News - Portland Magazine

The staff of the Beacon newspaper in 1985

Beacon Memories

Portland Magazine

A seasoned reporter reflects on his beginnings at UP’s newspaper.

Two students work at a computer in a lab

Computer Science Majors Make a Fantasy-Western Video Game

Portland Magazine

A team of UP students is leveling up their studies with a nontraditional capstone project.

The cover of David James Duncan's book Sun House

New Causes for Hope

Portland Magazine

UP alum Sam Mowe ’22 sat down with author David James Duncan to discuss life and his new book.

DAY AND NIGHT SCULPTURE BY MIKE WSOL, PHOTOGRAPHED BY GLENN JOSEY OF PLOUGH GALLERY IN TIFTON, GEORGIA

Speaking of Silence

Portland Magazine

Frustrated by religious language, this spiritual seeker found peace in quiet.

Steve and Michele Waters

Backwoods Comes Back Home

Portland Magazine

Steve Waters ’10 is back on The Bluff brewing beer and business.

Caryn Anderson

At the Heart of Education

Portland Magazine

Caryn Anderson ’97 won recognition as a 2023 Educator of the Year.

An illustration of a factory with a network of conveyor belts lined with books that all look the same with a central funnel feeding the belts with an outpouring of myriad different books from above.

Beware the AI Shortcut

Portland Magazine

Advice from a national best-selling author on artificial intelligence in education and literature.

Side by side images of Matt Strangio and Laura Pellicoro mid-run during their cross-country races.

Two All-Timers Hit Their Stride

Portland Magazine

UP cross country runners Matt Strangio and Laura Pellicoro are breaking records and defying expectations.

Father Berg stands smiling in a library holding a copy of his book "Scars"

Light to Hidden Suffering

Portland Magazine

Fr. Richard Berg’s book—Scars: The Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress on Family, Relationships, and Work—has been adapted into a feature film.

Mike Burton kneels alongside a volunteer crouched over a detonator at they prepare to remotely detonate an unexploded ordinance in Laos.

The Legacies of War

Portland Magazine

Mike Burton ’71, ’74 wants the US to clear the bombs it left behind in Laos 50 years ago.

A close-in image of UP Basketball player Tyler Robertson is seated on a sport court bench surrounded by children as he autographs a t-shirt.

For Love or Money

Portland Magazine

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.

Maddie Tran, a UP alum, stands on a plinth block with her arm raised, with three women standing beside beside her in admiration during a scene from a theatrical production of the musical Hair.

Starshine

Portland Magazine

Maddie Tran ’18 took Portland Center Stage by storm.

Bill Hoaglan stands next to "Higby" a 1925 FLINT Model H-40 antique car

Higby Came Home

Portland Magazine

The story of an antique car and its ties to The Bluff continues to be written.

Gloria Purvis

Hope in a Broken World

Portland Magazine

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.

Kyle Bunch sits at an outdoor table under tents with several people gathered for a party.

Showing Up

Portland Magazine

UP alum Kyle Bunch ’09, ’11 believes that making a positive impact in the lives of others is as simple as showing up.

A close-up of Lauren Banks hands cradling a small delicate mushroom.

Foraging Her Way to France

Portland Magazine

For Fulbright Scholar Lauren Banks '23, the love of Mycology is in her roots.

Kiya Riverman smiles into the camera with Mt. Hood in the back

Elegy for a Glacier

Portland Magazine

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.

Actors in the park at the Original Practice Shakespeare performance.

UP Actors Perform Shakespeare in the Parks

Portland Magazine

Alums and current students traveled all over Portland with the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival.

An illustration of Our Lady of Guadalupe surrounded by roses.

Our Lady

Portland Magazine

Where Mary shows up—two centuries, two stories.

A portrait image of Pooh Jeter at the Chiles Center

Home Court

Portland Magazine

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 Fall 2023 cover

Editor's Note—Fall 2023

Portland Magazine

Fellow Travelers

Jo Cecilio

Full Circle

Portland Magazine

Jo Cecilio '11 returns to The Bluff to lead the Moreau Center for Service and Justice.

Sculptures cast shadows on the walls of a museum at night.

Night at the Vatican

Portland Magazine

After the tourists go home, a museum's collection tells its own story.

A student sits in front of a laptop computer.

Investigating AI

Portland Magazine

UP explores the impact of AI tools on education and beyond.

Hands hold a plant in the purple light of a greenhouse

Seedlings of a Big Idea

Portland Magazine

Denver Backus '23 is working to help communities grow their own healthy produce.

Carling Leon

The Triple Bottom Line

Portland Magazine

Carling León '13 '17 believes Corporate Social Responsibility can attract fresh talent and help a business's bottom line.

The boathouse in the morning light

Head of the Willamette

Portland Magazine

University of Portland's new boathouse on the Willamette River is a turning point for the Pilots' rowing program.

Central Motif

The Central Motif

Portland Magazine

A meditation on failure—its humbling persistence, its lessons, its (sometimes) astonishing beauty.

Ryan Darmody

One Teacher at a Time

Portland Magazine

Ryan Darmody ’97 returns to The Bluff to lead UP's PACE program.

Nicole Leupp Hanig

Finding Your Voice

Portland Magazine

A new class on vocal technique and its health benefits—for the singer and non-singer alike.

after-the-war

After the War

Portland Magazine

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.

music-and-guitar

The First Real Six-String

Portland Magazine

Performing and Fine Arts

The story of an instrument and two of its makers, more than a century apart.

every-note

Every Note is a Memory

Portland Magazine

For one collector, set lists are a gateway to the good vibrations of the past.

Khalid Osman

An Important Role for Engineers

Engineering

Portland Magazine

When Khalid Osman ’16 isn’t teaching engineering classes at Stanford University, he works on issues around water equity.

Climber on an snowy mountain

Balancing Act

Portland Magazine

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.

Church pews.

Finding My Better Self

Portland Magazine

Sometimes the struggle to attend Sunday Mass is real. And yet the peace he finds there still draws him in.

Maunakea

Maunakea

Portland Magazine

Maunakea is one of the most recognizable landmarks to my ancestors—my kupuna—who ventured to the Hawaiian Islands centuries ago.

Bench

The Bench on The Bluff

Portland Magazine

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.

Library entrance sign

We ❤️ Libraries

Portland Magazine

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.

Horse walking down a path

Astride

Portland Magazine

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.

Angela Hoffman

On Faith

Portland Magazine

With characteristic humility and trust, Sr. Angela Hoffman, PhD, leaves UP for a new chapter as prioress of her Benedictine community.

Major Maribel Ortega de Pacheco and her children

Always Ready, Always There

Portland Magazine

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.

Music notes

Make It New

Portland Magazine

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?

Susan Murray

Groundbreaking Grant for Prostate Cancer Research

Portland Magazine

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.

Columbia Pool

Goodbye, Columbia

Portland Magazine

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.

Valerie Chen and Kathy Nice

Pilot Shout-out

Portland Magazine

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.

big small world

Big-Small World

Portland Magazine

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.

Living building

It's Alive!

Portland Magazine

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.

Monteith house

The Monteith House

Portland Magazine

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.

aurora borealis

An Alpine Sanctuary

Portland Magazine

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.

Illustration of A River Runs in It

A River Runs in It

Portland Magazine

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.

Reed Clarke

Therapist, Poet, Writer, Artist

Portland Magazine

This past summer the Buckley Center Gallery presented “Facing You,” a retrospective exhibit of artist Reed Clarke’s oil paintings.

Inside Dean's Beauty Salon

A Sacred & Historic Space

Portland Magazine

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.

Jesi Robison

From Puppets to Props

Portland Magazine

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.

Anaís Larios-Maldonado

She Persisted

Portland Magazine

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.

Students listen to Walter Thompson-Hernández during an on-campus event.

A Screening & Conversation with a Film Director

Portland Magazine

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.

Kevin White Athletics Field Manager

Where the Grass Is Always Greener

Portland Magazine

Athletics

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.

Illustration of kids reading in the clouds

A Reading Room of Her Own

Portland Magazine

How an early struggle with words—along with two heroic reading specialists—paved the way for a young educator’s teaching philosophy.

Suitcase

Wherever I Go

Portland Magazine

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.

Filip Zivkovic

Advantage UP

Athletics

Portland Magazine

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.

ST. BENÔIT BENEDICTINE MONASTERY, BAYEUX

In the Footsteps of Basil Moreau

Portland Magazine

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.

Dr. Robert Kelly

The Making of a President

Portland Magazine

Robert D. Kelly, UP’s 21st president, comes to the role with faith, experience, and hope for transformation.

map of portland

A Map of Home

Portland Magazine

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.

Walter E. Nelson Facilities Services Building

In Honor of Hard Work

Portland Magazine

A new building dedicated to the memory of a father and in service of UP’s talented Facilities Services Department.

Blackonteurs on stage

Blackonteurs Brings Black Joy to Life on Stage

Portland Magazine

(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?

Sarah Mooney ’96

Committed to Her Students

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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 summer 2022 issue cover

On Beauty, Work, and Hope

Portland Magazine

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? 

Tide pool coastal map

Where to Tide Pool

Portland Magazine

Biology

Environmental Studies

The Oregon coast offers an of embarrassment of marine-life riches. 

Tara Prestholdt among the mussels

How to Tide Pool

Portland Magazine

Environmental Studies

Biology

Tips from a marine biologist on how best to enjoy, protect, and explore Oregon's coast.

Kunal Nayyar addresses students at commencement

Our Corner of the Cosmos

Commencement

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Labyrinth

At the Center is Joy

Portland Magazine

On the surprising places you can find yourself while walking a labyrinth.

Labyrinth at The Grotto.

Labyrinths of Oregon

Portland Magazine

Plus, an insight at Porland's Grotto

 Alena Romanyuk at the airport with baggage

What One Person Can Do

Portland Magazine

Delivering medical supplies to Ukraine renewed her faith in humanity

Rob Kelly, PhD

Introducing UP’s 21st President

Portland Magazine

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.

Mauricio Paz harvesting grapes.

¡Échale Ganas!

Portland Magazine

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.

Laundry on the Ganges River.

Ironing

Portland Magazine

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. 

Getting My Bearings illustration

Getting My Bearings

Portland Magazine

On the steadying force of a good godfriend.

Screenporch as Prayer illustration

Screenporch as Prayer

Portland Magazine

A moment, caught and complex.

Bits and Pieces illustration

Bits and Pieces

Portland Magazine

Where the author sees God in this “beautiful and broken world of ours.”

Shantay Legans

Shantay Legans Arrives on the Bluff

Portland Magazine

UP’s new men’s basketball coach has high hopes

Blanchet House

The Blanchet House Celebrates 70 Years

Portland Magazine

The Oregon Historical Society honors the institution’s contributions to Portland

Chef's plating

Two Pilot Chefs, One Reality Show Coincidence

Portland Magazine

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.

Adam Guggenheim

Partners in Story

Portland Magazine

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.

Librarian on roller skates.

Librarian on Wheels

Portland Magazine

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. 

Working in the lab

Hope Through a Microscope

Portland Magazine

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.

Tommy Pham ’09, MBA ’11 and his son Raiden

Meet Raiden

Portland Magazine

The inspiration behind one UP alum’s pitch for more research into a rare genetic disease and potential gene therapies.

Painted wall

What You've Been Making

Portland Magazine

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.

Border wall leading into the ocean.

The Line

Portland Magazine

University of Portland professor, Blair Woodard, shares observations of the art and resilience along the US–Mexico border, also known as La Línea.

UP’S new campus minister for liturgical music Hector Mendoza

Beauty, Holiness, Connection

Portland Magazine

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.”

coquito

Cool Coquito, Warm Memories

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Luis Robles sitting on a sofa outside.

Humble Keeper

Athletics

Portland Magazine

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.   

Coach Clive Charles

The Clive Effect

Portland Magazine

Athletics

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.

Cassy Esparza

Right There, Right Here

Portland Magazine

Admissions

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.

Artwork: Black KintsugiIso

Entry Point

Portland Magazine

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.

Cars driving around track.

Engineering Students Race in the Electric Vehicle Grand Prix

Portland Magazine

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.

Ryan Szto

Electric Truckin'

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Image of Connor Eifler.

Back to UP's Stage

Portland Magazine

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.

Man walking in front of building with graffiti

They Were Here

Portland Magazine

Where many saw dangerous, crumbling buildings, graffiti artists saw a canvas, and Janna Machalek ’08 saw an intriguing research opportunity.

Kat Yo

Follow Your Dragon

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Recent graduate and set designer Kat Yo ’21 brings her passion for sustainability and Korean folklore—and her dazzling imagination—to UP’s stage.

Shaun Shepherd

Apples to Engines

Portland Magazine

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.

David Austin

Nobel Peace Prize 2020

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Tara Benavente

Neighbor to Neighbor

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Cookie photo courtesy of Dawn Nelson

Life Through Cookies

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Illustration by Jason Sturgill

Super Cool

Portland Magazine

Retired reading specialist to the rescue.

Illustration by Jason Sturgill

302 from 2037

Portland Magazine

The professor she never knew she needed.

Illustration by Jason Sturgill

Amazing

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Sometimes the student and the parent end up learning a thing or two.

Collage by Heather Polk

My Joy: Even This Year, It Has Sustained Her.

Portland Magazine

Even during this difficult year, her joy has sustained her.

Father Mark Poorman

Father Mark: UP’s President, Professor, and Priest

Portland Magazine

President

A reflection on UP’s 20th president and his cherished years on The Bluff.

Shiley School of Engineering students

Sometimes the Answer Is in the Right Question

Portland Magazine

Student Engineers Tackle Shoreline Trash

Devonna Begay

It Is Up to You

Alumni

Portland Magazine

Thoughts from Graduating Senior, Devonna Begay ’21.

Gina Amato Yazzolino

Introducing Gina

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Illustration by Leia Kaprov

Light in a Pandemic

Portland Magazine

A poem by Alicia Jo Rabins.

Hands holding flower pot

Winter Bloom

Alumni

Portland Magazine

Got questions about your camellias? Jim Nuccio ’72, co-owner of an 85-year-old family-run California nursery, has answers.

bowls of food on table

Oxtail on My Mind

Portland Magazine

What the writer remembers about the Filipino food of his youth, what he forgets.

Ryan Jarvis

Student Wins for Safe Dosage Invention

Business

Portland Magazine

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.

Father Dan Parrish

Grace and the Woodshop

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

University of Portland campus from above

The Cleanup

Portland Magazine

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.

Andrew Lafrenz

COVID Investigator, Columbia County

Nursing

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Illustration

The World Is the Classroom

Portland Magazine

College of Arts and Sciences

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.

Studying Abroad from Portland

International Student Services

Portland Magazine

Three Cambodian UP students reflect on distance learning in the COVID-19 era.

Chelsea Cassens

Healer, Hunter, Mentor, Mom

Nursing

Portland Magazine

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.

UP women's basketball team

No Game for Granted

Portland Magazine

Athletics

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.

Kara Breuer

On Curiosity and Chemistry

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Anderson Johnson III

Pilot's Pilot

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

University of Portland campus from above

Students Walk with Students: Intersectional Hope & Healing Fund

Portland Magazine

Development

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.

Sharif Morton

Vantage Point

Portland Magazine

Sharif Morton ’21 writes a reflection about playing trombone.

Kaia Sand

Rising to Our Humanity

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Birds flying

Meet The Martins

Portland Magazine

Biology professor Katie O’Reilly and five undergraduate scientists have created new habitat for a colony of Purple Martins.

Martyrs of Uganda

Encounter

Portland Magazine

A personal reflection on the new icon of the Ugandan Martyrs commissioned for the chapel in Shipstad Hall.

Beyond The Waves by Jeni Le

Don’t Sit Down Now That You’ve Come This Far

Portland Magazine

A song and spiritual encouragement for continuing to work toward God’s kin-dom.

Taylor Stewart

The Truth About Alonzo

Portland Magazine

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.

Tate Harris

Your Vote Matters

Portland Magazine

Tate Harris is doing everything possible to make sure no one who’s eligible has an excuse not to vote.

Herbert Medina

UP's Acting President/Provost

Portland Magazine

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.

Ron Scott

HVAC is Cool

Portland Magazine

Ron Scott, UP's HVAC specialist, has seen it all in his 28 years caring for campus buildings.

Reeds at sunset

Sipping Like Babette

Portland Magazine

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.

John Stewart

A Classroom is Kind of Home

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Education

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.

Makamae Nottage

30 Questions with Third Graders (About COVID-19)

Education

Portland Magazine

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.

Bailey Saleumvong

Here Comes the Sun: Travel Nurse Works with COVID-19 Patients

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Nursing

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.

Renee Espinoza smiling

A Philosophy of Compassion: Renee Espinoza '09, '10

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Education

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.

Illustration of woods and mountain landscape

When Nurses Speak, We Listen: Why Bother With Wilderness?

Nursing

Portland Magazine

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.

Illustration of nurse speaking to elderly couple over a computer

When Nurses Speak, We Listen: A Reminder

Alumni

Nursing

Portland Magazine

A nurse makes home visits during the pandemic. What does she see? Body, Mind, Emotion, Spirit, Dream.

Jennifer Graves sitting on hospital cot

When Nurses Speak, We Listen: On Ethical Leadership

Alumni

Portland Magazine

Nursing

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.

Kenechi “Kene” Anigbogu

Resilience: Kenechi “Kene” Anigbogu ’18

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Beth Biggs

Here for You: 1st. Lt. Beth Biggs ’18

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Army ROTC

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.

Sean Ducey

For the Students: Sean Ducey ’13, ’19 MBA

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Diana Salgado Huicochea

Devotion: Diana Salgado Huicochea '20

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Cherries on a paper bag by SOMEGIRL/123RF.COM

Paying Attention to My Neighbors

Portland Magazine

This is what it means to pray these days.

Illustration of Stephanie Anne Salomone

Math at Home for Grandpa Gabe

Mathematics

Portland Magazine

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.

Fedele Bauccio

The Dream is Intact

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Etzel field on University of Portland campus

If You Build It…

Portland Magazine

Athletics

Alumni

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.

Evan Fontaine

First Pitch

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

UP students with alumna Clare Duffy in New York

Beacon Reporters Past and Present on the Ground in New York City

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

close-up of hands typing on a laptop keyboard.

When Clinical Rotations Were Cut Short, the School of Nursing Found a Solution

Nursing

Portland Magazine

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.

Ailyn Monarrez and her mom

That Moment/El Momento: A Letter from a Graduate to Her Mother

Portland Magazine

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.

Michael Meek and Megan Engesser

The Road To Meek

Portland Magazine

Athletics

How UP hired women's basketball coach Michael Meek and turned a program around in one year.

Kianni Demmert in purple scrubs

Last Moments

Portland Magazine

A UP senior reflects on the final moments she didn't know were final.

child cross im from impossible above a math problem on chalkboard

Chair of the UP Math Department Teaches Math at Home to Her Own Children: A Cautionary Tale in Three Acts

Portland Magazine

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.

Eileen Ryan

Q&A with Eileen Ryan at Kenton Women's Village

Portland Magazine

Nursing

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.

portrait of Tara Prestholdt

True Mentor: UP Biology professor Tara Prestholdt

Portland Magazine

Biology

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.

Rob Justus

Rob Justus '87 transforms lives building affordable housing

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Sunset in Olympic National Park

Home and Free: A photographer facing homelessness teaches a city writer to see nature in a new way

Portland Magazine

A week in Olympic National Park teaches writer Rosette Royale to see the world through a new lens.

Dorothy Day

James Madison professor Linda Plitt Donaldson offers lessons on ending homelessness by following in the footsteps of Dorothy Day

Portland Magazine

Garaventa Center

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.

Michael Meek in timeout circle with players

Meet Michael Meek: New women's basketball coach has big plans for the team

Athletics

Portland Magazine

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.

Kay Toran, Kelly Fox, and Emily Harrington outside the Blanchet House

The clinic the house built: Alumnae Emily Harrington, Kay Toran, and Kelly Fox work to add nursing services at the Blanchet House

Nursing

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

University of Portland Grotto at night

New Light: Grotto opens at the Marian Garden

Portland Magazine

Campus Ministry

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.

three nursing students taking notes

Bedside with Mr. Lopez

Nursing

Portland Magazine

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.

Quilt with handstitching reading For Anna from Mom

Grandmother's fan: An alumna marvels at the beauty and love displayed in her mother's hand-stitched quilts

Portland Magazine

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.

Wendy Richards

Wendy Richards '87 and family start foundation for children in Hawaii who have lost a parent

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Donald Wilson

Basketball alum Donald Wilson returns to the The Bluff as a broadcaster

Alumni

Athletics

Portland Magazine

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.

Horseradish plant

At the Root: The origins, traditions, and a family's shared history of horseradish

Portland Magazine

With horseradish, you’re playing with pungent, hot, peppery molecular fire, says Fr. Patrick Hannon, CSC, '82.

Carmen Ruiz

Villa Maria housekeeper Carmen Ruiz works to make the residence hall feel like home

Portland Magazine

Residence Life

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.

Michael Dowse

Racquet man: Michael Dowse '89 named CEO and executive director of the United States Tennis Association

Alumni

Athletics

Portland Magazine

From recreation tennis to the US Open, former Pilots tennis player Michael Dowse '89 now leads the US's national governing body for tennis.

Rey Ortiz

Rey Ortiz '19 takes the next step with FC Cincinnati

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Athletics

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.

Steve Johnson

At the heart of it: Heart valve surgery inspires Steve Johnson to attend UP, the alma mater of heart valve pioneer Donald P. Shiley

Engineering

Portland Magazine

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.

Lupita Ruiz-Tolento

Supporting Latinx Journalists: Meet Lupita Ruiz-Tolentino '13

International Languages and Cultures

Psychology

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Lupita Ruiz-Tolento '13 is the director of institutional development for SembraMedia, a nonprofit that supports independent digital journalism in Latin America.

Neal and Frances Hook

#LifeGoals: At 95, Neal Hook shows no signs of slowing down

Portland Magazine

Alumni

95-year-old Neal Hook '49 is still going strong. Find out the secret to his long and happy life.

Juliana Flores Baza

Made for Walking: Juliana (Flores) Baza '13 engineers Nike shoes

Engineering

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Kevin Kelly

If you build it, they will come back: Kevin Kelly '12 leads campus building project

Engineering

Portland Magazine

Civil engineering alum Kevin Kelly '12 was the project engineer for Dundon-Berchtold Hall.

Elderly Salvadoran woman.

One woman's experience of civil war in El Salvador

Campus Ministry

Portland Magazine

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).

University of Portland cross country coach Rob Conner

30 years and running: Track and cross country coach Rob Conner continues to rack up the wins

Alumni

Athletics

Portland Magazine

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.

Pulse line leading to red star

Listening to America: A UP alumnus answers the White House Comment Line

College of Arts and Sciences

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

University of Portland rower Brianne Zbylicki

Woman in the boat: UP rower Brianne Zbylicki

Biology

Athletics

College of Arts and Sciences

Portland Magazine

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.

Handful of ripe, red tomotoes

Star of the plate: From Flamingo Ridge Organic Farm to the plates of Bon Appetit

Portland Magazine

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.

Patrick Leahy: Notes from a public servant

Political Science

Portland Magazine

College of Arts and Sciences

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.

Margin Notes: On treasure maps and spiritual imaginings in the tiniest of spaces

Portland Magazine

Physics professor Shannon Mayer extols the virtues of writing in margins of beloved texts.

Hands cradling a skull at archeological dig site

Digging Toward Questions: The University of Portland Pollentia Undergraduate Research Expedition

Study Abroad

Biology

College of Arts and Sciences

Theology

Portland Magazine

Chemistry

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.

Student with research equipment

After the fire: Researching the economics of climate change adaptation at Multnomah Falls

Portland Magazine

Business

Engineering

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.

Howard Hall

An Ode to Howard Hall

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Fr. Claude Pomerleau, CSC

Remembering Fr. Claude Pomerleau, CSC

Portland Magazine

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.

Bee on a flower

The Language of Nature

Portland Magazine

Mathematics

College of Arts and Sciences

What language would God use to describe the laws of nature? Mathematics, of course.

Revlon, 280 Bubbly: A champion markswoman reflects on her shooting career and public persona

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Devin Ajimine

Think Big, Think New: Entrepreneur Scholars Program Turns 20

Alumni

Portland Magazine

Franz Center

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.

Devin Ajimine

From magic wallets to product management, Entrepreneur Scholar Devin Ajimine learned to take chances and embrace failures

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Franz Center

Engineering

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.

Molly Gowan

From founding a business to corporate sales: Skills learned in Entrepreneur Scholar program serve Molly (Sexton) Gowan throughout her career

Alumni

Communication Studies

Franz Center

Portland Magazine

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.

Thomas Iwasaki

Entrepreneurial spirit takes root in Thomas Iwasaki '14

Franz Center

Business

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Vail Horton

Vail Horton uses Entrepreneur Scholar program to launch innovative crutch, found a non-profit

Portland Magazine

Business

Philosophy

Alumni

Franz Center

International Languages and Cultures

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.

Fatima Ruiz Villatoro

Entrepreneur Scholars program leads Fatima Ruiz Villatoro to career in hospital construction

Alumni

Engineering

Portland Magazine

International Languages and Cultures

Franz Center

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.

Russ Butkus

All Things Wise and Wonderful: Russ Butkus' 34-year career at UP comes to an end

Portland Magazine

Environmental Studies

College of Arts and Sciences

Theology

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.

John Carroll Jr

J.H. Carroll Jr., We Remember You

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Travis Vetters

More Ties that Bind: Gus Little and Travis Vetters

Portland Magazine

Alumni

Business

Athletics

After Travis Vetters successfully donated a kidney to his friend and baseball teammate Gus Little, the connection between them remains strong.

Itzel Moreno-Vega

Warm and Proud: Itzel Moreno-Vega teams up with Operation Warm to provide coats for students

Social Work

Alumni

Portland Magazine

College of Arts and Sciences

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.

Dylan Hite in classroom

Teacher to Teacher: Bonnie Robb and Dylan Hite use neuroscience to improve educational outcomes

Education

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Bell Tower

The little-known history of "Amazing Grace"

Garaventa Center

Portland Magazine

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.”

Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse and his father, Pierre

Like father, like son: Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse follows in his father's footsteps to win French cross country championship

Portland Magazine

Athletics

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.

chapel doors

And Yet: A Catholic grapples with his faith

Portland Magazine

Writer Philip Metres asks (and answers), "Why, in spite of the betrayals of my Church, do I keep coming back?"

Megan Rapinoe

Pilot soccer alums Megan Rapinoe, Christine Sinclair, and Sophie Schmidt set to shine on the Women's World Cup stage

Athletics

Portland Magazine

Alumni

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.

Walter Thompson-Hernandez

Q&A with Walter Thompson-Hernandez

Alumni

Political Science

Portland Magazine

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.

Lauren Urbina

A Closer Look at a Community Partner

Portland Magazine

Moreau Center

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.

Cassidy Smith climbing a rock wall

For the Love of It: Moving Meditation

Portland Magazine

Nursing

Recreational Services

Cassidy Smith '20 is a nursing major with a passion for rock climbing.

Michael ONeill

Perfect Timing

Alumni

Portland Magazine

Performing and Fine Arts

Michael O’Neill ’10 (MFA) travels the world with an international organization called Clowns Without Borders.

Jay Brannon

Public Servant, Rising Star

Alumni

Engineering

Portland Magazine

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.

Joel Rosinbum

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Alumni

Engineering

Portland Magazine

Joel Rosinbum '04 is a software engineer for Black Locus in Austin, TX, and a member of the board of directors for USA Triathlon.

Tara Prestholdt and her motorcycle

Sabbatical on Two Wheels

Portland Magazine

Biology

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.

Girls Build camper using a chop saw

Of Course She Can

Alumni

Portland Magazine

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.

Tatjana Jerkovic

She's Got This

Nursing

Portland Magazine

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.

The Detail that Stays

Portland Magazine

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.

Mother, baby, and grandmother

The Good Stuff

Portland Magazine

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.

Students and staff walking through Mudbone Grown garden

Stories of Our Neighbors

Portland Magazine

University of Portland's first North Portland Civil Rights Immersion.

Compton Cowboy with horse

From Compton to Samana

Portland Magazine

How one writer aims to complicate the narratives we think we know—and shine a warm light on those we don’t.

Blessed Basil Moreau, CSC

Hurry UP and Slow Down

Portland Magazine

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.

Gus Little and Travis Vetters

Gus and Travis

Business

Alumni

Portland Magazine

Athletics

Nursing

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.