PLU philanthropist Wanda Morken dies
Wanda Morken, a supporter of Pacific Lutheran University, died Sunday at the age of 73.
She and her husband Don Morken were committed to the success and growth of the university, especially in the areas of business and technology.
The Morken family provided an endowment for the construction of the $21 million Morken Center for Learning and Technology, which was dedicated in 2006.
Wanda and Don Morken also provided financial support to various organizations and scholarships, including the the Morken Family Scholarship.
Wanda Morken is survived by her husband, daughter Sonya (Morken) Prata, son-in-law Tony Prata and grandson, Dakota Prata.
Students attend annual Peace Scholars program
Pacific Lutheran University sent juniors Andrew Larsen and Amy Delo to the Peace Scholars for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Forum Minneapolis the week of March 3.
The annual three-day forum, hosted in Minnesota the last 26 years, will allow the two PLU students to listen to Nobel Peace Prize-winning speakers such as R. Edward Freeman, William Foege and Leymah Gbowee.
“I like the fact they bring in speakers from business and science as well,” Claudia Berguson, associate professor of Norwegian and Scandinavian area studies, said. Berguson also accompanied the students.
This year, 19 students formally applied and wrote essays to compete for one of two open slots at the forum, Berguson said.
From March 7-9, PLU hosted a live stream for each day of the forum for each speaker. Students could ask questions through G-chat to the speakers skyping into the conference.
Debate team continues winning streak
Pacific Lutheran University’s debate team traveled to Denver last weekend to complete its last regular-season tournament.
Juniors Pam Barker and David Mooney seeded eighth out of the 50 teams from all over the country. Barker also won her third speaker award of the year.
Senior Chris Fournier and sophomore Brendan Stanton were seeded 10th. They missed semi-finals by half a speaker point.
“There were a lot of good teams at this tournament, and we held our own,” senior Caitlin Zimmerman, a debator, said.
PLU also sent sophomore Amy Jones and junior Leah Larson to the elite Pi Kappa Delta nationals in Indianapolis yesterday, which will run until March 24.
