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Waller Hall, which contains the office of President Steve Thorsett, in October of 2024. Photo by Lucy Devlaeminck. On Dec. 11, students, staff and faculty of Willamette University received a set of emails from university President Steve Thorsett and Interim Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences Kelley Strawn outlining a proposed merger between Willamette University and Pacific University. The combined school, currently slated to be named “the University of the Northwest,” wo

Giant green viruses descend on dorms. Art by Addie Martin. As Willamette University is in the midst of its flu season, health officials at the Bishop Wellness Center explained how they keep track of diseases and encouraged students to utilize Bishop Wellness in preparations for the upcoming semester breaks. Last year’s pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak remains a point of reference for campus health officials as they navigate this flu season.   Willamette has several establi

Bistro cookies, now priced at $2, on Oct. 6, 2025. Photo by Mac Childers. The Bistro, Willamette’s student-run coffee shop, is known beyond its drinks for its affordable cookies. But as the economy faces inflation and other factors that have caused costs to rise, the Bistro has raised the price of its chocolate chip cookies from $1 to $1.50 and now, as of fall semester, to $2.  In a conversation with The Collegian’s Aubrey Lee, Emma Stephens (’26), the general manager of the