Linfield University

Pioneer Hall, built in 1882.

Linfield traces its history back to the earliest days of Oregon Territory, when pioneer Baptists in Oregon City created the Oregon Baptist Educational Society in 1848.[7] This society was organized to establish a Baptist school in the region, which began as Oregon City College in 1849.[7] In 1855, Sebastian C. Adams began to agitate for a school in McMinnville. Adams and his associates were members of the Christian Church, and so the school became a Christian School. To begin, 6 acres (2.4 ha) of property were donated by W. T. Newby and a group was formed to establish the school. The group included William Dawson, James McBride, Newby, and Adams, and they bore the major part of the expenses of starting the school. These men built a building and convinced Adams, who was a teacher, to operate the school. After about a year and a half and because of the difficulty of running the school alone and funding problems, Adams suggested that the school be turned over to the Baptists who were attempting to start up the West Union Institute that had been chartered in 1858 by the Oregon Territorial Legislature. The Adams group imposed the condition that the Baptists keep at least one professor employed continuously in the college department.[8] Other accounts indicate that the Baptist group purchased the land in 1857 in order to start their school.[7] The Oregon Territorial Legislature chartered the Baptist College at McMinnville in 1858. The school later became McMinnville College.[9]

Melrose Hall, built in 1929, is the administrative center of the university.

In 1922, the name was changed to Linfield College in memory of a Baptist minister, the Rev. George Fisher Linfield whose widow, Frances Eleanor Ross Linfield, gave a substantial donation to the college to promote Christian education and as a memorial to her late husband. Mrs. Linfield served as Dean of Women from 1921 to 1928, and sat on the Board of Directors from 1922 to her death in 1940. Her gift included real estate in Spokane, Washington, valued at $250,000 (a sum worth nearly $4 million in 2020).[10] In his 1938 book, Bricks Without Straw: The Story of Linfield College, Professor Jonas A. "Steine" Jonasson quotes from the minutes of the college's board of trustees to explain Mrs. Linfield's motivation for her large land gift to the college: "Mrs. Linfield's dual purpose in making the gift to McMinnville College was to 'perpetuate the name, scholarly attainments and Christian influence of her late husband, Rev. George Fisher Linfield, and to promote the cause of Christian education.'"[11]

The Linfield Division of Continuing Education (an Adult Degree Program) began in 1975. Today it serves eight communities in Oregon as well as online degree programs giving working adults the opportunity to complete a bachelor's degree or certificate program.

In 1982, the Linfield College-Portland Campus was established when the college entered into an affiliation with Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital & Medical Center and began offering a bachelor's degree program in nursing.

The school officially changed its name to Linfield University, effective on July 1, 2020.

Linfield established a presence in Portland, Oregon, in 1982 in historic Northwest Portland. The campus, Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing, was adjacent to the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center.[12] 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 will open their new campus in northeast Portland, acquired from the University of Western States.[13]

T.J. Day Hall (formerly Northup Hall), built in 1936, was the library through 2003.

Linfield University is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Specialized accreditation is granted to individual programs. The Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing is accredited by the Oregon State Board of Nursing and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The education program is approved for training of education and secondary teachers by the State of Oregon's Teachers Standards and Practices Commission. Linfield University's music program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and its athletic training program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education.

For six consecutive years, as of 2006, Linfield was named the No. 1 college in the western region by US News & World Report for the Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor's category.[14] In the U.S. News and World Report College Rankings for 2007, Linfield University was recategorized and ranked as a Liberal Arts College in a restructuring of rankings.[15] In 2011, it was ranked 121st among liberal arts colleges.[16][17] Linfield has been named by The Princeton Review as one of the Best Colleges in the Western Region.[18] 93 percent of Linfield professors have the highest degree in their field.[2] In 2009, Language Professor Peter Richardson was awarded Oregon Professor of the Year.[19] In 2010 the Chronicle of Higher Education named Linfield a top producer of Fulbright Scholars; as since 1999, 36 graduates have won Fulbright grants.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] Linfield also ranked as the top liberal arts college in Washington and Oregon in Washington Monthly's "Best Bang for the Buck" list in 2016 and 2017. Washington Monthly also identifies Linfield as one of the top liberal arts colleges nationally, ranking it 81st out of 240 liberal arts colleges overall[23] Linfield has a dual enrollment agreement with Portland Community College.[24]

The Linfield Wildcats football team has the longest streak of consecutive winning seasons across all levels of college football. As of 2019, the team has had 64 consecutive winning seasons. 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.

Top athletics alumni include former New York Yankee Scott Brosius, who was the head baseball coach at the college for eight years until 2015;[25] 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 offers varsity sports in Baseball, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Cross-Country, Football, Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Women's Tennis, Men's Tennis, Track & Field, and Women's Volleyball.

Linfield also offers thirteen intramural sports opportunities.

Melrose Hall from the academic quad.

Linfield University offers over 40 organizations on campus and over 300 leadership positions. The Associated Students of Linfield University (ASLU) or the Linfield University Activities Team (LCAT) sponsor all clubs and student-led activities.[27]

Riley Center, location of the Associated Students of Linfield University and the College Bookstore

As of 2017, there are four 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), Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ), 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.

Notable people who have attended or taught at Linfield University include athletes such as Scott Brosius, former New York Yankee and 1998 World Series MVP; Kenneth Scott Latourette, scholar of Christianity and Chinese History; Douglas Robinson, translation theorist; Amy Tan,[29] the author of The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter's Daughter, and The Kitchen God's Wife; First Lieutenant Rex T. Barber, pilot in Operation Vengeance; actress Aparna Brielle; and Joe Medicine Crow, Native American historian and the only Linfield University graduate to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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