Portland Magazine
June 21, 2024
A seasoned reporter reflects on his beginnings at UP’s newspaper.
Portland Magazine
June 21, 2024
A team of UP students is leveling up their studies with a nontraditional capstone project.
Portland Magazine
May 20, 2024
UP alum Sam Mowe ’22 sat down with author David James Duncan to discuss life and his new book.
Portland Magazine
May 20, 2024
Frustrated by religious language, this spiritual seeker found peace in quiet.
Portland Magazine
April 25, 2024
Steve Waters ’10 is back on The Bluff brewing beer and business.
Portland Magazine
April 25, 2024
Caryn Anderson ’97 won recognition as a 2023 Educator of the Year.
Portland Magazine
April 25, 2024
Advice from a national best-selling author on artificial intelligence in education and literature.
Portland Magazine
March 28, 2024
UP cross country runners Matt Strangio and Laura Pellicoro are breaking records and defying expectations.
Portland Magazine
March 28, 2024
Fr. Richard Berg’s book—Scars: The Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress on Family, Relationships, and Work—has been adapted into a feature film.
Portland Magazine
March 28, 2024
Mike Burton ’71, ’74 wants the US to clear the bombs it left behind in Laos 50 years ago.
Portland Magazine
February 20, 2024
University of Portland athletics enters into the landscape of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals with a focus on what’s best for the student athlete.
Portland Magazine
January 25, 2024
The story of an antique car and its ties to The Bluff continues to be written.
Portland Magazine
January 25, 2024
In September, Gloria Purvis spoke about racial justice as the 2023 Zahm Lecturer. She was last on The Bluff in 2022, when she was awarded an honorary doctorate from UP.
Portland Magazine
December 12, 2023
UP alum Kyle Bunch ’09, ’11 believes that making a positive impact in the lives of others is as simple as showing up.
Portland Magazine
December 8, 2023
For Fulbright Scholar Lauren Banks '23, the love of Mycology is in her roots.
Portland Magazine
December 8, 2023
A team of UP researchers is measuring Eliot Glacier on Mt. Hood. Understanding how fast it's melting will help agriculture in the valley below prepare for the future.
Portland Magazine
November 21, 2023
Alums and current students traveled all over Portland with the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival.
Portland Magazine
November 10, 2023
Rip City Remix brings a beloved Pilot—Pooh Jeter—back to The Bluff. His return to Chiles comes with a treasure trove of memories.
Portland Magazine
October 23, 2023
Jo Cecilio '11 returns to The Bluff to lead the Moreau Center for Service and Justice.
Portland Magazine
October 23, 2023
After the tourists go home, a museum's collection tells its own story.
Portland Magazine
October 23, 2023
UP explores the impact of AI tools on education and beyond.
Portland Magazine
September 14, 2023
Denver Backus '23 is working to help communities grow their own healthy produce.
Portland Magazine
September 13, 2023
Carling León '13 '17 believes Corporate Social Responsibility can attract fresh talent and help a business's bottom line.
Portland Magazine
September 13, 2023
University of Portland's new boathouse on the Willamette River is a turning point for the Pilots' rowing program.
Portland Magazine
August 10, 2023
A meditation on failure—its humbling persistence, its lessons, its (sometimes) astonishing beauty.
Portland Magazine
August 4, 2023
Ryan Darmody ’97 returns to The Bluff to lead UP's PACE program.
Portland Magazine
August 4, 2023
A new class on vocal technique and its health benefits—for the singer and non-singer alike.
Portland Magazine
July 27, 2023
An undergraduate researcher started to ask questions about the experiences of Japanese Americans after their incarceration on US soil during WWII. These “stories of return” are largely missing from the history books. She decided to do something about that.
Portland Magazine
Performing and Fine Arts
July 25, 2023
The story of an instrument and two of its makers, more than a century apart.
Portland Magazine
July 25, 2023
For one collector, set lists are a gateway to the good vibrations of the past.
Engineering
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2023
When Khalid Osman ’16 isn’t teaching engineering classes at Stanford University, he works on issues around water equity.
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2023
Nate Lynch ’19 likes that when he's mountaineering, his mind can't wander. He has to focus only on what’s in front of him: the next step, the next move.
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2023
Sometimes the struggle to attend Sunday Mass is real. And yet the peace he finds there still draws him in.
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2023
Maunakea is one of the most recognizable landmarks to my ancestors—my kupuna—who ventured to the Hawaiian Islands centuries ago.
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2023
My steps quickened as I left the Commons and bypassed the chapel toward my favorite spot, the bench on the south side of campus that looks out over the Willamette River. I was looking forward to precious time alone with my Creator.
Portland Magazine
April 1, 2023
We don't think it's a stretch to say our libraries—and the librarians who run them—are the backbone of a free and functioning democracy.
Portland Magazine
April 1, 2023
A pair of silver ears frame the path, and my gloved hands grip nubbled reins. Beams of autumn sun slant through golden leaves. A click and a nudge and we are trotting.
Portland Magazine
April 1, 2023
With characteristic humility and trust, Sr. Angela Hoffman, PhD, leaves UP for a new chapter as prioress of her Benedictine community.
Portland Magazine
April 1, 2023
During the early days of Covid, Major Maribel Ortega de Pacheco’s eldest son asked why she couldn’t stay home with him for online kindergarten. Maribel told him that she was “a boss” at work and had to go in.
Portland Magazine
March 1, 2023
In October, University of Portland’s Theater Department presented a workshop reading of its first commissioned play, Claire Willett’s How Can I Keep from Singing?
Portland Magazine
March 1, 2023
Thanks to a $404,000 grant from the NIH, Susan Murray, Associate Professor of Biology, will be leading students on a three-year research project.
Portland Magazine
March 1, 2023
When Columbia Pool—North Portland’s only indoor public pool—closed its doors in 2020, a group of UP researchers set out to understand the pool’s context and history—its story.
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2023
I wanted to send a shout-out to 2020 BSN graduate Valerie Chen. She joined the Labor and Delivery floor at PeaceHealth at RiverBend in Springfield, OR, at the beginning of the pandemic and has become a dynamic addition to the team.
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2023
This issue of Portland magazine organically grew into one about the places that make us who we are. University of Portland may very well be one of those places for you. The nature of the connections—sometimes intentional, sometimes full of mystery—that are forged in these holy places are worth examining and cherishing. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed pulling it together.
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2023
Portland’s most sustainable building is a feat of engineering that inspires hope, even awe. And two UP engineering alums helped usher it into existence.
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2023
A few years ago, after my wife and I married and had our first kid, we bought the house I grew up in. I think of this house as a sacred space.
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2023
Alan Herald ’68 maintains a sense of equilibrium by staying connected with the natural world. He took the awe-inspiring photo above on a private pilgrimage to Mount Rainier National Park.
Portland Magazine
January 1, 2023
With a raft of state-of-the-art technology, the E. L. Wiegand Environmental Laboratory will offer students unique research opportunities and supercharge UP’s Environmental Studies program.
Portland Magazine
January 1, 2023
This past summer the Buckley Center Gallery presented “Facing You,” a retrospective exhibit of artist Reed Clarke’s oil paintings.
Portland Magazine
December 1, 2022
Dean’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Founded by the parents of UP Regent and alum Kay Dean Toran, this business and its staying power tell a story about Black history—and Black success—in Portland.
Portland Magazine
December 1, 2022
Jesi Robison ’21 nabbed a dream job before she even graduated—working on Guillermo Del Toro’s stop motion animated film of the beloved children’s story Pinocchio.
Portland Magazine
December 1, 2022
Through the Moreau Center's Interns for Justice program, Anaís Larios-Maldonado '24 returned to the Oregon Child Development Coalition, a program she'd attended as a child.
Portland Magazine
October 24, 2022
In early September, Walter Thompson-Hernández ’09 returned to The Bluff for the first time in more than 10 years to share his short film—If I Go Will They Miss Me—for which he won a 2022 Sundance award. It is currently being adapted into a feature.
Portland Magazine
Athletics
October 24, 2022
How has UP's Merlo Field twice been named the best soccer field in the country? Through the meticulous care and devotion of Kevin White.
Portland Magazine
October 24, 2022
How an early struggle with words—along with two heroic reading specialists—paved the way for a young educator’s teaching philosophy.
Portland Magazine
October 19, 2022
As Fr. Charlie Gordon departs University of Portland for a new assignment abroad, he takes a moment to reflect on the contents of his steamer trunk and how they link him to family, memory, and faith.
Athletics
Portland Magazine
October 19, 2022
Filip Zivkovic ’10 transferred to UP as an undergraduate tennis player sixteen years ago and never left. As the new head coach of the women’s tennis team, he hopes to create the same sense of community and hospitality for his players that he has found here, first as a player, then as an assistant coach, and now at the helm of a team.
Portland Magazine
October 17, 2022
This summer, fifteen University of Portland faculty members embarked on a pilgrimage to the Basse-Normandie region of France. Their goal? A deeper connection to the school’s Holy Cross roots, including the order’s abiding commitment to community.
Portland Magazine
October 17, 2022
Robert D. Kelly, UP’s 21st president, comes to the role with faith, experience, and hope for transformation.
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2022
For years Brad Franco, chair of UP’s history department, had wanted to make a map of Portland. How fortuitous, then, that the Admissions team asked him to jump in and give it a try. They wanted a map to send to prospective students, one that highlighted the city’s neighborhoods, its parks, its famous food scene, and other cultural institutions—all the fun things that were waiting for them here.
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2022
A new building dedicated to the memory of a father and in service of UP’s talented Facilities Services Department.
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2022
(Re)claiming Black joy was the theme of UP’s 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, but what does it mean to reclaim Black joy? What does it look like? How do we create spaces for Black joy to thrive?
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 1, 2022
While scrambling to find toilet paper during the first March of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah Mooney ’96 received a call from her program director. He gave her the classic, anxiety-inducing phrase: “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.” The good news was that she won the 2019 Correctional Services Contractor of the Year award for the GED tutoring program she manages. The bad news was that she could no longer go to work. Columbia River Correctional Facility was on lockdown.
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2022
I like to imagine you holding this little magazine—the University’s message in a bottle—and wondering over the cover. What in the world is this magical creature?
Portland Magazine
Biology
Environmental Studies
June 1, 2022
The Oregon coast offers an of embarrassment of marine-life riches.
Portland Magazine
Environmental Studies
Biology
June 1, 2022
Tips from a marine biologist on how best to enjoy, protect, and explore Oregon's coast.
Commencement
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 1, 2022
At this year’s Commencement, Kunal Nayyar—UP alum from the class of 2003 and professional actor known best for his role in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory—addressed the graduates of 2022. He told them that anything is possible, and he was so funny, warm, and charming that it was hard not to believe him. What follows is a lightly edited excerpt of his speech.
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2022
On the surprising places you can find yourself while walking a labyrinth.
Portland Magazine
June 1, 2022
Delivering medical supplies to Ukraine renewed her faith in humanity
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2022
After a rigorous nation-wide search, University of Portland announced that Rob Kelly, PhD, will be UP’s 21st president, starting his term on July 1, 2022.
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2022
Mauricio Paz ’22 goes home to southern Oregon during school breaks to work in the vineyards with his family members. A pre-med biology and Spanish double-major, he isn’t afraid of hard work in the fields or in the classroom.
Portland Magazine
May 1, 2022
On the communal steps of the Ganges River in Varanasi, India, people take care of all kinds of business. Certain days are for laundry. I watched three women wrestling with an eighteen-meter-long sari in a stiff breeze, the multicolored fabric flapping and dancing in billows. They were ironing with the wind, and laughing all the while.
Portland Magazine
April 1, 2022
Where the author sees God in this “beautiful and broken world of ours.”
Portland Magazine
March 1, 2022
UP’s new men’s basketball coach has high hopes
Portland Magazine
March 1, 2022
The Oregon Historical Society honors the institution’s contributions to Portland
Portland Magazine
March 1, 2022
Danie Baker '11 and Brett Bankson '15 never saw cooking—or television—in the cards for their careers. But then Top Chef Amateurs came calling.
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2022
The photographer and I stood outside the church with the pastor and his wife, hoping to get the best light for a portrait. The pastor was somewhat new in the rapidly changing neighborhood, and we’d been talking to him for a story in part about gentrification in North Portland and his role and response to the changes affecting his parishioners.
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2022
When we were first put under quarantine in early 2020, Tori Ward ’16 was afraid to go outside for a long time. A quick trip to the grocery store was anxiety inducing, and seeing people outside en masse without their masks on made her feel unsafe. She hated the feeling and wanted to find a way to still stay healthy and active while also being able to stay socially distanced. That's when she found a pair of skates, and has been skating since early May 2020 and loving it.
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2022
For the span of her career Ami Ahern-Rindell has been working to understand—and eventually contribute to a cure for—a particular fatal genetic disease. Advances in science and technology are bringing her research closer to her goal. But the technology—CRISPR gene editing, specifically—raises a whole host of ethical questions.
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2022
The inspiration behind one UP alum’s pitch for more research into a rare genetic disease and potential gene therapies.
Portland Magazine
January 28, 2022
We asked you what you've been making during the pandemic and you didn't disappoint. Check out some of the inspiring things UP faculty, staff, professors, students, and alumni have created over the last two years.
Portland Magazine
January 1, 2022
University of Portland professor, Blair Woodard, shares observations of the art and resilience along the US–Mexico border, also known as La Línea.
Portland Magazine
January 1, 2022
Hector Mendoza, UP’s new campus minister for liturgical music, started his musical journey when he was only a child. By the age of seven, he was already performing percussion in the Venezuelan ensemble “El Sistema.”
Alumni
Portland Magazine
December 6, 2021
Danny McGarry '17 shares his favorite winter drink and the memories that go along with it as part of University of Portland's 25 Days 'til Christmas.
Athletics
Portland Magazine
December 1, 2021
WHEN LUIS ROBLES ’06 decided to retire from professional soccer after 14 seasons, he didn’t plan to tell anyone. He knew he was done the moment he’d broken his arm while playing for Inter Miami; why make a big deal out of it? He figured he’d just step back.
Portland Magazine
Athletics
December 1, 2021
UP’s legendary coach Clive Charles had a gift for offering small gestures that mattered to people, that still matter, even years after his passing. A former English football player, a defender for the Portland Timbers, the coach who led the Pilots to their first NCAA Championship during his 1986 to 2002 tenure, Charles mentored his athletes to achieve their maximum potential. Several made it to the highest levels of the sport. They became pro athletes, Olympians, World Cup winners. But even more than his successes on the field, his true legacy seems to come from how he treated people.
Portland Magazine
Admissions
December 1, 2021
Every fall, as students are settling in to new routines on campus, Cassy Esparza ’14, assistant director of admissions, hits the road in search of next year’s class. Her recruitment regions are Oregon, Utah, and New Mexico, and it’s not unheard of for her to have a day like she had a few weeks ago: visits with students at four different high schools in Albuquerque, then an hour-plus drive to Santa Fe for an evening meeting with students and parents. (She tries to remember to eat.) These trips involve long days and lots of miles, but the relationships she is building and the inroads she is making with students from historically marginalized populations make everything worth it.
Portland Magazine
November 24, 2021
Artist and author Makoto Fujimura visited University of Portland (via Zoom, from his studio in Princeton, NJ) in early September to give the Zahm lecture, an annual talk on faith and reason. Days later, on September 11, 2021, Fujimura relaunched the Kintsugi Academy, which he co-founded as a way to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, an event that gave his work new focus. What follows is an excerpt of Fujimura’s remarks.
Portland Magazine
November 24, 2021
On a race track in Wilsonville, Oregon, six University of Portland engineering students—otherwise known as the Pilot Speed Racing Team—stepped into their go-karts, strapped on their helmets, turned the ignitions, and approached the starting line, motors rumbling. The air smelled of gas and burning rubber. The flag rose. And they were off.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 24, 2021
For Ryan Szto ’21, the joy of engineering begins with the simple notion of being in the field. “I hated sitting behind a desk at school,” he says, “so I didn’t want to do that at work.” Ryan is a product validation engineer at Daimler, a truck manufacturer, whose offices are ten minutes away from campus. There, Ryan is working in the growing field of Daimler’s electric-powered semi-trucks.
Portland Magazine
November 24, 2021
Conor Eifler ’11, recipient of the Angus Bowmer Award for Drama from the 2021 Oregon Book Awards, speaks to Portland magazine about the genesis of his play You Cannot Undo This Action, which will receive a fully produced reading at University of Portland from September 22 to 26, 2021.
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2021
Where many saw dangerous, crumbling buildings, graffiti artists saw a canvas, and Janna Machalek ’08 saw an intriguing research opportunity.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
Recent graduate and set designer Kat Yo ’21 brings her passion for sustainability and Korean folklore—and her dazzling imagination—to UP’s stage.
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2021
As University of Portland's auto mechanic, Shaun Shepherd is responsible for maintaining every vehicle owned by the University. That’s well over 100 pieces of moving equipment—from electric carts to backhoes, high lifts, and lawn mowers.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
When David Austin graduated from UP’s newly minted MBA in Nonprofit Management program in 2013, he earned the Moreau Fellows Award for Outstanding Service and Leadership for his work with Mercy Corps. Turns out, that was just a hint of much—much—bigger things to come.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
In some ways, the pandemic changed the focus of Tara Benavente’s day-to-day work. In other ways, she is doing what she has always done since she graduated from UP in 2014—bringing her abiding belief in hospitality to the community where she lives.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2021
Dawn Nelson ’82, longtime kindergarten teacher for Portland Public Schools, says she’s “failing at retirement.” The main reason she hasn’t had too much downtime in the last year is her booming cookie business.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
Sometimes the student and the parent end up learning a thing or two.
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2021
Even during this difficult year, her joy has sustained her.
Portland Magazine
President
June 9, 2021
A reflection on UP’s 20th president and his cherished years on The Bluff.
Portland Magazine
May 26, 2021
Student Engineers Tackle Shoreline Trash
Alumni
Portland Magazine
May 26, 2021
Thoughts from Graduating Senior, Devonna Begay ’21.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
May 26, 2021
Gina Amato Yazzolino ’96 is UP’s—no, your—new director of alumni and parent relations, and she has hit the ground running here on The Bluff.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
March 9, 2021
Got questions about your camellias? Jim Nuccio ’72, co-owner of an 85-year-old family-run California nursery, has answers.
Portland Magazine
March 9, 2021
What the writer remembers about the Filipino food of his youth, what he forgets.
Business
Portland Magazine
March 9, 2021
After his first-place win in UP’s 2020 Pilots Venture Challenge invention track, accounting major and Entrepreneur Scholar Ryan Jarvis ’21 took second place in the 2020 Invent Oregon State Finals in the fall.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
March 9, 2021
The woodshop at the Holy Cross Court has become a place of refuge, especially during these days of endless video conferences. The stacks of maple, red oak, and cherry and our saws, planes, and chisels beckon us to imagine and create.
Portland Magazine
February 17, 2021
By purchasing land along Portland Harbor—known for its legacy of industrial pollution—University of Portland committed to a new level of environmental stewardship. The neighborhood is taking notice.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
Alumni
February 17, 2021
UP’s resident epidemiologist—Andrew Lafrenz ’02—has been working seven days a week since April. Not only is he directing the School of Nursing’s newest major in integrative health and wellness studies, but he has also been offering his expertise to local entities during the pandemic.
Portland Magazine
College of Arts and Sciences
February 17, 2021
Four University of Portland professors create a massive online interdisciplinary course with nearly two dozen faculty from four of UP's five schools with rave reviews from students and faculty.
International Student Services
Portland Magazine
February 17, 2021
Three Cambodian UP students reflect on distance learning in the COVID-19 era.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
February 17, 2021
Chelsea Cassens ’08 wants her eastern Oregon community to stay healthy. She works toward that goal as a nurse and as an advocate for the protection of public lands.
Portland Magazine
Athletics
January 21, 2021
For weeks, University of Portland’s men’s and women’s basketball teams navigated online classes and roamed a lifeless campus, as they fought off fears their season would never happen. On Oct. 14, the NCAA permitted its Division I basketball programs to begin preseason practices with regular coronavirus testing and other safeguards, and gyms across the United States opened doors for full-contact, five-on-five workouts and scrimmages. But of the 350 Division I programs, two—UP and crosstown rival Portland State—were forced to keep their doors closed, thanks to a perplexing decision by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to deny exemption requests by the schools to play through the Oregon Health Authority’s sports guidance.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
January 21, 2021
On a crab processor boat, in 1988, in the middle of a storm off the coast of Alaska, Kara Breuer ’95, MAT ’06 made a promise that if she survived, she’d go to college. It took the crew about 17 hours to make it home.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
January 21, 2021
Airline captain Anderson Johnson III ’90 has seen it all from the cockpit of his 747. From meteor showers and space shuttle launches, to watching the sun chase down the horizon near the North Pole. These days, Johnson is now focused on what he is carrying in the cargo of his UPS plane—the COVID-19 vaccine.
Portland Magazine
Development
November 18, 2020
Distance learning, while essential due to the pandemic, has presented new challenges for many University of Portland students. Aimee Morlatt '22, junior finance major and president of UP’s mental health advocacy group Active Minds, learned first-hand of students attending Zoom classes from their cars, missing lectures due to lack of internet service or being in different time zones (especially international students), along with other inequities and hardships.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
Sharif Morton ’21 writes a reflection about playing trombone.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
October 21, 2020
Kaia Sand ’94, executive director of Street Roots, the award-winning weekly social justice newspaper, admits she’s an “all-in” kind of a person. A poet and a journalist, she looks at the poet-physician William Carlos Williams as an example— someone who did house visits for patients and wrote poetry on prescription pads.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
Biology professor Katie O’Reilly and five undergraduate scientists have created new habitat for a colony of Purple Martins.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
A personal reflection on the new icon of the Ugandan Martyrs commissioned for the chapel in Shipstad Hall.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
A song and spiritual encouragement for continuing to work toward God’s kin-dom.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
After visiting The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, Taylor Stewart ’18 returned to the Northwest determined to advance racial justice in the present by looking squarely at the racism of Oregon’s past. His first goal was to honor and memorialize a man named Alonzo Tucker.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
Tate Harris is doing everything possible to make sure no one who’s eligible has an excuse not to vote.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
As UP's Acting President/Provost, Herbert Medina has his eye on revitalized curriculum, increased student retention and graduation rates, more opportunities for undergraduate research, and meaningful steps toward greater diversity and equity among students and faculty.
Portland Magazine
October 21, 2020
Ron Scott, UP's HVAC specialist, has seen it all in his 28 years caring for campus buildings.
Portland Magazine
September 24, 2020
Professor Karen Eifler, co-director of the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture, offers six reasons why it's possible to cultivate--despite pandemics, protests, and environmental catastrophes--a "sacramental imagination," the kind of imagination that finds grace and wonder in the smallest of things.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Education
September 23, 2020
John Stewart ’06 teaches ninth grade English and junior-level advanced placement (AP) language and serves as chair of the English department at Clackamas High School in Clackamas, OR. His 15-year career as a teacher has been marked by many challenges and rewards, but the closure of Oregon schools due to the COVID-19 outbreak has presented a unique set of challenges and impressions. We spoke to John shortly before the end of the spring 2020 semester.
Education
Portland Magazine
August 27, 2020
After Oregon schools shuttered for the academic year in March 2020, student teacher Makamae Nottage '20 was presented with about 30 questions from her third-grade classroom.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Nursing
August 27, 2020
Bailey Saleumvong '08 is a travel nurse currently based in Los Angeles. He cares for critically ill COVID patients and sees signs of hope even amid the pandemic.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Education
July 14, 2020
Renee Espinoza graduated from UP in 2009, then went on to get her master’s in curriculum and instruction with an ESL endorsement in 2010. She went to work for Portland Public Schools that year and currently teaches second grade at Astor Elementary School, mere blocks from the UP campus in North Portland. We reached out to Renee to share her insights and experiences during the switch to distance learning in March 2020.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
Because wilderness can be a balm for the pain in every human heart. Because we can quiet our minds and our voices and listen to the sounds of the trees, the rivers, the wind, the rain.
Alumni
Nursing
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
A nurse makes home visits during the pandemic. What does she see? Body, Mind, Emotion, Spirit, Dream.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Nursing
June 9, 2020
For many years I wasn’t able to articulate the value of a liberal arts education. But right now, particularly for nursing and particularly around COVID-19, I think about the value of the liberal arts education, about how I had courses in philosophy and ethics, how I feel very grounded in ethical decision-making.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
Kenechi “Kene” Anigbogu ’18 was a member of the 100th group of American Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Morocco. His Peace Corps service was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Army ROTC
June 9, 2020
When 1st. Lt. Beth Biggs ’18 received her orders on March 29, she was ready. She was in the Army ROTC program during her time at UP and is now part of the Oregon Army National Guard 141st Brigade Support Battalion’s COVID-19 response team, distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) throughout Oregon.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
Those among you who have attended a Rock the Bluff concert, a mainstay event at UP since 2012, probably didn’t know you have Sean Ducey ’13, ’19 MBA to thank for the tradition. He was only a junior when he founded the annual concert and learned that event planning and behind-the-scenes work was his calling.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2020
At the start of her four years at University of Portland Diana Salgado Huicochea ’20 felt overwhelmed and alone. Though a cradle Catholic, Diana had never attended Mass celebrated in English, and, unable to respond to the prayers, she felt like an imposter. Yet she returned, took pictures of the missal, and after finishing homework, practiced responses aloud nightly until she memorized them.
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
This is what it means to pray these days.
Mathematics
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
My kids like to tell me that I’m a doctor, but not a useful doctor, and that’s true. When the flight attendant asks, “Is there a doctor on the plane?” they don’t mean a PhD, and they certainly don’t mean someone who is especially helpful only in a mathematical emergency.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2020
Every day—even now, especially now—Fedele Bauccio ’64, ’66 is feeding people who need healthy food. In March he partnered with World Central Kitchen to feed passengers and crew quarantined on the Grand Princess cruise ship.
Portland Magazine
Athletics
Alumni
June 9, 2020
The University’s new baseball stadium will need to wait until next season for its premiere, so we’re taking this opportunity to look back on the blood, sweat, and puddle suckers that got us here.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2020
Engineering alum Evan Fontaine ’18, ’19 works in the prostheses lab at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) with a clear mission in mind: to make better prosthetics for growing and active children. Case in point: he and his team are working to set up a young patient to throw the first pitch at the National Softball Championship.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
On March 11, ESPN NBA reporter Malika Andrews ’17 landed in New York after a long flight from Los Angeles. Although she’d been scheduled to cover a game in Milwaukee, ESPN was pulling reporters back home. She did not yet know that the NBA would suspend its season due to concerns about COVID-19, or that she would be reporting on it that night.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
May 14, 2020
When COVID-19 forced the closure of in-person classes at University of Portland, the online learning posed a challenge to nursing students who were getting hands-on experience in clinical rotations. Nursing faculty quickly stepped in with a unique and timely learning opportunity.
Portland Magazine
May 14, 2020
On the occasion of what would have been her commencement, this first-generation college graduate reaches out to the woman who inspired her. Por motivo de la que habría sido su ceremonia de graduación, esta estudiante universitaria de primera generación le manda un reconocimiento a la mujer que la ha inspirado toda la vida.
Portland Magazine
Athletics
April 16, 2020
How UP hired women's basketball coach Michael Meek and turned a program around in one year.
Portland Magazine
April 15, 2020
A UP senior reflects on the final moments she didn't know were final.
Portland Magazine
April 15, 2020
What happens when an award-winning college math professor suddenly finds herself homeschooling her boys during the COVID-19 crisis? Sighs, grunts, frustration, and laughter.
Portland Magazine
Nursing
March 20, 2020
Junior nursing major Eileen Ryan '21 recently worked a community health rotation at Kenton Women's Village, a 14-pod village offering temporary housing to assist houseless women in the Portland area. Ryan talks about her work at KWV.
Portland Magazine
Biology
February 21, 2020
UP biology professor Tara Prestholdt won the 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Association of College and University Biology Educators (ACUBE). The award is offered annually to honor faculty who practice and promote effective, innovative teaching in the biology classroom.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2020
Rob Justus ’87 has a track record of building Portland-area housing—512 units and counting—for individuals on a fixed income. He’s just getting started.
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2020
A week in Olympic National Park teaches writer Rosette Royale to see the world through a new lens.
Portland Magazine
Garaventa Center
February 19, 2020
Linda Plitt Donaldson, associate dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Studies at James Madison University, came to University of Portland to speak about Catholic social justice icon Dorothy Day and the lessons we can still learn from her today. Donaldson also walked through the root cause of homelessness—the lack of affordable housing in this country—and the ways in which the “housing first” model—namely, getting people into secure housing and then tackling any other potential health issues second—is backed by evidence and research.
Athletics
Portland Magazine
February 17, 2020
Michael Meek took over the Pilot women's basketball program in April 2019. His goal: create a positive experience for his players. And win games along the way.
Nursing
Alumni
Portland Magazine
February 16, 2020
The Blanchet House has a long history with the University of Portland. Three alumnae--nursing professor Kelly Fox '90, Volunteers of America Oregon president and CEO Kay Toran '64, and nurse practitioner Emily Harrington '03, '06--are working to strengthen that relationship with the soon-to-open Harrington Health Clinic--a nurse-led clinic staffed with UP nursing students.
Portland Magazine
Campus Ministry
February 16, 2020
University of Portland dedicated a new Grotto at the Marian Garden on November 24. The work of Portland-area sculptors Mike Suri and Scott Foster, the Grotto offers a dedicated place for the University community to light a candle for a prayer or intention.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
February 15, 2020
Fully equipped hospital rooms and live actor "standardized patients" are part of University of Portland School of Nursing's Simulated Health Center, where student nurses practical clinical judgment as well as nursing skills.
Portland Magazine
February 14, 2020
Each hand-sewn stitch in Betty Lageson's quilts was a love note to its recipient. Her daughter Anna Lageson-Kerns reflects on her mother's special gift.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
February 14, 2020
When Reid Richards '88 died of cancer, his family honored his memory by starting the Reid JK Foundation to provide resources to children in Hawaii who have lost a parent.
Alumni
Athletics
Portland Magazine
February 14, 2020
A wide support network helped Donald Wilson thrive at University of Portland. He's returned to The Bluff as a broadcaster for men's basketball and "pays it forward" by working with several non-profits in the Vancouver, WA, area.
Portland Magazine
February 13, 2020
With horseradish, you’re playing with pungent, hot, peppery molecular fire, says Fr. Patrick Hannon, CSC, '82.
Portland Magazine
Residence Life
February 13, 2020
Carmen Ruiz, Villa Maria's housekeeper of six years, is the self-described "mom" of the dorm, and a salsa-loving parent of two studying to become a counselor.
Alumni
Athletics
Portland Magazine
February 12, 2020
From recreation tennis to the US Open, former Pilots tennis player Michael Dowse '89 now leads the US's national governing body for tennis.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Athletics
February 10, 2020
Rey Ortiz '19 was a Major League Soccer SuperDraft pick for FC Cincinnati. He's proud to be making his dreams come true, and equally proud to be a first-generation college student at University of Portland.
Engineering
Portland Magazine
January 24, 2020
Steve Johnson was born with a congenital heart disease for which he recently had heart valve surgery. As a prospective student, he learned that University of Portland is the alma mater of heart valve pioneer Donald P. Shiley, and his college choice immediately become obvious.
International Languages and Cultures
Psychology
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 5, 2019
Lupita Ruiz-Tolento '13 is the director of institutional development for SembraMedia, a nonprofit that supports independent digital journalism in Latin America.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 4, 2019
95-year-old Neal Hook '49 is still going strong. Find out the secret to his long and happy life.
Engineering
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 1, 2019
Juliana (Flores) Baza '13 earned a degree in mechanical engineering. After an internship at NASA, she took a job engineering bike helmets and was recruited by Nike to join its team as a shoe product engineer.
Engineering
Portland Magazine
November 1, 2019
Civil engineering alum Kevin Kelly '12 was the project engineer for Dundon-Berchtold Hall.
Campus Ministry
Portland Magazine
October 27, 2019
On a pilgrimage to El Salvador through the Office of Campus Ministry, University of Portland professors Maria Echenique and Karen Eifler met Tomasa, who shared with them her experiences during the Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992).
Alumni
Athletics
Portland Magazine
October 26, 2019
Rob Conner has been coaching track and cross country at University of Portland for 30 years. Along the way he's trained numerous All-Americans, tallied 34 conference titles, and led the men's team to three podium finishes in the national championships.
College of Arts and Sciences
Alumni
Portland Magazine
October 25, 2019
Nathan Sherfinski '05 spent the summer of 2010 answering calls to the White House Comment Line--an experience that taught him the art of listening.
Biology
Athletics
College of Arts and Sciences
Portland Magazine
October 25, 2019
Brianne Zbylicki '20 was making a name for herself on UP's rowing team and in the biology research labs. When cancer struck, she took a year off from sports and studies. Upon her return to campus, she found help and unwavering support in teammates, professors, and coaches.
Portland Magazine
October 25, 2019
Charlie Harris grows the uncommon--but deliciously infamous--Oregon Star tomatoes on his Flamingo Ridge Organic Farm in Gaston, OR. The tomatoes make their way to University of Portland each summer and star in several dishes served up in the Bon Appetit eateries on campus.
Political Science
Portland Magazine
College of Arts and Sciences
October 25, 2019
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) delivered the first-ever talk in Brian J. Doyle Auditorium. This is an excerpt of some of his remarks on voting and life in politics and as a public servant.
Portland Magazine
October 24, 2019
Physics professor Shannon Mayer extols the virtues of writing in margins of beloved texts.
Study Abroad
Biology
College of Arts and Sciences
Theology
Portland Magazine
Chemistry
October 24, 2019
For five summers, University of Portland has sent an interdisciplinary team of student and faculty researchers to an archeological dig site in Pollentia, Mallorca, Spain. Representing all areas of study at the University--from chemistry to theology and business to library science--members of UP PURE have gotten out in the field and done the slow, often back-aching, knee-crunching, centimeter-by-centimeter work of excavating artifacts of an ancient Roman city.
Portland Magazine
Business
Engineering
September 26, 2019
Two years after a devastating fire in the Columbia River Gorge, Pamplin School of Business economics professor Ruth Dittrich—an expert in the economics of climate change adaptation—and a team of students spent the summer conducting research to help the US Forest Service better understand where to focus trail maintenance and rehabilitation efforts.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
September 20, 2019
The old pile had to go, yes, but saying good-bye came a little harder than most of us expected. An ode to UP's gym-auditorium-swim center-intramural facility that graced campus from 1928 to 2017.
Portland Magazine
September 20, 2019
Fr. Claude Pomerleau, CSC, a longtime political science professor at University of Portland, died on July 21. Fellow Holy Cross priest Fr. Patrick Hannon, CSC '82, and former student Hank Smith '03 offer remembrances.
Portland Magazine
Mathematics
College of Arts and Sciences
June 25, 2019
What language would God use to describe the laws of nature? Mathematics, of course.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 24, 2019
Katherine Gamble rose to fame on the junior marksmanship circuit after an improbable perfect debut. She leaned into a carefully curated competition persona, but despite her successes, she questioned her place in the sport and her ambitions.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Franz Center
June 21, 2019
University of Portland's Entrepreneur Scholars program is turning 20. More than 300 students have participated in the program. Some ideas are still going strong; some have lived a full life; some flopped and inspired the next idea. Here are stories of five alumni from the program.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Franz Center
Engineering
June 21, 2019
Devin Ajimine recently graduated from University of Portland. He credits the Entrepreneur Scholars program with teaching him how to travel globally, network, and communicate clearly. Now a product manager at T-Mobile, Devin is also pursuing a master's in human centered design and engineering.
Alumni
Communication Studies
Franz Center
Portland Magazine
June 20, 2019
Molly (Sexton) Gowan '00, created an executive management seminar for parish priests for her Entrepreneur Scholar project. After graduation, she founded her own company and eventually found her way to corporate sales, noting that entrepreneurial skills are beneficial in every career.
Franz Center
Business
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 20, 2019
Entrepreneur Scholar alum Thomas Iwasaki '14 designed a customizable bluetooth speaker for his project and went on to a career at Nike. He's now the co-creator of Usonia, a business data company.
Portland Magazine
Business
Philosophy
Alumni
Franz Center
International Languages and Cultures
June 20, 2019
A life-long user of crutches, Vail Horton knew first-hand the need for an ergonomic crutch. With a team of fellow Entrepreneur Scholar students at University of Portland, he founded Keen--an innovative crutch company. He now runs a non-profit.
Alumni
Engineering
Portland Magazine
International Languages and Cultures
Franz Center
June 20, 2019
A 2015 graduate with degrees in engineering management and Spanish, Fatima Ruiz Villatoro's Entrepreneur Scholar student project of decorating hospital rooms for terminally ill children turned into a career project managing medical facility construction.
Portland Magazine
Environmental Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Theology
June 19, 2019
Russ Butkus combined his theological background with a passion for protecting the environment during this 34 years at University of Portland. Along with Steve Kolmes, he founded the environmental studies majors on campus, writing an award-winning textbook along the way.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 19, 2019
University of Portland's Praying Hands War Memorial is the only marker on U.S. soil for alum John H. Carroll, Jr., who perished in World War II. His family only recently discovered its existence.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Business
Athletics
June 17, 2019
After Travis Vetters successfully donated a kidney to his friend and baseball teammate Gus Little, the connection between them remains strong.
Social Work
Alumni
Portland Magazine
College of Arts and Sciences
June 17, 2019
When Itzel Moreno-Vega noticed that many of the students at Cesar Chavez School in North Portland were coatless during the winter months, she turned to Operation Warm to provide coats to every single student.
Education
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 17, 2019
Under the mentorship of Bonnie Robb ('95, '01 MEd, '16 EdD), Dylan Hite '19 used best practices in neuroeducation to help second graders at Duniway School in Portland understand and learn new concepts.
Garaventa Center
Portland Magazine
June 17, 2019
In March 2019, Christopher Pramuk, Chair of Ignatian Imagination and Thought at Regis University, came to University of Portland and spoke to a packed room in Franz Hall. What follows is an excerpted version of his talk, “Amazing Grace: Diversity, Deep Listening, and the Anatomy of a Song.”
Portland Magazine
Athletics
June 16, 2019
A last-minute entry into the French Cross Country Championships earns Emmuanel Roudolff-Levisse his first national title--a feat also accomplished by his father more than three decades ago.
Portland Magazine
June 14, 2019
Writer Philip Metres asks (and answers), "Why, in spite of the betrayals of my Church, do I keep coming back?"
Athletics
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 7, 2019
University of Portland alumni and former Pilot soccer stars Megan Rapinoe '08 (USA), Christine Sinclair '06 (Canada), and Sophie Schmidt '10 (Canada) are set to lead their countries on the world stage at the Women's World Cup, June 7-July 7 in France.
Alumni
Political Science
Portland Magazine
April 25, 2019
Walter Thompson-Hernandez ’09 is a member of the “Surfacing” team at The New York Times, which features stories about underrepresented communities and subcultures around the world. Walter was a contributor to the Winter 2019 issue of Portland Magazine. We caught up with Walter to ask him a few more questions about his fascinating work and his time at UP.
Portland Magazine
Moreau Center
April 25, 2019
Lauren Urbina '20, a participant in the North Portland Civil Rights Immersion in October 2018, took an internship at Village Gardens in the New Columbia Neighborhood of North Portland. Lauren talks about her experiences at this community partner.
Portland Magazine
Nursing
Recreational Services
February 22, 2019
Cassidy Smith '20 is a nursing major with a passion for rock climbing.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Performing and Fine Arts
February 22, 2019
Michael O’Neill ’10 (MFA) travels the world with an international organization called Clowns Without Borders.
Alumni
Engineering
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2019
J'reyesha "Jay" Brannon '15 is a construction manager with the Portland Water Bureau and dedicated to mentoring young children and women of color in the engineering field.
Alumni
Engineering
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2019
Joel Rosinbum '04 is a software engineer for Black Locus in Austin, TX, and a member of the board of directors for USA Triathlon.
Portland Magazine
Biology
February 21, 2019
Biology and environmental studies professor Tara Prestholdt may have redefined the word “sabbatical” with a research trip on motorcycle from Portland to the southern tip of South America.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
February 20, 2019
The founder of Girls Build teaches girls to take on the trades with confidence, spunk, and imagination. Here’s what first inspired her to pick up a hammer.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
February 19, 2019
Tatjana Jerkovic-Walls '19 spent years working as an ER technician at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. With the help of the Ralph and Sandra Richardson Miller Endowed Scholarship, this working mom will soon graduate with a nursing degree from University of Portland.
Portland Magazine
February 18, 2019
Omar El Akkad, Portland-based author of the national bestseller American War, spoke at UP about the experiences that inspired him to write a novel about a young woman—an American refugee from the southern US—who radicalizes after a fictitious second civil war.
Portland Magazine
January 31, 2019
Psychology professor Sarina Saturn and postdoctoral student Deirdre Katz--along with 20 undergraduate research assistants--are studying babies, mothers, and grandmothers to measure inherited traits that are influenced by the life and circumstances of generations past.
Portland Magazine
January 31, 2019
University of Portland's first North Portland Civil Rights Immersion.
Portland Magazine
January 31, 2019
How one writer aims to complicate the narratives we think we know—and shine a warm light on those we don’t.
Portland Magazine
January 18, 2019
Last summer 12 UP faculty went on a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Holy Cross order. Here is one pilgrim’s meditation on the man who started it all.
Business
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Athletics
Nursing
September 24, 2015
Gus Little was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. His former baseball teammate Travis Vetters gave him one. Is this the ultimate University of Portland "story"? Editor Brian Doyle says yes.
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