Springtime on the Bluff is a colorful season. Sunshine. Students repurposing freshly cut lawns for study. Flowering trees blossoming across campus! For about three or four weeks each spring, a vibrant canopy display of flowering cherry trees decorates the campus – bursting forth from Waldschmidt to Tyson, Orrico to Shipstad Halls. A visitor might think […]
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PilotsGive 2021: Preserve our Past and Support our Future
The Library’s Digital Services, Archives, and Museum work together helping to preserve and display the history and traditions of life on the Bluff, to celebrate the University from 1901 and onward into the future. From yearbooks and student newspapers to letter-sweaters, the impressive results of this collaboration include our online The Log yearbook, The Beacon […]
Spirit of Portland U Pennant
This Spirit of Portland U pennant (circa 1948 or 1949) is one item in the Student Life collection of the University Museum. Dr. Manuel Macias was the donor, a 1951 alumnus, long-time professor of Spanish (1958-1995), and faithful student scholarship donor — a true Pilot. The colorful pennant design logo prominently features then-new University mascot, […]
From the University Bulletin, themes of mission and value
The University of Portland, an independently governed Catholic university guided by the Congregation of Holy Cross, addresses significant questions of human concern through disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies of the arts, sciences, and humanities and through studies in majors and professional programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As a diverse community of scholars dedicated to […]
Battling Germs
Deep in the museum basement storage room in Shipstad Hall is a very large World War II-era Autoclave Sterilizer manufactured by the American Sterilizer Company. The hand-made sign reads: Sterilizer Used at the Swan Island Shipyards in World War Two The curious-minded might wonder the part a sanitizer might play in industrial shipbuilding, during World […]
On the Bluff: looking out, looking up
Once upon a time in a quiet corner of the campus, UP had a Starr Observatory. That is, an actual astronomical observatory with a twenty-inch computer-operated telescope for looking at stars in the night sky. The all-too-appropriate name was bestowed in 1985, honoring Professor Merle Starr at his retirement after years of teaching astronomy in […]
Tonsillectomy Bag
The tonsillectomy (tonsil-removal surgery) has been a rite of passage for many children (especially children from classic family television from the 60s and 70s). After-care always promising ice-cream treats! In real life, discharge instructions suggest applying cold-therapy externally in order to reduce swelling and inflammation. Today’s therapies might favor using a bag of frozen vegetables […]
A Given Life: Entwined with Learning
Brother David Martin, C.S.C., arrived on the Bluff in 1928. With no college degree (yet). He was immediately named the Librarian. The irony became sort of an inspiration. He was to hold the office of Library director until 1966. Faced with many challenges, Br. David worked in stages; waiting, proposing, pushing toward the possible and […]