With the outbreak of COVID-19, UP wants to focus on #PilotsGiveBack, a celebration of what it means to be a Pilot — on what service, leadership, and faith mean in the face of great challenges.
In the days ahead, we will collect stories and photos and share them with you. We will also bring you thoughtful prayers and ways to connect with your faith during this Lenten season.
While we all need to be apart right now, our stories, reflections, and actions can bring us together. Tell us what you and your fellow Pilots are doing to help. Share a story that will warm our community's hearts.
Share your #PilotsGiveBack story.
Kenechi (Kene) Anigbogu ’18 was a member of the 100th group of American Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Morocco. He served in Afourer, a town in the Beni-Mellal region of central Morocco, but his Peace Corps service was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kathryn Briggs, University of Portland adjunct faculty member and Bel Canto treble choir director, recently challenged her St. Mary’s Academy high school students to go outside their comfort zone by learning to beatbox. Briggs composed four measures of a sample beatbox rhythm and included her own video demonstration, then asked her students to submit their attempts.
Jessica Steinhebel ’09, a licensed therapist, uses music as a tool to aid clients with pain management and anxiety, to increase relaxation, and elevate moods. Because so many of us are feeling stressed about the pandemic, she offers some suggestions on how to use music therapeutically for self-care.
In a matter of mere weeks, the government of King County, WA, completed the construction of a new public health facility—two massive white tents with ventilation, a wireless network, adjacent showers and sanitation and 140 beds in individualized spaces—for the purposes of COVID-19 assessment and recovery. The nurse leader who stepped up to staff these facilities is double UP alumna Jennifer Graves, the regional nursing executive of Kaiser Permanente Washington.
A Moment of Magic, the national foundation that creates the opportunities for bedside visits for children, has a robust, 60-member chapter here at University of Portland. And UP students have continued to bring joy to children, even during COVID-19. The hospital visit may need to be on a screen right now, but rest assured, if a child wants a visit with a princess or superhero, the princess or superhero of choice will come.
At this point in the semester, Gregory Pulver, associate professor of costume and makeup design and choreography, is usually busy working on spring theater productions with performing & fine arts students. This spring, Pulver is putting his costume design skills to use by making masks for his friends and for the priests on the University of Portland campus.
Founder and CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company Fedele Bauccio ’64 partnered with World Central Kitchen to help feed the 3,500 passengers and crew aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship. The Bon Appétit-World Central Kitchen partnership made about 50,000 meals for passengers and crew of the ship, which was quarantined off the coast of California due to a COVID-19 outbreak onboard.
Photo by Bart Nagel Photography
At dusk in Pacific Grove, California, UP parent Cari Rotoli takes her nightly neighborhood walk. A neighbor extended an invitation to light a candle as a symbol of unity and an offering of “peace, healing, and community.” Every evening, porches and front windows radiate the soft glow of candles or outdoor lights, sending an incandescent warmth into the spring evenings.
When Archbishop Sample announced the cancellation of all Masses for the Portland metropolitan area, Fr. John Kerns ’81 started recording his homilies and daily masses for his church at Our Lady of the Lake (OLL), located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Kerns has been updating his YouTube channel with a new video for his parishioners every day.
Rebecca Seibert, a University of Portland alumna and staff member, recently signed up to volunteer to help meet the need at the Blanchet House of Hospitality. The organization, which has always served a warm meal restaurant-style, pivoted to a to-go meals plan.
School of Nursing students have stepped up to provide free babysitting, or even run errands, to help support the doctors and nurses in the community. Student volunteers from UP get matched with health care providers who need the help. There’s now a hotline for those who want to take part in the program (503.383.9776).
Given the new nature of the classroom, we’ve heard stories of children and pets making appearances in class. Fr. Dan Parrish’s newest class member is his guitar. Now students in Fr. Dan’s class look forward to his weekly song.
When students were asked to leave campus in response to COVID-19, the student leaders of Active Minds, UP’s mental health awareness and advocacy group, decided to be proactive and move their group meetings online every Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. on Zoom. They will meet through the end of the year and all students are welcome to join, whether they’ve been involved with the group previously or not.
When the UP community received the difficult news that students would need to leave dorms due to COVID-19 concerns, the University’s robust Hawai’i Club sprang to action.
University of Portland
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon 97203-5798
503.943.8000
