Pacific tour guides recently used their cell phones to give prospective students—and alumni—virtual tours around the Sacramento and Stockton campuses. 

Stockton Campus virtual tours have an individual touch

Morgan Lagomarsino stands at the front of University of the Pacific’s campus in Stockton, poised with her cell phone as the Burns Tower carillon tolls 4 p.m. and traffic breezes by on Pacific Avenue.

Lagomarsino, recruitment and outreach manager for the Graduate School, is one of the university’s official tour guides during these times of COVID-19.

Pacificans are accustomed to seeing groups of prospective students with their families touring the beautiful campus. That cannot happen with the pandemic.

But Lagomarsino’s personal tours serve a double purpose: a glimpse of campus for prospective students and a trip down memory lane for alumni.

As the tour begins, she takes viewers through the university gates, shows them the Pacific seal and then walks by “one of my favorite buildings” in Faye Spanos Concert Hall.

By the time she reaches Burns Tower, tour attendees already are starting to message on Facebook Live.

Federico Mendoz types in the chat: “I am a prospective student and I love that you are doing these.”

“I think it is just lovely that you are doing these tours,” writes Naimah Muhammad. “It is great to see campus again.”

The tour continues with the legend of the columns outside the William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center, a mention of the draw of Trail Coffee and a stroll past several dormitories

Lagomarsino drops tidbits of local knowledge throughout the tour, including the filming of movie scenes on campus (one of the “Indiana Jones” movies and “Flubber”), the legends of several buildings, notable alumni, the two university rocks that are traditionally painted and more.

The tour included participants from around the world:

• “I am watching from Peru,” Vitali Hochstader says in the chat.
• “A big hello from Saudi Arabia,” adds Aiesh Alsharai ’84, an engineering graduate.
• “I graduated in ’02 and am watching from Singapore. It is so fun to show my daughters this,” posts Heather Hansen.

Lagomarsino gives a brief rundown on athletic facilities and talks about all the departments on the “other side of the river”—the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy, Pacific’s Department of Public Safety, Cowell Wellness Center, etc.

Stephen Cole, an alumnus with a long memory, adds a note of history: “The Quonset huts are gone!”

The tour wraps around past the Baun Fitness Center and the Donald and Karen DeRosa University Center to its conclusions. Lagomarsino then takes questions.

One of the final thank you messages in the Facebook comes from Kelly Lootz: “Great tour, I loved it!”

Lootz, recruitment manager for Pacific’s School of Health Sciences, gives similar tours for the Sacramento Campus.

Sacramento tour meshes campus, community

University of the Pacific’s Sacramento Campus has such diverse historic points, architecture and neighborhood that it takes a depth of knowledge to lead a tour.

Kelly Lootz is the right person.

Lootz, recruitment and outreach manager for Pacific’s School of Health Sciences, led a virtual tour of campus on Tuesday for prospective students, alumni and others. The tour took 25 minutes, but there was so much packed into that time.

“It’s a beautiful campus with so many interesting parts,” Lootz said.

For starters, the meshing of the Pacific campus and the historic Oak Park neighborhood makes for a unique setting. In a non-COVID world, there is an abundance of vibrancy in the area. Now, however, the campus and the surrounding area are quiet.

Lootz starts her tour near the Muddox Building, which houses the School of Health Sciences facilities for occupational therapy, social work, clinical nutrition and the physician assistant program.

“They all work together in a very interdisciplinary way,” Lootz said.

The arch at the entry to McClatchy Park park is an iconic landmark in a neighborhood where buildings house the university’s mailroom, Pacific Technology, faculty offices and more. That includes a building that once was the Sacramento Public Library.

While the tour continues, messages pop into the Facebook Live video.

“This campus is beautiful. Thank you so much for the tour,” posts Mary Hall.

There are houses dispersed throughout the neighborhood that are owned by the university. But they have been allowed to keep the architectural integrity of the area.

Lootz’s tour moves into the general campus footprint, which includes the beautiful quad area.

“It is an amazing green space. The beauty of it all comes together,” she said.

The quad area includes McGeorge School of Law, the campus library, a relaxing deck area and the iconic McGeorge House.

There also are apartments—from studios to two-bedrooms—a gymnasium, swimming pool and eating area/bookstore.

“We have Bon Appétit for our catering and they do such a wonderful job,” Lootz said. “They make amazing, seasonal food.”

Put all of the beauty and functionality together and what do you have? A campus that houses a vast array of undergraduate programs, graduate and professional degrees and student organizations.

“There is so much to take in, from east to west and from north to south on campus,” Lootz said. “We hope you will visit soon.”