Pacific’s Community Impact

students plant a tree

Enhancing our communities


Pacific leads the way in building healthier, happier communities, providing services in health, science, education, the environment, the arts and more. Through classroom and volunteer experiences, students, faculty and staff contribute thousands of hours annually to Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco programs, schools and agencies. Since 2023, more than 5,000 student volunteers have provided nearly 8,000 hours of service at 124 sites across the Central Valley through the Pacific Volunteer Center—and this is only one of the university's many efforts to improve life for those in its communities. 

In 2026, the university received national recognition from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for exceptional engagement with communities across Northern California through public service, community partnerships and knowledge sharing.

Pacific students and faculty provide free and discounted health care to disadvantaged children and adults in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco. 

students do dental work in an operatory

Dental care access for children

Pacific dental and pre-dental students ensure that hundreds of children in San Francisco, Stockton and Sacramento have access to dental care and positive dental experiences through Give Kids a Smile events, as part of the American and California Dental Associations’ nationwide initiative. 

a student helps a participant in a health fair

Community health fairs

Each year, students and faculty from the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and the School of Health Sciences partner with Progressive Community Church in Stockton to host a community health clinic focused on increasing access to essential health care services as part of Pacific’s Black History Month programming. 

a woman in a white coat sits across a desk from a patient

Comprehensive hearing tests

Each year, Pacific audiology students, undergraduate students, alumni and faculty came together on the Stockton Campus to offer free hearing tests to the community. Clinic staff identify any obstructions in the ear, screen for hearing loss and help patients navigate the next steps in their care. 

Health Care Clinics

Audiology clinics
Dental clinics
Diabetes clinics
Language-Literacy Center
Medicare Part D Clinics
All clinics

Community engagement is integrated through tailored experiences extending the “classroom” beyond campus.

a woman stands in front of a McGeorge Legal Clinics posterboard
Providing Legal Services

Each year, law students provide free legal services to hundreds annually through seven legal clinics: 

  • Bankruptcy Clinic
  • Buccola Family Homeless Advocacy Clinic
  • Elder and Health Law Clinic
  • Federal Defender Clinic
  • Immigration Law Clinic
  • Legislative and Public Policy Clinic
  • Prisoner Civil Rights Mediation Clinic


McGeorge is one of only six law schools in the country to require students to complete two authentic law practice experiences. 

Learn more about the legal clinics at McGeorge School of Law
Service Learning

The #CaliforniansForAllCollegeCorps program, sponsored by California Volunteers, provides students who complete the required 450 hours of community service with local organizations with up to $10,000. 

Each year, College Corps participants propose and work on projects that bring together their service experience, their individual academic disciplines and their broader intellectual interests, presenting them during a Service Learning Showcase.

View Service Learning Showcase Abstracts
College Corps students
a student works with water pipes
Hands-on Learning

All engineering students in the School of Engineering and Computer Science are required to work full-time for at least six months, putting the skills they've gained at Pacific to use for the benefit of local communities and businesses.

Partnering employers have included City of Manteca Public Works, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, the City of Stockton IT Department as well as a wide variety of large corporations and other entities. 

Learn more about CO-OP
Engaging the Public

During the summer, the Conservatory of Music invites pre-college jazz musicians to learn and play music with faculty and students at Pacific Summer Jazz Colony. 

Pacific Jazz Festival is an annual two-day jazz event for high-school and junior-college instrumental and vocal jazz ensembles and combos, featuring live performances and master classes with conservatory faculty and renowned guest artists.

Learn more about the Jazz Studies program
Jazz faculty and staff performing at Take 5

Programs across the university develop intergenerational solidarity, bringing Pacific students into the lives of older and younger community members. 

a student paints a design on a child's face

Each year, students, faculty and staff host thousands of local children and their families on the Stockton Campus where they enjoy candy, games, photo booths and other activities during Pacific Trick or Treat.

Jacoby Center tutoring program

The Jacoby Center's after school tutoring program, staffed by Pacific work-study students, provides K-12 students with a safe and supportive after-school environment where they can participate in tutoring, academic and physical activities and receive social and emotional support. 

students and older people sitting at a table together

The Intergenerational Bridges program sponsored by the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy connects student pharmacists with older adults through community-based events designed to reduce isolation and foster meaningful engagement.

Partnerships

Pacific partners with the Abbott Fund on the Diabetes Care Clinics and the Abbott Fund Scholars program to address the diabetes epidemic in underserved communities in Stockton.

Each spring, Pacific’s Department of Mathematics invites Northern California high school mathletes to test their knowledge in the Avinash Raina High School Math Competition. The competition is made possible by a generous gift from the Raina family to honor the memory of their son, Avinash, and his passion for encouraging young people in the Stockton area.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of the Pacific is a non-profit education program designed for people ages 50+ and open to all adult learners. Each year OLLI provides intellectually stimulating non-credit classes, interest groups, local and international trips, and special events for its members.

Residents in Stockton battling diabetes have a new opportunity to take control of their chronic condition thanks to an innovative partnership between the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Community Medical Centers. The collaborative practice agreement with Kwabena O. Adubofour,  physician and internal medicine specialist, will empower Pacific pharmacy faculty and fellows to expand their scope of practice—they will have the authority to prescribe or adjust medications and order lab tests for diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.

More than fourteen school districts and the city of Stockton have invested millions to send high school students to the Pacific Summer High School institute, a two-week residential program that serves more than 1,700 high schoolers annually. 

The MESA College Prep Program engages 6th-12th grade students' interest in STEM primarily through project-based team competitions and activities, field trips, and engagement with Pacific students, staff and faculty. The biggest event of the year is Pacific MESA Day, which usually takes place in early March. This event brings approximately 650 students to Pacific to participate in a number of different competitions including gliders, moon bases, MESA machines and others.

Pacific also participates in the MESA University Program, a statewide network of related programs. Pacific MESA's focus is centered around community building, collaboration, and providing access to resources for students to grow and succeed professionally and personally.

Jean Callahan, the First Lady of University of the Pacific, serves as vice president of the Miracle Mile Community Improvement District. The Miracle Mile business district is 12 blocks along Pacific Avenue from Alpine Avenue just south of the university, and includes more than 150 retail, dining and professional businesses. 

Each year during Black History Month, faculty and students from the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy, the School of Health Sciences and the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry facilitate a comprehensive, service-based health fair at Progressive Community Church in Stockton, providing blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes testing and immunizations.

Gifts from the California Scottish Rite Foundation have allowed Pacific to expand free language and speech therapy for hundreds of Stockton children each year at the RiteCare Childhood Language Center of Stockton, where Pacific student clinicians have provided no-cost services to children with speech, language and literacy disorders for more than 40 years.

Pacific’s women’s tennis team has poured more than 100 hours of volunteer service into the campus and Stockton community, earning the team the Northwest Region Community Service Award from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association—the only school to receive the recognition. 

Pacific received a nearly $200,000 grant from the WE Will! K-16 Collaborative to expand college readiness in the Central Valley by establishing a new financial wellness program, providing scholarships to the Pacific Summer High School Institute and expanding engagement with Spanish-speaking students and their families.

Each year, Pacific faculty, staff and students welcome community members of all ages to campus for education, enlightenment and fun.

Reach for the Stars STEM academy

Close to 200 high school students from Stockton and Tracy come together each summer for a four-week summer program to prepare for college and strengthen their critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills and gain exposure to STEM career pathways.

community students perform during woodwind day

The Pacific Community Music School offers on-campus music education to individuals of all ages in California’s Central Valley. Through lessons, group instruction, and classes, students learn from Pacific faculty, qualified current music-majors, and with other professional music educators in the region.

Students at the Math Steeplechase

Each year, close to 1,000 fifth graders from local elementary schools gather on the Stockton Campus for the Math Steeplechase, an event hosted by Benerd College, the Department of Mathematics and Pacific Athletics to bring STEM to life through hands-on activities and collaborative challenges. 

Gabriela Lena Frank on stage during the Presidential Speaker Series

Through the Presidential Speaker Series, Pacific welcomes top thought leaders to the Stockton Campus to discuss key issues in education and society. Pacificans and members of the local community have the opportunity to engage with and learn from some of today’s most influential thinkers and writers.

attendees observe a Reynolds Gallery exhibition

The Reynolds Gallery in the Jeannette Powell Art Center welcomes visitors from the university and beyond with original exhibitions featuring students and professionals alike. 

students perform during “Carousel: A Concert”

Performances by Conservatory of Music ensembles and the Pacific Opera Theatre are open to the public, and have included productions of  “Carousel: A Concert” and "Into the Woods."

Strategic fundraising supports students committed to serving their communities after graduation, enables the maintenance and development of clinics and more. 

Learn more about supporting Pacific's community impact by contacting Scott Biedermann ’05, ’20, vice president for development and alumni relations, at 209.946.2166 or sbiedermann@pacific.edu.
 

HealthForce Partners Scholarships
Antone and Marie Raymus Foundation
San Joaquin Community Foundation
Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement Classification Badge
Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

“Serving our communities is a core tenet of who we are as Pacificans and a foundational principle of a Pacific education. With programs as diverse as diabetes screenings, dental clinics and vaccination centers to legal clinics, small business consulting and volunteer work at dozens of nonprofits, Pacific is committed to impactful, hands-on learning opportunities for our students that provides immense value to our neighbors across Northern California.”

—President Christopher Callahan