After 10 years with the University of Portland (UP), including the last seven as its 20th president, Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., is stepping away from the presidency on June 30, 2021. Poorman made the announcement last Thursday in a message to UP community members. It was also announced by the UP Board of Regents that Rev. James (Jim) M. Lies, C.S.C., (pronounced LEASE) will serve as interim president effective July 1, 2021.
“After nearly 10 years on The Bluff – and after much prayer, discernment and consultation – I have decided to finish my tenure as University of Portland president after the conclusion of the academic year, at the end of June,” said Poorman in his message to the UP students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents. “I have received permission from the Provincial Superior of the U.S. Province of Holy Cross to take a sabbatical prior to an anticipated return to teaching, writing, and pastoral ministry.”
Poorman added, “I step away from this role with tremendous gratitude for all that we have accomplished as a University community. Thanks to God’s grace and the brilliance and dedication of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, benefactors, Regents and friends, UP is stronger now than at any point in its 120-year history.”
“We want to thank Father Mark for his ten years of dedicated service to the University of Portland community,” said Thomas Arndorfer, Chair of the UP Board of Regents. “Not only has he provided academic leadership but also religious guidance during difficult times. We wish him all the best as he plans for a return to teaching. May God be with him in his future endeavors.”
Father Jim Lies will assume the UP interim president’s role after serving in the University of Notre Dame’s London Global Gateway for the past four years, most recently serving as the interim senior director for Academic Initiatives and Partnerships. He began his academic career here at UP where he served on the faculty and directed the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life & American Culture, before being named vice president for mission at Stonehill College, another institution of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Easton, Massachusetts.
“Along with the President’s Leadership Cabinet and the Provost’s Council, I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition to our interim president,” said Poorman. “Until then, there is still much to be done here on campus as we continue to navigate the challenges of COVID-19, further strengthen our University’s financial standing, assure a strong class of incoming first-year students, and prepare for a primarily in-person Fall 2021 Semester. I look forward to continuing our efforts in these areas through the end of June.”
ReadUP 2021 will conclude with the Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series hosting Dr. Ibram X. Kendi as he engages the community in a dynamic conversation on Wednesday, March 31 at 5:15 p.m. via live Zoom webinar. 
If you reserved a copy of this year’s 
The library is still collecting creative works 
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Even in the Before Times, requiring students to contribute to online discussions was part of the teaching toolkit for many of us. Now it’s nearly de rigueur across all our disciplines. If reading classroom forums feels tedious at times, here is one idea that might bring back the glow: rather than generic instructions such as “write an initial post and then respond to two of your classmates’ posts,” see if you can craft a prompt that forces students to make an interesting decision/choice and defend it, drawing upon course material. When they are responding to their peers, they could be invited to identify the most compelling aspect of the argument, or the juiciest word choice, or the course reading that doesn’t seem to have been considered in the formulation of an assertion. This might help shift the nature of students’ responses from simply “I agree/disagree” and parroting the readings to reactions that make for more gripping thinking and reading on everyone’s parts. It’s difficult to conceive of any subject matter that is truly morally or ethically neutral, so inviting students to take a stand on a thorny authentic problem—and defend it using actual facts—could flow naturally from just about any discipline. Initial prompts can be tweaked to fit your subject from stems such as “Given x reality, should Ted choose y or z path of action?” “Is Barney or Robin more likely to be successful in this scenario—how do you know?” “What song lyric from your Spotify list best captures the essence of this article—why do you say that?”
The Committee on Committees is still accepting faculty nominations for the 2020-2021 Excellence in Service Award. This award allows the University community to recognize and celebrate outstanding dedication and accomplishment in service. The committee will accept nominations until February 28, 2021.
‘The Stations of the Cross for Overcoming Racism’ will be offered by Campus Ministry as the first of three opportunities this Lent to connect this traditional form of prayer with current realities. This offering of the Stations will be held on Friday, February 26 at 4 p.m. in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher and will be streamed on the 
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) STEM Virtual Career Fair will be held on 
The 2021 Pilot Venture Challenge, UP’s premier invention, business and social venture competition hosted by the Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is now accepting applications from students across all majors and disciplines. Pilot Venture Challenge will again be held virtually on Saturday, April 17 and Saturday, April 24.