Commencement
April 5, 2023
The resilient, exceptional Class of 2023 will be honored at two University of Portland commencement ceremonies set for Sunday, May 7 at the University’s Chiles Center. Graduating seniors, most of whom started college in the fall of 2019, persevered through mask-wearing and online learning over pandemic-affected stretches of 2020 and 2021 to earn degrees and a celebratory moment on the 2023 commencement stage.
The University will confer honorary doctorates on seven distinguished candidates, including Ari Shapiro, its 2023 Commencement Speaker. A weekday co-host of All Things Considered, National Public Radio’s award-winning afternoon news magazine, Shapiro grew up in Portland. His mother, Elayne Shapiro, PhD, taught communication studies at UP and is an Associate Professor Emerita.
The University’s highest honor, the Christus Magister Medal, will be given to Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B. Recently retired U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont will be one of four to receive an honorary degree for public service.
“The 2023 class of University of Portland Commencement Honorees is truly extraordinary,” said University of Portland President Robert D. Kelly, PhD. “These leaders and trailblazers in journalism, ministry, scholarship, health care, public service and sport embody the values that the University strives to instill in its graduates. It is UP’s great honor to confer honorary degrees upon them and to henceforth consider them proud alumni of our institution.”
Commencement weekend activities at the Chiles Center begin on Saturday, May 6 with the School of Nursing & Health Innovations Pinning Ceremony at 11:15 a.m., followed by the University’s Joint Air Force and Army ROTC Commissioning Ceremony at 1:45 p.m.
Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson, United States Army, I Corps commanding general at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, will give the ROTC Commissioning Address. Commissioned in 1990, Lt. Gen. Brunson previously served as deputy commanding general of I Corps, commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division, chief of staff of XVIII Airborne Corps and deputy commanding general—operations of the 10th Mountain Division.
University of Portland 2023 Commencement Day Schedule and Honorary Degree Information:
Sunday, May 7 — Chiles Center:
About Ari Shapiro: Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree – Humane Letters: Shapiro joined NPR’s All Things Considered as a weekday co-host in 2015. Prior to that, Shapiro served as NPR's International Correspondent based in London, traveling the world to cover a wide range of topics for NPR's national news programs. He has reported from above the Arctic Circle and aboard Air Force One. He has covered wars in Iraq, Ukraine and Israel, and he has filed stories from five continents. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Yale University, Shapiro’s talents include singing. He has performed at many of the world’s storied venues, including Carnegie Hall, and makes guest appearances with Portland’s own “little orchestra” Pink Martini, whose recent albums feature several of his contributions.
CHRISTUS MAGISTER MEDAL
Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B. – Receiving the University’s highest honor, the Christus Magister Medal, Abbot Jeremy Driscoll is the 12th abbot of Mount Angel Abbey, selected by the community in 2016. Ordained a priest in 1981, Abbot Jeremy has taught theology at Mount Angel Seminary and at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. He serves on various Vatican commissions, conducts conferences and retreats and continues to write and publish.
HONORARY DEGREE – HUMANE LETTERS
Michael E. Nelson ’76 — An esteemed Portland businessman and member of the University of Portland Board of Regents, Nelson is chief executive officer of the Walter E. Nelson Company, the largest family-owned janitorial, chemical and paper distributor in the Pacific Northwest. Honoring the company founder and family patriarch, the Walter E. Nelson Facilities Services Building opened in May 2022 on the University’s Franz River Campus.
HONORARY DEGREE – PUBLIC SERVICE
Kupiri Ackerman-Barger, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN is associate dean for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and a clinical professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at University of California, Davis. As a national consultant and speaker, Dr. Ackerman-Barger advocates for underserved and underrepresented groups in health professions. Her interdisciplinary work has been recognized through American Academy of Nurses fellowships, and the 2019 UC Davis Charles P. Nash Award. Dr. Ackerman-Barger will give the address at the University’s School of Nursing & Health Innovations Pinning Ceremony on Saturday, May 6.
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy served as a United States Senator in Vermont from 1975 through his retirement in 2023. His 48-year tenure is third-longest in U.S. Senate history. He served as U.S. Senate president pro tempore from 2012 to 2015 and from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee, casting more than 17,000 votes and serving alongside more than 400 senators.
Steve Moore, PhD, CEO Emeritus of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, served more than 16 years as the Trust’s chief executive officer. In more than a quarter-century devoted to higher education, Moore taught world religions and ethics, served as vice president for campus life at Baylor University and Seattle Pacific University, and served as senior vice president at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Moe O’Connor served five decades as a college sports administrator and educator, including 30 years on the physical education faculty at Portland Community College. O’Connor served as the University of Portland’s first women’s athletic director from 1979-1986, laying the foundation for a Pilot women’s program that would go on to achieve national prominence in NCAA Division I athletics.
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