at the NCAA Division III level, having been one of the founding members of the conference in 1926. Pacific began playing football in 1894 as part of the Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association. Today, men compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. Women's programs include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. Pacific's women's wrestling program is notable as one of the nation's first five varsity programs sponsored by a college. The team competed as part of the women's division of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, which began competition in 2007. One of the most decorated sports at Pacific is handball, begun in 1977 under English Professor Michael Steele. Since 1981, the Boxers have appeared in 39 consecutive collegiate national tournaments and captured numerous individual and team national championships. In 2019, the team added five more national titles to its record at the United States Handball Association National Collegiate Championships. In addition to the amenities of the Stoller Center and Lincoln Park Athletic Complex, Pacific has indoor and outdoor tennis courts on campus and shares a competition-size pool with the City of Forest Grove. Notable people Faculty Pacific's undergraduate faculty includes Jules Boykoff, a political scientist, poet, and activist focusing on the politics of the Olympic games. The MFA faculty has including award-winning writers such as Kwame Dawes, Tyehimba Jess, Dorianne Laux, Marvin Bell, Ellen Bass, and Garth Greenwell, among others. It has also included former professional basketball player Jeron Roberts. Pacific University College of Optometry hired its first African American educator, Breanne McGhee, a full-time optometrist who practices in New Orleans. She works at the institution as an assistant professor and clinical adjunct. Alumni Mark Hashem - Hawai'i State Representative Elect for House District 18 Wlnsvey Campos '17 – Oregon State Representative Elect for House District 28 Shirley Abbott '52, OD '53 – American ambassador, optometrist, and dairyman Les AuCoin '69 – U.S. Representative for Oregon's First Congressional District (1975–1992) Loren Cordain '74 – research scientist specializing in nutrition and exercise physiology Rick Dancer – journalist and politician Dick Daniels – former NFL player Daniel Gault (Tualatin Academy) – state legislator, educator, and journalist Alfred Carlton Gilbert 1902 (Tualatin Academy) – Olympian and inventor of the Erector Set Tim Hauck – former NFL player David G. Hebert '94 – musicologist, musician, and professor