Key themes

The Seattle Pacific University brand requires the constant reinforcement of key themes. Combined, these themes represent the promise of value and uniqueness that people can expect from SPU.

These include:

1. Academic rigor
   SPU is uncompromising in its commitment to academic challenge and rigor, as exemplified by the “Best National University” ranking by U.S. News & World Report.
2. The Seattle advantage
   Seattle is our campus. SPU exposes students to challenges and opportunities, helping them anticipate and shape the future in a thriving, world-class city.
3. Christian faith
   At SPU we invite students to explore or go deeper in Christian faith. We want students to understand and serve the world through this lens.

Academic rigor

• With undergraduate- and graduate-level programs that integrate internships and research, Seattle Pacific University fosters critical inquiry. We prepare students to be lifelong learners.
• SPU’s national ranking by U.S. News & World Report recognizes the University’s focus on original undergraduate research.
• Seattle Pacific is committed to academic excellence, helping students build their intellectual capability and resilience. Dedicated faculty invest in the lives of students with personal mentoring, research opportunities, and individual instruction.
• Seattle Pacific is a university community committed to encouraging whole-person growth in each student — attending to their cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being.
• At SPU, students contribute to one another’s learning experiences. Small class sizes and an academic culture that fosters discussion and debate around critical issues.
• SPU offers an abundant, active learning and social environment, with a celebrated culture in residence life, competitive intramural sports, and club programs to engage and inspire each student.
• SPU is tailored to the needs of the student, so that no one gets lost. Unlike larger, state institutions, SPU is organized around and responsive to the individual.
• With varsity NCAA sports for both men and women, SPU engages the University community in traditions, a legacy of athletic championships, and an active, healthy social sphere.
• With a national reputation in many disciplines, a strong graduate school, and distinguished alumni in key roles at leading organizations, SPU’s institutional brand is distinct and valuable, delivering strong student outcomes.

The Seattle advantage

• From Seattle, a global economic hub, the future unfolds with opportunity and challenge.
• Seattle Pacific University offers the Seattle advantage, with exposure to the employers, industries, and institutions that are fundamentally changing the way we work, play, entertain, communicate, socialize, move, shop, and care for one another. From Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Boeing to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and World Vision, the city is where today’s SPU students learn to influence the future.
• Seattle is a forum for students to engage in Christian lives of service. Our region’s economic opportunities also create social and economic disparities that SPU students will need to address for the urbanizing world.
• Situated between the foothills of the Cascades and the saltwater shores of the Pacific, Seattle’s temperate climate is ideal for outdoor discovery and adventure outside of the city.
• Seattle is our campus. SPU’s many internships and professional mentorships supplement the classroom, helping build experiences, relationships, and résumés that are relevant and workforce-ready.
• On Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill, along the scenic Fremont Canal and the Burke-Gilman Trail, SPU’s campus is both casual and energized, an ideal setting for your university experience.
• SPU students have ready access to an extensive alumni network and mentorship programs that nurture connections to their future careers.
• SPU students are challenged to see the world from a broader perspective, surrounded by formative experiences that only a strategically placed urban campus has to offer.

Christian faith

• Seattle Pacific University is distinctly Christian. We practice a generous faith that welcomes people from all backgrounds but cultivates deep, thriving relationships with Christ.
• SPU nurtures discussion and intellectual rigor so that students learn to confront their doubts and ask important questions in a community of love, wisdom, and patience.
• SPU challenges students to live out a posture that is relevant and engaged but grounded in historic faith.
• Guided by SPU’s Wesleyan heritage, our approach to faith pairs the importance of beliefs and understanding with practices that encourage lives of spiritual growth and service to others.
• While SPU welcomes students from all (or no) faith backgrounds, we encourage every student to explore or grow deeper in Christian faith.
• At SPU, we embrace an inclusive Christian faith, recognizing that diverse perspectives strengthen and deepen our understanding of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Bible, and the tradition of the Christian Church.
• Motivated by the gospel message of Christ’s reconciliation of all things, SPU is committed to justice and mercy through global and cultural engagement, reconciliation, and working for the common good.
• SPU encourages students to engage with an increasingly pluralistic world as Christian leaders whose confident faith informs their love for others.
• SPU is a community that encourages faith through active and ongoing study of the Bible, tradition, and the world alongside a commitment to live out Christ’s teachings.

Matrix

A messaging matrix is a resource for prioritizing and articulating key messages in support of Seattle Pacific University’s brand position and values.

It is not a “copy and paste” resource suitable for every communication need. It is an efficient tool for communicators, to help organize thinking and ensure that the value and distinctives of Seattle Pacific are evident all the time, no matter the audience or context of communication.

Banners

Banners are topline messages that apply broadly to all audiences. They support key themes for Seattle Pacific University.

• Poised on the Pacific Rim, in metropolitan Seattle, Seattle Pacific University exposes students to the challenges and opportunities of the next 50 years, helping them anticipate and shape the future.
• As a Christian university, SPU encourages students to engage with and be changed by faith. Our community sees service, study, and work as intentional outcomes of that faith.
• Seattle is an extension of our campus, affording SPU students a holistic, diverse, multidisciplinary learning environment. From here students gain the perspectives and proficiencies required to navigate the challenges — and realize the opportunities — of a fast, complex, modern world.
• SPU is committed to value and quality in education and is rated a “Best National University” by U.S. News & World Report.
• Seattle Pacific prepares individuals to serve others, applying faith through their careers, family, and community.
• SPU cultivates each student’s understanding of the diversity of Christian traditions.
• Celebrating more than 125 years as a place of learning, SPU maintains an intrepid spirit. Our character reflects our history. We are a place for enterprising minds to cultivate a sense of discovery and embrace great challenges.
• With undergraduate- and graduate-level programs that integrate internships and research, SPU fosters critical inquiry, preparing students to be lifelong learners.
• Seattle Pacific is committed to academic rigor and a sense of personal challenge, helping students build their intellectual capability and resilience.
• Seattle Pacific is a university community that engages the whole person, exercising students’ cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical well- being, so that they are fully prepared to thrive.

Pillars

‘Pillars’ are mid-tier messages that apply more specifically to the individual audience segments that Seattle Pacific would like to persuade.

Prospective students

• Seattle Pacific University challenges you to live as an educated and engaged Christian inspired by faith, and to address the challenges and realize the opportunities of a world that is increasingly urban, technological, globalized, and interdependent.
• SPU offers the Seattle advantage, with exposure to the employers, industries, and institutions that are fundamentally changing the way we work, play, entertain, communicate, socialize, move, shop, and care for one another. From Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Boeing to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and World Vision, we offer a dynamic urban hub where you can in uence the next 50 years.
• SPU helps you go beyond knowing the material necessary for a degree; we help you cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself, what you believe, how you are wired, and what inspires you to launch into the world as a change-maker.
• Seattle will be your classroom. SPU’s many internships, study programs, and professional mentorships supplement the classroom, helping you build experiences, relationships, and résumés that are relevant and workforce-ready.
• You will join an engaged community of learners who study, work, and live in a community intentionally designed so that they contribute to, and draw from, the experience of other students and faculty.
• A holistic learning environment, SPU is committed to the diversity of experiences, cultures, and communities that enrich and challenge each student, broadening your perspective on the world.
• SPU is a Christian community that values a thoughtful faith, encourages questions, and nurtures discussion, so that you can explore or grow deeper in your own informed, resilient faith.
• A right-sized campus with a manageable scale, SPU is tailored to the needs of the person, so that you won’t feel lost. Unlike larger, state institutions, SPU is organized around and responsive to the interests of the individual student.
• Skirting metro Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill, along the scenic Fremont Canal and the Burke-Gilman Trail, SPU’s campus is both tranquil and energized, an ideal urban setting for your university experience.
• SPU offers an abundant, active learning and social environment, with a celebrated culture in residence life, competitive intramural sports, and club programs to engage and inspire you.
• SPU is home to the Falcons, and students show their pride by cheering on or joining a distinguished varsity athletics program whose legacy includes five NCAA National Championships in soccer.
• SPU allows qualified students to declare and access their preferred degree path immediately, without the uncertainty of later acceptance to a business, nursing, or engineering program.

Prospective graduate students

• Seattle Pacific University is the only private university in the Pacific Northwest to make the 2018 U.S. News & World Report “Best National Universities” list.
• Seattle Pacific joins the University of Washington and Washington State University as the only three institutions from Washington state named to the magazine’s list.
• Seattle Pacific’s national ranking is a result of growth in our graduate and doctoral programs in business, education, psychology, nursing, and theology.
• SPU offers a range of master’s and doctoral programs, and we are committed to producing groundbreaking research. Commitment to research has made SPU eligible for our national ranking by U.S. News & World Report.
• SPU is a tailored higher-educational experience where individual graduate students are the center of our faculty’s attention.
• SPU graduate students enjoy the Seattle advantage, with ready access to an extensive alumni network, preceptorships, and mentorship programs that nurture connections and equip you to be relevant, known by future employers, and workforce-ready.
• A small team of engaged learners, SPU students study, work, and conduct research in a community intentionally designed so that you contribute to, and draw from, the experience of other students and faculty.
• SPU graduates are principals, psychologists, business leaders, nursing professionals, published authors, and other experts at the top of their elds, bringing thoughtful leadership, talent, and effectiveness to a complex world.
• SPU faculty in graduate programs are nationally known for their scholarly contributions and leadership to their fields.
• SPU graduate students see the world from a broader perspective, through the lens of purpose and meaning. Integrating faith, ethics, environment, race, culture, identity, and justice into studies, you acquire more than book knowledge, with the essential resources to manage a complex world. This depth of cultural literacy, perspective, and understanding equips you for success and effectiveness.
• A mid-sized campus with a manageable scale, SPU is tailored to your specific needs and goals. Unlike larger, state institutions, SPU is organized around, and responsive to, your interests.
• SPU encourages you to challenge the world and to make a difference in your profession through an ethics-based curriculum that you can apply to the workplace and your long-term career.
• We con dently embrace the diversity of people, faiths, cultures, and ideas, offering a respectful place and productive environment for you to engage with, and be challenged by, our differences.
• The ability to complete selected degree programs online, in a traditional classroom, or in a hybrid environment offers you convenience and innovation. We bring Seattle to you.

Current students (undergraduate & graduate)

• At Seattle Pacific University, each of us contributes to one another’s learning experience, with small class sizes and an academic culture that fosters discussion and debate around critical issues.
• SPU students embrace learning beyond the classroom. They are vitally involved through residence life, faith encounters, campus activities, athletics, and community programs to make the most of our total university experience.
• SPU students enjoy the Seattle advantage, with ready access to an extensive alumni network and mentorship program that offers nurturing connections to their career future.
• SPU is a community of active, living Christian faith. Motivated by that faith, students confront real human needs here in Seattle and beyond to create a world that is more peaceful, prosperous, equitable, and just.
• SPU students see the world from a broader perspective, not a bigger institution. Integrating faith, environment, race, culture, and justice into their studies, SPU students acquire more than book knowledge, gaining essential resources to navigate a complex world.
• SPU encourages students to challenge the world as Christian leaders, offering hope and meaning within diverse communities, faiths, cultures, and ideas. We offer a respectful and productive environment to engage and challenge students.

Parents & guardians

• Seattle Pacific University holds close the legacy of its Christian roots. SPU is still committed to its founding mission of helping students realize God’s work through educated lives of service to others.
• We invite students to explore or go deeper in Christian faith, forged by experience in one of America’s most dynamic, future-facing cities.
• SPU is committed to on-time graduation, enabling families to manage the cost of education and accelerate student involvement in their chosen careers.
• With varsity NCAA sports for both men and women, SPU engages the university community in traditions, a legacy of athletic championships, and an active, healthy social sphere.
• With a national reputation in many disciplines, a strong graduate school, and distinguished alumni in key roles at leading organizations, SPU is a brand of distinction, delivering strong outcomes and preparing students for lives of meaning and service.
• We respect that each student is an individual, and that happy, healthy, prosperous young people grow from the life experiences they’re afforded. SPU is a tailored higher-education experience in which individual students are the center of our attention.

Alumni and donors

• Seattle Pacific University proudly sustains the legacy of its Christian roots. We educate and support students to represent the virtue and character of Christ’s teachings, as they engage an increasingly complex world.
• SPU honors campus traditions, while giving students the opportunity to shape their community further. From Tradition to Ivy Cutting, SPU alumni will feel engaged and renewed when they visit their campus home.
• SPU has an unwavering commitment to our Wesleyan roots while still honoring many faith traditions. We embrace this diversity while gathering around a shared commitment to our Christian faith.
• A mid-sized campus, SPU helps foster meaningful connections among students, lasting into their alumni years.
• While honoring the past, SPU is compelled by the future, actively preparing students for what’s next.
• An SPU education represents more than the achievement of a degree. It is a testament to our strong alumni network, made stronger by a shared mission to improve the lives of others through our careers, families, and community.
• Seattle Pacific is a unique, essential learning resource for alumni after graduation. SPU engages alumni to be part of our flourishing community, in which they continue to connect, learn, and nourish their faith.
• SPU is an investment that pays a lifelong dividend, supporting a vibrant alumni network around the world, as well as a robust mentor program and career center to continually propel graduates’ success.
• SPU is committed to elevated academic rigor, an experience that challenges each person at an individual level and elevates the esteem of an SPU degree.
• SPU is shaping the future, with alumni doing important work in their community, corporate, and institutional arenas.
• Alumni of SPU are part of an active giving community, investing in future Falcons with the generosity of their time, money, and experience.

Faculty & staff

• Seattle Pacific University faculty and staff uniquely equip students for their futures, using Seattle to guide engagement with technology, trade, urbanization, and more.
• A private institution, SPU attracts students and families that value educators and prioritize a quality education.
• Valuing both discovery and instruction, SPU encourages faculty to find their own balance between research and teaching.
• SPU’s reasonable class sizes put faculty closer to students, making it easier to build rewarding relationships through personal mentoring and individual instruction.
• SPU respects and pursues diversity, recognizing that our community grows stronger academically, socially, and theologically as it welcomes and gives voice to a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
• SPU is forward-looking, committed to smart, strategic growth that enhances the standing and reputation of our distinguished faculty.
• At SPU, we seek to honor difference and create space for the voices of all in our community, celebrating the ways diverse perspectives show us new facets of God’s character and help us better understand our world.
• SPU’s ethos reflects our institution’s history and Pacific Northwest culture, rewarding creativity, innovation, and risk-taking in learning.
• SPU is an academic community that engages both faith and learning, helping students become stronger in their intellect and in their relationships with Christ.
• SPU enables Christian faculty and staff to project their faith, multiplying God’s love and compassion through students equipped for meaningful lives of service.

Corporate partners

• One of the region’s leading higher-education institutions, Seattle Pacific University contributes highly skilled and capable graduates, distinguished by their ethical character and desire to serve.
• SPU students are part of a diverse and serious Christian faith community. They have a service mindset, contributing to the prosperity and well-being of the region.
• Because of our multidisciplinary, integrated approach to learning, SPU students are agile, ready learners, able to navigate change.
• Our urban campus makes Seattle our classroom. SPU students graduate equipped and prepared for the workforce with a broad, contemporary perspective.
• SPU cultivates each student’s sense of purpose and meaning in their work and life, fostering a high level of commitment and degree of contribution.
• SPU compels students to develop critical thinking skills, and to be fearless in the face of tough issues, fostering the essential skills of capable community leaders.
• Like their alma mater, SPU graduates are distinguished for their leadership in areas critical to the success of our region and beyond.
• SPU students are prepared to be globally focused reconcilers, ready to live embedded in the community and committed to those on the margins.