Mast Media

Mast Media Where Lutes get their news. Read, watch and listen — we're the converged student newsroom at Pacif

Read, watch and listen — we're the converged student newsroom at Pacific Lutheran University.

04/25/2025

On April 16, 2025, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) announced the winners of the Mark of Excellence Award (MOE). The Mast got to the final round in two entries and won one entry.
SPJ is an American journalism organization dedicated to encouraging ethical, high-standard journalism writing. Professionals, students, and college newspapers can be SPJ members, and participate in trainings, conferences, and awards. PLU falls into Region 10 for the MOE which consists of Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. This year, 12 universities from Region 10 participated in the MOE.
The Mast staff qualified as a finalist for the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper (Small) entry. This meant that our team submitted several printed issues from last year to be considered for excellence of articles, variety, design, photos, and layout. Now, we can proudly say that The Mast is the second best small university newspaper among Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon for 2024.
The Mast also qualified as a finalist for the Illustration entry. Our team submitted our newly introduced Mast-cot, a newspaper salmon, designed by a first-year PLU student Aurora Gregorich. Gregorich is majoring in Art & Design and is excited to participate in the MOE again sometime in the future. She shares, “Our MAST-cot began as a little dream to put a fishy face to the paper, and I’m so proud to see how far it’s already come!”
Finally, The Mast won the Arts/Entertainment/Fashion Journalism entry. A second-year Dailyn Cooks majoring in English and Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies wrote the winning Leopard Print: A Timeless Pattern in Every Generation’s Closet. Cooks shared that she felt “incredibly honored to have made it as a finalist.” Cooks is a consistent writer for The Mast Arts & Culture section: “I think one of the biggest things I value is making culture accessible to everyone. To be able to share my love of fashion with those outside of those spaces and niches has been really awesome.”

03/04/2025

On February 25, 2025, the Center for DJS, together with representatives from Northwest Immigration Rights Project and Schwartz & Sheehan Immigration Law, held an informational immigration session. The questions addressed were mainly about safety within new executive orders, ICE, and deportation processes.

Todd Dizon and Mary Beth Sheehan from the aforementioned law organizations gathered an approximate crowd of 30 people — the event was open to students and community members.

The session was divided in four parts (Know your rights, ICE cooperation on campus, Questions from the community, and Q&A) and led in both Spanish and English. Read more information in the carousel.

🚪 Protect yourself:

🔹 Stay calm & do NOT open the door for ICE unless they have a valid judge-signed warrant

🔹 Ask for the document to be slid under the door

🔹 Verify the signature and details

🔹 Call an attorney immediately if you have concerns

Please refer to the last slide for resources.

📝 Jazmyn Jackson and Kateryna Savienkova

02/15/2025

Enjoy the weekend with some movie recommendations from The Mast team! Share your favorite romantic comedy in the comments 💬

12/10/2024

At three in the morning on December 9, the Walgreens on 121 and Pacific Avenue was rammed into by a truck, leaving the entrance to the store severely damaged. According to pharmacy worker Gairet Nason, “The perpetrator attempted to steal the ATM but did not succeed, however they did steal all the cash in the ATM. They also decided to steal a Squishmallow.”

Tire marks on the sidewalk lead to a sign at the front of the entrance stating that the store is temporarily closed. Curbside pickup stayed available throughout the day, as well as the pharmacy which was open via drive thru only. Blocked off by caution tape and shopping carts, the entrance to the store remained exposed throughout the day, showing the damage to the sliding doors that are now bent inside of the store.

This time last year, a similar incident occurred in which the entrance to the store was rammed into. Nason notes that this incident may have been the same person as last year, although the perpetrator was never caught. He notes that the store should be ready for reopening normal operations as of tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned for more information as the story progresses.

🕵🏽‍♀️ & 📸 Sarah Rushing

12/09/2024

And with that, the fall semester comes to an end! Thank you to everyone who showed up, contributed, and supported us. We had such a blast, and can’t wait to continue our work during J-term and Spring. We wish everyone a safe answer restful break — see you all in the new year!

First photo: our amazing staff
Second photo: our amazing upper management team

Comment below what your favorite part of the semester was with The Mast!

12/03/2024

The PLU dance team presented their Winter 2024 dance showcase on November 15 and 16. The show was choreographed by students Juliana Rodrigez, Camilee Boland, and Soraya Martinez, as well as guest choreographers Venus Nyuen and Eriena Vongsady. The showcase included 12 pieces that included styles from contemporary, hip hop, and pom.

The show has an upbeat and fun atmosphere, which were revealed by people in the crowd shouting and cheering the dancers' names. Crowd favorites included “California Girls” and “Chasing Pavements.” Martinez described senior Abby Laas's performance of “Flowers” as “her unwavering commitment and work ethic has brought this piece to new levels. Beyond her technical skills, the emotion and passion she puts into her movement are truly breathtaking.”

One number that represented the performance well was “Free Fall.” The dancers were able to express themselves and show their love of their art, as the lyrics of the song say, “you can let it all go.” The dance team's senior captain and choreographer of the number, Camilee Boland, shared, “My favorite part of being a captain is being able to watch everyone grow as dancers, choreographers, students, and people. Thank you to the team for your hard work, dedication, and friendships.”

Look out for more Theater and Dance department performances, such as their upcoming 2025 dance showcase in the spring. Performances are May 2nd and 3rd at 7:30pm. You can buy tickets for $16 for the general public, $12 for staff/faculty, alumni, and seniors, and $8 for any immediate family of the performers. Students can come for free with their PLU ID!

Follow for updates and details on future events.

📝 Jade Brunner
📸 Jade Brunner

05/26/2024

Hello, my name is Kateryna Savienkova. I am the General Manager of The Mast. Next year, I will be Editor-in-Chief, and I wanted to say a couple of words about this and the upcoming year.
The Mast was one of a few experiences that made my first year of college grounding, enlightening, and, honestly, worth it. It’s a combination of great people on our team with the tremendous job we have done that makes me so proud and happy when I look back at this year. I am excited to see what the future holds for us, friends.

I’m Kendan Bendt, and I’ve been at The Mast for many years now, and it’s become an important chapter in my life. I began to believe in myself and my ability to do things outside of my specialty major (opera, vocal performance). I’m grateful to have gotten to be a reporter, writer, editor, and eventually Editor-in-Chief. I’ve gotten a lot of great experiences over the years and am very happy to have been a part of this organization, and to leave it to Kateryna.

I’m Reanae Maleport, and I have been the Arts & Culture Section Editor. The Mast has quite literally given me a reason to get out of bed most days, not because I love what I do (although this is true), but because it’s an incredible group of people who pour themselves out into it. The Mast is one of the hardest-working student organizations I know, and I am so immensely proud to have been a part of it.

I’m Josiah Devine Johnson, and I am the Deputy Editor-In-Chief. The most important singular thing I did with The Mast was meet people in it and through it. People I admire, am inspired by and aspire to be like. People who have brought me into my final chapter of college and helped me know that if you put your mind to something, it might not happen, but it will inspire others to do more. The Mast strives to be more than just a college paper, and it is becoming that through its work with the community, and campus, and I am so incredibly grateful and proud of the people who have made that happen.

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