{"id":83,"date":"2021-07-26T17:53:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T17:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcgeorge.edu\/peopleofpacific\/2021\/07\/26\/wait-what\/"},"modified":"2024-12-03T10:59:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T18:59:21","slug":"wait-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacific.edu\/blog\/2021\/07\/26\/wait-what\/","title":{"rendered":"6 things about Pacific that made us go, \u201cWait\u2026 what?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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University of the Pacific has been around since 1851 and in that time a lot of fascinating things have happened to and on our campus. While many of the big changes and accomplishments are well known, many have slipped under the radar. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve rounded up six Pacific facts that made us go, \u201cWait\u2026 what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. We have a presidential alumnus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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It may come as a surprise to most, but the current president of Pakistan is a graduate of Pacific\u2019s Arthur<\/a> A. Dugoni School of Dentistry<\/a>. Wait, what? \u00a0Dr. Arif Alvi graduated in 1984 from Dugoni\u2019s orthodontics program and had a strong dental career before serving as the 13th president of Pakistan 2018-2024.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2. There\u2019s a \u201cPsycho\u201d Golden Globe on campus!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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In 1961, Janet Leigh won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s \u201cPsycho\u201d for the role of Marion Crane. While some may not know her character by name, almost everyone knows the iconic shower scene in \u201cPsycho\u201d where her character meets an untimely end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her Golden Globe can be found on the Stockton Campus in the William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center<\/a>. Janet Leigh attended University of the Pacific (then College of the Pacific) in 1943 as a music and psychology student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her Golden Globe, Pacific also has several of her other awards and dresses. Students and community members can also see movies at the Janet Leigh Theatre on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Underground secrets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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During renovations of Burns Tower<\/a>, staff found a 5-foot-tall steel safe deep within the basement of the tower. It was impossible to open upon discovery and Stockton firefighters were called in to use the \u201cjaws of life\u201d to open the safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the notable content found in the safe were journals from 1851, an 1862 diploma printed on animal skin and Pacific\u2019s original university charter which had been missing for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Tucked alongside all of those items was the strangest discovery of all: a 4,000-year-old Babylonian tablet that had been sent to then-Pacific President Tully C. Knoles in 1920.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Two Super Bowl winning coaches graduated from Pacific<\/h3>\n\n\n\n