George Fox University

The university was founded in Newberg, Oregon, in 1885 by Quaker pioneers, originally called Friends Pacific Academy for several years before becoming a college in 1891 as Pacific College.

The "Bruin" mascot is named after a real bear cub found in 1887 in the Coast Range's foothills near Carlton, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Newberg. The cub's mother had been shot and it was brought to the school by a student. The bear, Bruin, was adopted by the faculty and cared for until his death, after which he was taxidermied and kept in the campus museum. In the late 1890s, the bear's hide was stolen from the museum and became the senior class's unofficial mascot. Other students often attempted to steal it away, and over time the fight to capture the bear became an annual tradition. Students today still participate in student-government-sponsored class competitions called "Bruin brawls" for possession of "Bruin Jr.", the real taxidermied bear having been swapped out for a stuffed canvas fascimile bear in the 1930s. Bruin the bear became the school's official mascot in 1970.

In 1893 the school was incorporated as a joint-stock company, and it became a four-year school in 1925. Herbert Hoover's uncle H. J. Minthorn served as the school's first president, and Hoover himself was an early student at the academy (although he dropped out in 1888 at the age of 13 to work in his uncle's real estate office). The school's name changed to George Fox College in 1949 to honor George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement.

In 1996, the college merged with Western Evangelical Seminary to form George Fox University. Associate professor of biology Dwight Kimberly received the Carnegie Foundation's Oregon Professor of the Year award in 2000. Associate professor of theatre Rhett Luedtke was one of three faculty members nationally to receive a National Directing Fellow Award from the John F. Kennedy Center in 2010.

The student body has grown more than 500% since 1986, when enrollment was 549. With 4,339 students in Newberg, Portland, and other Oregon teaching sites, George Fox is now the state's largest private university.

In 2014, prompted by a housing dispute involving a transgender student, George Fox University sought and received a limited exemption from Title IX's requirements on religious grounds. In 2021, a group of LGBTQ students of several Christian universities, George Fox among them, filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, challenging the constitutionality of religious Title IX exemptions, asserting them to be in "violation of both the First Amendment provision on establishment of religion as well as the equal protections clause and due process rights"; the lawsuit was dismissed in a district court in 2023.

In 2015, the school completed a new residence hall, Brandt Hall, named for former school president David H. Brandt and his wife, Melva. A new dining hall, Canyon Commons, opened in the fall of 2016. The university's first dedicated chapel was dedicated in 2024.

In addition to its main campus in Newberg, the university teaches classes in two other locations: Portland and Redmond. The Newberg campus includes two structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One, Minthorn Hall, was built in 1886 and is still used for classes. The other, Jesse Edwards House, was constructed in 1883 and serves as the residence for the university president.

A variety of student housing is available on Newberg's campus including 23 houses, 10 residence halls, and four apartment buildings.