Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a Christian university in Seattle, Washington founded in 1891 by the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the Seattle Seminary and College in 1913, adopting the name Seattle Pacific College in 1915, and took its present moniker in 1977. Seattle Pacific University is a member of the Christian College Consortium.
The university sits on a 43 acre campus at the northern end of Queen Anne Hill, near the Fremont neighborhood and approximately four miles north of downtown Seattle. Many of the trees on the campus' central Tiffany Loop are among the oldest in the city. SPU also owns and operates two satellite campuses: a wilderness field station specializing in biology on Blakely Island in the San Juan Islands and Camp Casey, a former US military fort re-purposed as a conference and retreat facility on Whidbey Island. Notable buildings on the Seattle campus include:
Alexander Hall[edit]
Alexander Hall
McKinley Theater
Named after the first president of Seattle Pacific University, Alexander Beers, this four-story brick building is home to the School of Theology. The founder's first name, Alexander, was used as the board did not want a building on campus called "Beers Hall." The building also houses the Sociology and History departments within the College of Arts and Sciences. Alexander Hall is the oldest building on campus, and at the time of the University's founding was the only building on campus. A 9.5 million dollar seismic retrofitting and renovation of the interior office space and chapel was completed in 2014. Next door to Alexander is the main performing arts space on campus, the McKinley Theater.
Demaray Hall/Clocktower[edit]
Demaray Hall is the central academic building at Seattle Pacific University, housing numerous classrooms as well as the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Student Academic Services and Student Financial Services. Administrative offices, including the offices of the president and provost, are also located in Demaray. The building is named for Calvin Dorr Demaray, president of SPU from 1959-1968 and pastor of First Free Methodist Church, from 1948 to 1959.[3]
The clocktower in front of Demaray Hall was given to Seattle Pacific University by the class of 1966. It displays a bas-relief sculpture designed by former Professor of Art Ernst Schwidder, titled "Science, Religion and Humanities," which was brought to fruition by former Professor of Art Larry Metcalf and three of his students. The cast-stone relief panels depict various areas of study: the physical sciences, social sciences and humanities. Its symbols are drawn from American Pima, Arabic, Aztec, Babylonian, Egyptian and Greek cultures.[4][5]
Gwinn Commons[edit]
Gwinn Commons
Gwinn Commons is home to three different points of interest. The Crossroads at Gwinn Commons is the main dining hall on campus. Upstairs is the University's main, multi-use location. A pair of large rooms, the Queen Anne Room (named after the neighborhood in which SPU is located) and the Cascade Room (named after the mountain range that can be seen from Upper Gwinn Commons) can each hold up to 500 people. Multiple functions are held in Upper Gwinn, ranging from Group (a Wednesday night worship service), admissions events, lectures, board meetings and more. The President's Dining room is also located here. In addition there is the Corner Place Market, or C-Store, which holds a Subway and also a market where students can purchase various daily necessities. Wells Gwinn, for whom the dining facility is named, served 32 years on the Seattle Pacific Board of Trustees.
Ames Library[edit]
Ames Library (View from Lower Campus)
The Ames Library was completed in 1994. Housing over 250,000 volumes and 1,300 print periodicals, it grows by 6,000 new titles a year. Students, faculty, and alumni have access to the collections of Summit and the Orbis Cascade Alliance, comprising over 30 million items held in Washington and Oregon academic libraries, including the University of Washington. In addition to printed reference materials, the library also has access to myriad electronic databases including JSTOR, ProQuest Direct, EBSCOHost, First Search, and others. Access is available to the university community via login both on and off campus.
Ames Library (View from Upper Campus)
During the academic year, members of the SPU community meet in the Library for a weekly event called "Creative Conversations," during which they share scholarly and creative works in progress.
Peterson Hall[edit]
Peterson Hall
Peterson Hall is the second-oldest building on campus and houses the School of Education as well as the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. In the basement is a food lab as well as a sewing lab. Each month, SPU's food lab plays host to a Community Kitchen - an outreach to the city's homeless population wherein these individuals join with members of the university. read more