Lewis & Clark College

Like many modern American universities, the institution that would eventually become Lewis & Clark was initially intended to provide secondary as well as higher education for a specific religious community, in this case Presbyterian pioneers in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The Presbyterian church incorporated "Albany Academy" in 1858.^[4]

Within a decade of its founding, Albany Academy began to focus more exclusively on higher education, changing its official name to the "Albany Collegiate Institution" in 1866. Lewis & Clark's official founding date comes from the current charter, which has been legally valid since the Presbyterian church reincorporated the Albany Collegiate Institution as "Albany College" in 1867.^[4] Unlike most Oregon colleges of the pioneer era, the college has been co-educational since the first class, which graduated in 1873. The early campus of seven acres (2.8 ha) in Albany was situated on land donated by the Monteith family. In 1892, the original school building was enlarged, and in 1925 the school relocated south of Albany, where it remained until 1937.^[4]

Albany College established a junior college to the north in Portland in 1934, with the entire school moving to Portland in 1939.^[4] The former campus grounds later became home to the federal government's Albany Research Center.^[5] In 1942, the college trustees acquired the Lloyd Frank (of the historic Portland department store Meier & Frank) "Fir Acres" estate in South Portland and the school name was changed to Lewis & Clark College.^[4]

In February 2026, the college revealed the final design for and officially changed their mascot to the River Otter.^[6] The change came as a result of indifferent feedback about the previous mascot, "Pio" the Newfoundland, which prompted the search for a new mascot in late 2024. A survey of eight potential mascots were sent to students, alumni & trustees, and employees, of which 6.4k voted. The River Otter was chosen, being the top choice for all three voting groups.^[7] The final design for the mascot was designed in collaboration with the locally based advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy.^[6]

The 2020 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report categorized admission to Lewis & Clark as "more selective" and ranked the college tied for the 72nd best liberal arts college in the U.S.; U.S. News & World Report also ranked it tied for 51st in undergraduate teaching and 89th for "Best Value" among liberal arts colleges.^[12] Forbes in 2019 rated it 184th in its America's Top Colleges ranking, which includes 650 military academies, national universities, and liberal arts colleges and 69th among liberal arts colleges.^[13] Kiplinger's Personal Finance places Lewis & Clark at 66th in its 2019 ranking of 149 best value liberal arts colleges in the United States.^[14] Money magazine ranked Lewis & Clark 585th out of 744 in its "Best Colleges For Your Money 2019" report.^[15] In 2024, Washington Monthly ranked Lewis & Clark 64th among 194 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.^[16]

Lewis & Clark's 137-acre (0.55 km²) forested campus sits atop Palatine Hill in the Collins View neighborhood of Portland and is contiguous with the 645-acre (2.61 km²) Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Campus buildings include an award-winning environmentally sustainable academic building (John R. Howard Hall),^[17] as well as notable historic architecture such as the Frank Manor House (designed by Herman Brookman) and Rogers Hall (formerly Our Lady of Angels convent of the Sisters of St. Francis).^[18]

Lewis & Clark was named one of America's top ten "Most Beautiful Campuses" by the Princeton Review,^[19] Travel+Leisure^[20] as well as an independent architecture blog.^[21]

In August 2022, a student died and two were seriously injured while they were sitting on hammocks attached to stone columns on campus and one of the columns collapsed on them.^{[22][23][24][25]} A lawsuit was filed against the school in 2024 alleging that the school had failed to warn students about the danger, to remove the hazard, and to close off the area.^[26] The estate of the deceased student sought $20 million from the school, and the case was settled out of court.^[27]

Sustainability

Wind power provides 100% of the college's total electricity,^[31] and LEED-"certified" level must be met for all of the college's projects.^[32]

• Phillip Barron, philosopher and poet
• John F. Callahan, Morgan S. Odell Professor of Humanities and literary executor of Ralph Ellison's estate
• Rev. Elbert Nevius Condit (1846–1900), Presbyterian minister, early president (1879-?) when it was known as Albany Collegiate Institute.^[48]
• Fitzhugh Dodson, Presbyterian minister, psychologist, taught religion^[49]
• Bob Gaillard - basketball coach
• Barry Glassner - president (2010–2017), sociologist and author
• Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., entrepreneur, philanthropist, trustee^[50]
• Vern Rutsala, poet^[51]
• Kim Stafford, writer^[52]
• William Stafford, poet^[53]
• Anthony Swofford, former adjunct professor of humanities, author of Jarhead^[54]
• Mary Szybist, poet^[55]
• Edwina Florence Wills, artist and musician^[56]