whistleblowers, a Jewish tenured professor,[20][21] who filed a lawsuit against the school.[22] In February, 2023, Linfield reached a $1 million settlement with the fired professor.[23]

In September 2021, Baca stepped down as chair of the board of trustees.[24]

A 2015 study from The Economist ranked Linfield 27th nationally out of 1,275 colleges and universities when it came to the economic value of a degree.[29] Also in 2015, Linfield was ranked among the best in the Pacific Northwest when it comes to admitting students from disadvantaged families and helping them move up the economic ladder. The study, "The Equality of Opportunity," was conducted by researchers from University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Brown University and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.[30] Linfield also ranked as a top liberal arts college in Washington and Oregon in Washington Monthly's "Best Bang for the Buck" list in 2016 and 2017, as well as from 2020-2022.[31] Washington Monthly also identifies Linfield as one of the top liberal arts colleges nationally, including it on its ranking lists in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.[32][33]

Linfield University has been recognized for the social mobility of graduates. In 2022 and 2023, U.S. News & World Report ranked them No. 1 in Oregon for social mobility on its Top Performers on Social Mobility list.[34][35] Washington Monthly named Linfield the No. 1 Liberal Arts College in Oregon for Earning Performance in 2020 and 2021, as well as the No. 29 Liberal Arts College in the U.S. for Earning Performance.[36] The diversity of Linfield's student body has been recognized by Washington Monthly from 2017-2022, naming the institution on its "Best ethnic diversity among liberal arts colleges in the Pacific Northwest." Linfield has also been recognized for as the Best Liberal Arts College in Oregon for First-Generation Students by Washington Monthly in 2020.[33]

Linfield University was included in the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's annual list of "10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech" in 2022.[37]

Linfield's efforts towards sustainability earned it a place on Princeton Review's 2023 "Guide to Green Colleges" list.[38]

Linfield's nursing and business programs have received national recognition for their excellence. U.S. News & World Report named Linfield's online business degree among its list of "Best Online Bachelor's in Business Programs" in 2022.[39] The nursing program at the Linfield-Samaritan School of Nursing was ranked among the Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs in 2022 and 2023 by U.S. News & World Report.[40]

Linfield's primary location in McMinnville, Oregon, moved to its present location in 1881. The original location was at 5th and C Street closer to downtown McMinnville. From a marker on the present campus: "...The board of Trustees met on August 2, 1881 and took action which resulted in moving (McMinnville) Linfield College from 5th & C streets to its present location, actuated by the gift of Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Cozine."[41] Pioneer Hall, the oldest building at Linfield University, opened in 1883 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[42]

In the late 1990s, the institution acquired a former Hewlett-Packard property adjacent to the McMinnville campus, which more than doubled the size of the campus and opened new opportunities for the school.[43]

The McMinnville campus currently sits at 189 acres and houses the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Business.[25]

Linfield established a presence in Portland, Oregon, in 1982 in historic Northwest Portland. The campus for the Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing was adjacent to the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center.[44] The Portland Campus became the successor to the Good Samaritan Hospital Diploma School of Nursing, established by Emily Loveridge in 1890.

In February 2021, Linfield opened a 20-acre campus in northeast Portland, acquired from the University of Western States, to house its nursing school.[45][46]

The Linfield Wildcats football team has the longest streak of consecutive winning seasons across all levels of college football. As of 2022, the team has had 66 consecutive winning seasons.[48] "The Streak", as it is referred to at Linfield, began in 1956.[49][50] The Linfield University Special Collections and Archives started an oral history video collection from members of the 1956 football team, which was made available to the public in October 2021.

Top athletics alumni include former New York Yankee Scott Brosius, who was the head baseball coach at the college for eight years until 2015;[51] former San Diego Charger Brett Elliott, the quarterback of the 2004 championship team; and former Miami Dolphins general manager, Randy Mueller, quarterback of Linfield's 1982 NAIA Championship squad.

Linfield has won four national college football titles (NCAA Division III: 2004, NAIA Division II: 1982, 1984, 1986) and have played in a total of seven college football national championship games (NAIA runner-up in 1961, 1965, 1992). In addition, the school has won three national titles in baseball (NCAA Division III: 2013, NAIA Division II: 1966, 1971). The Linfield Softball team won two NCAA Division III Softball Championships in 2007 & 2011, and were runner-up in 2010 & 2012.

The Linfield Review is Linfield's student-run weekly campus newspaper. The newspaper is staffed only by students of the college and funded mostly through the Associated Students of Linfield University. According to the March 16, 2007, issue of the newspaper, the Linfield Review took third place in the Best in Show contest at the Associated Collegiate Press national college newspaper convention in Portland.[54] In 2021, the publication received 10 awards from the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators for its website and individual pieces of content by the student staff.[55] Outgoing editor Maddie Loverich was received the 2021 Region 10 Mark of Excellence Award for sports writing (small division) for her article, "Freshman makes big impact for Linfield softball."[56]

This student-run club promotes the creation, production and recording of original podcasts by Linfield students and employees. The Linfield Pawdcat Network is run out of the Student Media Center in Renshaw Hall, the location of the former student-run radio station, 90.3 KSLC. Linfield offered its first podcasting class as part of its Department of Journalism and Media Studies in spring 2021.[57] Kendall Harrison and Nathaly Sanchez received honorable mentions in the NPR Podcast Challenge in April 2021.[57] In 2023, Mackenzie Kulick had a podcast episode place third in the "Specialty Program and Podcasts" category of the Broadcast Educators Association's Festival of Media Arts' Student Audio Competition.[58]

Riley Center, location of the Associated Students of Linfield University and the bookstore

As of 2021, there are three fraternities and four sororities at Linfield University. The sororities are Alpha Phi (ΑΦ), Zeta Tau Alpha (ΖΤΑ), Sigma Kappa Phi (ΣΚΦ), and Phi Sigma Sigma (ΦΣΣ). The fraternities include Delta Psi Delta (ΔΨΔ), Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ), and Theta Chi (ΘΧ). Sigma Kappa Phi and Delta Psi Delta are both local organizations and have no national affiliation. The sororities at Linfield University do not have housing.

The annual Camas Festival started in 2021 and is held during the first weekend of May. Linfield started the festival in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Yamhill Watershed Council to celebrate camas, or camassia plant, which was once prolific in the region and a prolific food source for the local tribes.[59] Linfield's McMinnville campus has a patch of camas growing on it that faculty and students have restored and hope to propagate.[59] The festival features tours of the Cozine Creek area where the camas grows, as well as other educational and cultural tables and activities.

This recurring event was named in honor of Congresswoman Edith Green, who served as a trustee for Linfield College starting in 1970.[60] The inaugural event was held in 1988, when former President Gerald Ford delivered the keynote speech.[43]

Former Linfield President Charles Walker secured several grants in 1981 to endow a permanent endowment fund dedicated to bringing Nobel laureates to McMinnville.[43] The symposium evolved out of a lecture series organized by Bill Apel, then the campus chaplain and religious studies professor, who had coordinated smaller events on the topic of world peace.[61] Apel organized the Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium from 1986-1991, when it stopped being an annual event. Past Nobel Prize winners who have spoken at the symposium include Elie Wiesel in 1988, Franco Modigliani in 1989, Oscar Arias in 1998, Jose Ramos-Horta in 2000, and Harold Kroto in 2011.[61] After a 10-year hiatus, the Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium returned in 2023 featuring Nobel Prize for physics winners William D. Phillips and David J. Wineland.[61]

Wildstock is an end-of-the-year concert and celebration for the student body, held in early May. The concert is free for students. Past performers have included country music duo Dan + Shay in 2018, hip-hop artist Marc E. Bassy in 2019, and country star Chris Lane in 2023.[62]

In addition to the institution-organized events, Linfield University is home to multiple other community events held throughout the year. This includes:

• International Pinot Noir Celebration is held in late July. Started in 1987, the event is a three-day celebration of Pinot Noir and its winemakers.[63]
• Les Schwab Bowl, Oregon's all-star high school football game, is held during the summer at Memorial Stadium.[64]
• Mente Summit is organized by nonprofit Mente, which promotes higher education for Latinx men. The event features workshops and a college fair. At the close of the summit, 20 students are awarded with $1,000 scholarships.[65]