Opening Convocation 2021

University of Portland's faculty and staff gathered for the Opening Convocation on August 24, 2021. The following are remarks from Acting President and Provost Herbert A. Medina.

Renewing Our Sacred Community

Good afternoon!

It’s wonderful to be with you today; to see so many colleagues I haven’t seen in-person for quite some time; to have this moment to gather and mark our new academic year on The Bluff.

Thank you to Elise for the introduction. Thank you to Father Jim for our invocation. And thanks to all of you for your attendance today.

In any normal year, this time of August is always busy. Faculty are beginning their classes and mapping out scholarship priorities for the months ahead. Students are settling into residence halls, meeting roommates, and getting ready for a fresh slate of classes.

Staff are taking care of schedule changes, answering financial aid questions, and making sure our campus is ready for the semester ahead.

But this year, that busyness is taken to a new level. Added on top of the usual hustle-and-bustle is the fact that we’re now returning to an in-person campus for the first time since March 2020. Our to-do lists are that much longer. Nearly every member of our community is bearing a heavy load.

Some might say, then, that hosting a Convocation really isn’t all that necessary. That it’s just taking precious time out of the day and preventing us from getting on with the work that needs to get done.

I understand that perspective. But I also feel that our busyness is precisely why this event – this Convocation – is so important.

We can get so caught up in the day-to-day that we fail to pause, to gather, to reflect, and to really think about the road ahead. In other words, we don’t want to forget to convocate!

So, I’m grateful that you are here. I’m glad that you have taken a moment to join your colleagues for this time-honored tradition.         

Last week, I spoke at our annual President’s Welcome during Orientation. I mentioned to our first-year students and their families that UP now finds itself on the precipice of something new. Every single member of the UP family is feeling this sense of newness. And with this, folks might also be feeling trepidation and uncertainty.

The vast majority of our students are attending their first in-person lectures and labs in eighteen months. They’re returning to full residence halls and a bustling campus.

They’re attending club meetings and soccer games; going to the Beauchamp Center to exercise; hiking in Forest Park and in the Gorge; spending face-to-face time with their peers.

On August 2, staff returned to campus for the first time since March 2020. And faculty have now returned, as well—many of them to teach their first in-person classes in quite a long time.

I, myself, am feeling a whole lot of newness! I began my duties as Acting President on July 1. It’s a role I accept with great humility. As I did in my role as CAS dean and provost, I view my interim position as one of collaboration. All of us work together to create the place that we cherish. I’m humbled to now play a different role in our collaboration.

I’m grateful to all who have expressed their support, and all who have offered their well-wishes.

You don’t need me to tell you that our whole world has experienced seismic shifts since the start of the pandemic. Many of us have felt tremendous personal loss. All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the economic fallout of the pandemic. We’ve witnessed and participated in a reckoning on racial justice and belonging. That reckoning has been national, but also very local for those of us who live and work here in Portland. We’ve experienced wildfires, winter storms, power outages, and so much more.

We have been changed by these events at a deep level.  And we come back to our lives at UP as a changed people, with new perspectives, new learnings, and new priorities.

With all of this newness comes great opportunity and great responsibility. These past eighteen months have been an inflection point. They’ve revealed hard truths about what was working, and what wasn’t. They’ve catalyzed long-overdue change. They’ve helped us to re-engage with what our values are, and have honest conversations about how well we’re doing in living out those values.

Given all that we’ve experienced and all that we’ve learned, a new task is set before us. That task is to re-emerge and to re-engage, and do it in a way that reflects the things that we hold dear. This is our chance to take stock of where we have succeeded, and where we could do better; and to use that knowledge to guide our work as a Catholic, Holy Cross institution.

With today’s Convocation Address, I’d like to talk about just that: how we re-emerge and how we re-engage. I’d like to start a dialogue about leveraging all that we’ve experienced and using it to our advantage. I’ll discuss the task that presently stands before us: renewing our sacred community on The Bluff.

Fortunately for us, our identity as a Catholic, Holy Cross institution provides us with all that we need in order to conduct this work. Our sacred mission gives us the blueprint for overcoming any obstacle in our path. Because we are a Catholic institution, we know the virtues we’ll need for the journey: solidarity, charity, zeal, commitment to justice, fidelity, and hope. We don’t need to start from scratch. Our mission and values as an institution—things that we have thanks to our Catholic and Holy Cross identity—will serve as our north star.

In that sense, I can think of no place that is better equipped to rise to the challenges ahead than UP. As our Holy Cross community members often say, we are “people with hope to bring.” Today, I’d like to talk about how we will bring that hope to the newness we are encountering.

Before we develop our path forward, we must first reflect on where we’ve been. We must recognize the issues that we’ve faced together, and the ways in which those issues inform where we go from here. It’s important that we do this in a frank and transparent matter, and as I hope I do regularly, I am going to practice that today.

COVID-19 placed enormous stress on our entire organization. No division, college, school, office, or community member could escape the massive changes that were wrought by the pandemic.

In a rapid series of events that played out in late February and early March of 2020, so much of what makes UP distinctive and attractive was turned on its head. The in-person experience we offer to students—the thing that sets us apart and makes them choose UP—was gone. The hands-on, face-to-face teaching that our faculty provide suddenly had to be taken online. Economically, our path to sustainability changed. Stated simply, we rely on tuition and room and board revenue to operate. When those revenue streams are impacted, the University’s financial picture changes dramatically.

Everyone here will be aware of the painful decisions we had to make to protect and sustain the University. We temporarily reduced salaries, furloughed employees, and suspended some benefits. The impact of these decisions on the lives of our colleagues was very real.

They exacerbated the economic and emotional uncertainty that many were already feeling as a result of the pandemic. Speaking on behalf of my fellow leaders here on campus, they were some of the hardest decisions that we have ever had to make. And the difficulties we faced pale in comparison to what was felt by our colleagues. 

We also had to navigate teaching and working in a remote setting. Seemingly overnight, we changed how we delivered instruction. Zoom and Microsoft Teams replaced face-to-face meetings. Our vibrant campus community largely went dark, and so many time-honored traditions simply didn’t happen.

Amid all of this, our nation, our city, and our own UP community faced hard truths about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice; about what it means to truly belong to a community; to be valued and heard and appreciated.

On The Bluff, we listened to the voices of students and colleagues who felt marginalized and ignored. We caught a glimpse into the pain felt by many in our midst. We had to take stock of whether our community had always lived up to the ideals it espouses.

And even though a new academic year is beginning, and we can sense a return to normalcy, these challenges are still very much with us. UP is not immune from the trends we’re seeing nationally in terms of job movement. Colleagues have departed, and there are unfilled positions at the University. In fact, over ten percent of our staff positions are currently unfilled. This means that many have taken on additional responsibilities.

While we took the steps necessary to protect UP’s financial standing, we’re still reliant on tuition and room and board revenue.

This year’s first-year class numbering 935 as of yesterday afternoon, is close to our target size, but the class of 809 students that we welcomed last year will be with us for three more years. And due to the ever more competitive higher ed environment, we also are having to offer more financial aid to recruit students. This means that we’ll have to continue to exercise budgetary discipline for the foreseeable future.

And, of course, COVID-19 is not over by any stretch of the imagination. The pandemic is with us today and will be with us for some time to come. There won’t be a plane that flies over The Bluff, with a big banner saying “COVID-19 IS NOW OVER.” And we have to acknowledge that there are challenges over the horizon that we simply can’t predict. While we have been adept at managing the issues presented to us, there are “unknown unknowns” that we’ll encounter in the future. So, we’ll have to remain vigilant and flexible.

And as I noted before, these challenges don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re felt at the same time we navigate difficulties in our own lives. From family members who may have lost a job, to children who may be struggling with remote learning, to the isolation that many of us have felt this year.

But there is so much cause for hope, faith, and optimism. We will see these challenges through and emerge all the better for having experienced them. There is so much goodness, creativity, and energy on our campus. There is so much passion for what makes UP so wonderful, and so much resolve to make this the best place it possibly can be.

I’d now like to discuss some of the things we have to look forward to: initiatives that will help us to live out our values more deeply than ever; new, exciting perspectives we’ve brought to The Bluff; and things we can do, right now, to renew our sacred community.

First, I’d like us to focus on our staff. Recent months have made clear to me that greater attention is needed when it comes to supporting and recognizing our staff colleagues. As we know, they are critical to our mission. The University exists in a tough marketplace for talent. If we wish to become an employer of choice for staff, we need to find new ways to attract, retain, and invest in them.

Positive employee relations begin with solid leadership in our Office of Human Resources.

I’m happy to share that the University is in the final stages of its national search for a new Vice President for Human Resources. A Search Committee comprised of staff and academic leaders has selected finalists for the role. One of the finalists has already participated in a day-long on-campus interview, and other finalists will visit The Bluff soon. Their visits to campus include interview sessions with academic and administrative leaders, as well as members of our current human resources team and staff representatives. We attracted a talented and diverse pool of candidates, and we hope to be able to make an announcement within a few weeks regarding our next HR leader.

I want to acknowledge and thank our current HR team, who have been understaffed and labored under significant pressure during this interim period. So much has been on their plate, but they’ve done a remarkable job of providing HR services to UP, and we should all be very grateful.

It is evident that we’ve benefited from a positive, collaborative, and transparent salary-setting process with our faculty compensation task force. Indeed, we’ve implemented two-thirds of the compensation plan recommended by the task force and remain on track to implement the final third in two steps in the 2022-23 and subsequent academic years. And we continue to consult and collaborate with the Faculty Compensation Committee, currently chaired by Molly Hiro, on various matters related to faculty compensation.

We believe that it’s now time to embark on a similar process with staff. To be clear, decisions around compensation are complex. From the Oregon Equal Pay Act, to internal and external benchmarking, to the fact that we are a tuition-reliant institution, developing a framework for staff salaries is difficult. But greater attention to compensation is needed, and in collaboration with the new Vice President we will undertake these efforts.

A comprehensive review of staff salaries is a long-term initiative. University leadership is cognizant that there is an immediacy to improve staff retention and hiring. Thus, on August 13, Vice President for Financial Affairs Eric Barger announced a $1,000 Pilots Appreciation Staff Bonus for full-time staff earning less than $75,000 per year. The bonus is intended to acknowledge the extra work that many of our staff are performing, while also recognizing their perseverance, commitment, enthusiasm, and hard work. Eric also announced a $1,000 hiring bonus to be paid out over several months for new staff hires.

Compensation is important, but it’s not the only thing that supports staff satisfaction. Benefits are also vital. To that end, we were excited to reimplement our excellent 11% retirement contributions. I’m also pleased that the University’s Employee Home Loan Benefit Program was restarted this summer in a revised format to take into account higher real estate prices and future market changes. Nevertheless, there is still ample room for growth in the benefits that we provide to staff members.

I will instruct our new Vice President for Human Resources to undertake a comprehensive overview of benefits we provide to staff. In particular, I’d like for us to think about policies on parental leave and vacation, and get innovative in terms of the other benefits that staff receive.

Additionally, greater investment is needed when it comes to employee wellness. I will make it a priority to enhance the services we provide when it comes to employee well-being, including the appointment of designated staff within HR to solely handle employee assistance, professional development, and well-being initiatives.

And finally, I believe that our University would benefit from clearer channels of communication between administration and staff. Further, I feel that staff deserve enhanced opportunities for collaboration, dialogue, and community-building. That’s why I, along with the PLC and Provost’s Council, support the grassroots efforts to launch a staff senate. Earlier this summer, staff senate advocates made a presentation to the PLC.

I appreciate the thoughtful work that they’ve completed, and I’m excited for them to collaborate with our new Vice President to advance this initiative. They have my support, and the support of many at the University.

On August 4, we held Pilots Together Again. Nearly 300 staff and faculty gathered on the Bauccio Commons Bluff, simply to reconnect and have a bit of fun.

I hope you had the chance to meet Beni the Llama, who arrived in his very own UP attire. I’m sorry that we didn’t have an Acting President Dunking Booth. Maybe next time . . .

Just after midnight on August 10, we hosted an appreciation breakfast for our overnight colleagues who were unable to attend Pilots Together Again. Each and every night, a team of about thirty from Physical Plant and Campus Safety come to campus to clean our buildings, complete maintenance work, and keep The Bluff safe. They worked on-campus throughout the entirety of the pandemic, and they make it possible for the rest of us, who work during the day, to do our jobs.

We enjoyed pancakes and conversation, and many members of the PLC joined me to simply say “thanks” to our overnight colleagues.

The pandemic has illuminated how UP can improve the experience of staff and foster a more positive working environment for all on our campus.

A fulfilled, motivated staff is critical to how we advance our mission and support students. I’m excited to announce these initiatives, and I look forward to making good progress on them in the months ahead.

Next, I’d like to pivot to another set of initiatives that are essential to who we are as a Catholic, Holy Cross institution. This past April, the Board of Regents concluded its investigation into concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion that were raised in a July 1, 2020, op-ed in The Beacon. The Board found that while great progress has been made on these matters, more action is needed.

Since the findings of the investigation were released, I’ve worked closely with senior leaders on campus to enact reforms. Some of the initiatives that are currently in-progress or will commence soon include:

First, increasing and enhancing DEI trainings at the University, especially for supervisors, senior leadership, and members of the Board of Regents.

Second, retaining an outside consultant to conduct a 360-degree review of the University’s DEI efforts.

Third, refining the reporting process for individuals who have concerns about unequal treatment, especially at the leadership level.

Fourth, conducting DEI climate surveys and sharing the results with members of the community

And fifth, establishing a set of inclusive hiring guidelines. We already have such guidelines for faculty positions, but we’re creating new guidelines for staff positions and all divisions on campus. Doing so will help us to attract qualified and diverse candidates for each and every position at the University.

Additionally, I’m pleased to once again remind the community that, this past July, I promoted Dr. Eduardo Contreras to the role of Associate Provost for International Education, Diversity and Inclusion. Eddie will take on more responsibilities on the DEIJ front at the University, and will play a leading role in oversight and implementation of the priorities I identified earlier. This elevation of Eddie’s position reflects the remarkable work that he and his team are doing already, and reinforces the fact that diversity, equity, and inclusion remain an institutional priority at UP. 

We need to be frank: DEI work is hard work. Progress doesn’t just happen overnight. We can’t simply flip a switch. Rather, it requires commitment, transparency, and the collective effort of each and every community member. I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made, but I know that our work is only beginning. The struggle to build a more just society will be with us for the rest of our lives. But this is holy work, and it’s work that our Catholic identity calls us to engage in. I hope that, whoever you are, whatever role you play at UP, you will be a partner and a co-collaborator in these efforts which will go on for the entirety of our University’s existence.

Indeed, as our nation becomes ever more diverse so does our student body.

Here is a snapshot of some of the demographic data of our incoming first year classes from 2004, ten years later in 2014, and preliminary numbers for this year’s class. For the first time ever, UP will have majority students of color in its first-year cohort. And our first-gen percentage is five percentage points higher than it’s ever been. This is super exciting, and it makes our DEIJ work ever more pressing and important. We have a very different student body than we did just a few years ago, so we need to be asking ourselves how do we best serve our students in 2021 and beyond? How do we help our changed student body better understand their own American experience? What can we do as members of this community so that our faculty and staff better reflect our student body? All of these are questions that have no definitive answer, and which are of critical importance for us to continually ask.

Next, I’m excited to announce that we will soon embark on the creation of UP’s next strategic plan. Vision 2020, which was developed in 2016 and guided us through the end of the 2020 calendar year, served us well. It created a shared set of goals, provided us with a common vocabulary, led to measurable outcomes, and helped us to maintain focus. It was not a strategic plan that was written and then resigned to a bookshelf. Instead, it was an accessible, living document.

Vision 2020 led to many successes, including one that I was reflecting on yesterday, as we started classes. Our current first-year students will be the first to experience our newly-revitalized Core Curriculum. The new Core responds to several tactics from Vision 2020 that call us to infuse Catholic and Holy Cross values into our academics, and enhance our liberal arts program to embed diverse perspectives.

We now focus on six essential Habits of Heart and Mind, and I have every confidence that this new Core, guided by Andrew Guest who is serving as Director of the Core, will better connect our students with the richness and diversity of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Vision 2020 further called us to support and sustain superb undergraduate education, led by a brilliant faculty. I found myself reflecting upon this goal recently, when we published online for the first time A Community of Scholars, our annual compendium of scholarly and creative works from UP faculty. It’s a snapshot of the academic and creative brilliance of those who teach on The Bluff, and I encourage you all to review it when you have a chance.

We had initially intended to begin our next strategic planning process much earlier. Given the pandemic and the fact that our community was operating remotely, we intentionally hit pause. Now that we have returned, the time is right to begin this process.

Envisioning and drafting our next strategic plan will be a collective effort. Our staff and faculty will be some of the most important contributors to the plan. You are the subject matter experts. You are teaching courses, supporting our students, and providing religious, professional and personal formation. You have the insights that will be required to make our next strategic plan as successful as the one that came before.

I will soon assemble a Strategic Planning Committee which will be co-chaired by Vice President for Financial Affairs Eric Barger and me.

In addition to strategic planning, we also will have task forces working on several important initiatives in the academic year ahead. These include a group led by Professor Lars Larson that will envision a new Center for Teaching and Learning that I hope we are able to inaugurate in summer 2022. A task force led by Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Elise Moentmann that will look into academic integrity matters and policies. And a task force that I will appoint to look into a couple of matters in our rank and tenure processes that have been brought to my attention by faculty and the Committee on Rank and Tenure.

Also, as we heard last Friday from Board of Regents Chair Tom Arndorfer, the University will soon embark on the process of selecting our next President. I have every confidence that the search committee chaired by Regent Tim Morgan will spare no effort in finding the best possible person to lead UP into our bright future.

We also continue to find ways to invest in the physical infrastructure of campus. About two weeks ago, we held a “beam-blessing-and-signing” for the brand-new Walter E. Nelson Physical Plant Building. Moving Physical Plant down to the Franz Campus will free up space behind Shiley Hall for the Shiley-Marcos Center for Design & Innovation; a building that will enable students and faculty to engage in inter-disciplinary collaboration and design thinking.

We intentionally delayed construction on the Franz Campus because of the pandemic. However, the Physical Plant Building will soon be finished, and we have a timeline for construction work on the boathouse and track & field complex.

I hope you’ve had a chance to visit the new home of the Career Education Center in Franz Hall. This move to Franz coincides with the Center’s transition from Student Affairs to the Academic Division. I’m grateful for the ways that Assistant Provost John Orr and Career Education Center Director Amy Cavanaugh will work to infuse career readiness into our academic experience.

And finally, I hope you’ve had the chance to check out our rebuilt Joe Etzel Field, home to UP baseball. The new facility is beautiful, and I hope you’ll make plans to attend a game there in the spring.

So as you can see, we have a busy year ahead. There is a lot to be done, but all of it will advance UP and our mission. We should view this as truly exciting work.

In addition to these initiatives, the University will also benefit from the new and fresh perspectives of folks who have recently joined us on The Bluff, or who have assumed new roles of leadership. I’d like to take just a moment to introduce some of them to you.

First, just a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, we announced that Dr. Brian Fabien would serve as the new Dean of the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering. Brian joined us on July 1, 2020, from the University of Washington. He is deeply committed to ensuring that UP engineers have both the technical skills and the cultural and ethical awareness required to solve societal challenges. It’s our great blessing to have him as a leader in our community.

This past July, Dr. Michael DeVaughn began his tenure as Dean of the Pamplin School of Business. Mike comes to UP from the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He is a brilliant teacher, scholar, and leader, and he will do so much to help usher in the next chapter of our School of Business.

We’ve also welcomed Maraina Montgomery as our new Director of Studies Abroad. Maraina joins us from Howard University, where she served as Assistant Director of Study Abroad. She is committed to holistic international education that’s rooted in access, inclusion, diversity, and equity. We’re excited to have Maraina on the team, and we’re excited for our students to once again be able to study abroad!

Two weeks ago, we announced the hiring of Tammy Herdener as our new Associate Vice President for Student Development. Tammy’s first day is in fact today! Tammy joins us from the Division of Student Affairs at Oregon State University, and she has a background in legal education, residence life, and military service. It’s wonderful to welcome Tammy to The Bluff.

We also completed our national search for UP’s first Professor of Ethnic Studies and Director of our Ethnic Studies Program. We’re so excited to welcome Dr. Amy Ongiri to The Bluff. Amy joins us from Lawrence University, where they were the Jill Beck Director of Film Studies. Their work focuses on visual culture at the intersection of race, gender, and identity. It’s truly a joy to welcome Amy to UP.   

We’ve also welcomed Gina Yazzolino back to The Bluff as our new Director of Alumni & Parent Relations. Gina is a UP alumna herself who comes to us from the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon. She is passionate about the University of Portland, and I’m confident that she will find wonderful new ways to connect parents and alumni to all of the good things happening on The Bluff.

In our Office of Financial Affairs, Lori Watson was promoted to Associate Vice President & Controller, and Eric Barger was named Vice President for Financial Affairs after a national search. Lori and Eric have deep connections to UP, and they will be remarkable stewards of our University’s financial resources in the months and years ahead.

Jennie Cambier has joined us from Hacker Architects, and now serves as Associate Vice President for Land Use & Planning at UP. She will play a leading role in helping us meet our physical development objectives, and she’ll also serve as UP’s liaison with neighborhood associations, the City of Portland, and other governmental agencies.

In Athletics, we’ve welcomed Shantay Legans from Eastern Washington as our new men’s basketball coach and Gulliver Scott from Saint Mary’s as our women’s rowing coach. Both are committed to student-athlete wellness and success, and both also like to win.

In our Office of Institutional Research, Dr. Michael Johnson has been promoted to Director. We’ve also welcomed Dr. Adeya Powell to The Bluff as Assistant Director. Adeya comes to us from Georgia State University, and she has a rich background in research, statistical analysis, and predictive modeling. Along with Michael, Adeya will play a leading role in using data to tell the story of UP and help us to achieve our goals.

And finally, I’m very grateful to two wonderful leaders for serving in interim positions. Carrie Donnellan is currently serving as Interim Dean of Admissions. She has provided excellent leadership of our Admissions team for the past few months, and we’re very thankful for her efforts. Carrie will serve in this role until a new Associate Provost for Admissions is named, which we hope will take place very soon, and in fact perhaps within a few days.

And Dr. Norah Martin is currently serving as Interim Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. She, too, is providing excellent leadership during this interim period. We will begin the search for our new Dean of CAS very soon.

There are, of course, many other brilliant and amazing new staff and faculty who joined us during the past eighteen months.

I’m sorry that we weren’t able to include them all in today’s presentation, but I hope you’ll join me in offering a round of applause for all of these new and familiar faces on The Bluff.

As I said at the outset of my remarks, so much newness confronts us in the year ahead. There are new initiatives, new challenges, new courses, new research projects, new colleagues. My hope is that we view this year not as an obstacle to get over, but as an opportunity; not as an intimidating unknown, but a chance to innovate and create anew.

At UP, we have the things that will make us successful. We have brilliant, committed staff and faculty. We have extraordinary students. We receive tremendous support from our alumni, families, Regents, benefactors, and friends.

And, we have a sacred, Holy Cross mission. This mission has sustained and guided us through challenges of the past, and will serve as our guide during the challenges ahead. It grounds us, it connects us to something greater than ourselves, and it gives us comfort, consolation, and hope.

It’s precisely because of this Holy Cross identity that UP, with our entire community in tow, will meet whatever lies in our path, and find a way to advance our mission.

So, as we renew our sacred community, let’s agree to be united in kindness and compassion. Let’s work together, assume good intentions, and give one another the benefit of the doubt. When we see something that’s not right, let’s say something about it.

Let’s engage in a healthy exchange of perspectives, critically analyzing questions and not people.

Renewing our sacred community isn’t just about big initiatives and undertakings. It’s also about the small things: saying hello to someone as you pass them on the Quad, holding the door open, showing up at a meeting a few minutes early to check-in with your colleagues.

Let’s meet up for coffee, go for a walk around campus, attend a soccer game, support a student who is performing in a concert. When we see a community member who is struggling, let’s help. Let’s continue to find opportunities for grace-filled moments of gratitude.

It’s this type of warm, interconnectedness that is critical to who we are. As we emerge from the pandemic, it’s our responsibility, and our great blessing, to help renew this sacred community.

I’d like to conclude my remarks today with something that I hope we continue to express in the days ahead, even when our agendas fill and our days seem long: gratitude.

We are making it through this period of challenge because of the people who are in this room, as well as our colleagues who weren’t able to join us today. UP staff and faculty have demonstrated—and continue to demonstrate—amazing dedication, resilience, creativity, grace, compassion, and fidelity. Despite the obstacles that are in our way, despite all of the uncertainty, you have continued to serve the University of Portland. You have put our students first, and you have done so much to sustain this place that we cherish.

As we begin this new academic year together, know of my thanks and the thanks of a grateful community.

I hope to see many of you at our reception in just a few moments.

Thank you, Godspeed, and may God bring blessings to our University of Portland.