We are proud of our graduates and enriched as a family with every commencement weekend, and would like to remind everyone that the bows and ribbons, programs and schedules, the details both large and small for the big show, are expertly managed by the UP events staff, who work behind the scenes to insure a successful and memorable University of Portland commencement weekend. This year marks Bill Reed’s 28th and final commencement (29th counting his own graduation 1972). Bill is retiring this summer as director of university events, hard as that is to believe. The University Museum and Archives gives thanks and appreciation to Bill in the latest post on the Museum and Archives blog.
As a complement to the blog entry, the Museum also has a photograph and article display about Bill in the display case on the first floor of Buckley Center near the studies abroad office. Contact Carolyn Connolly, museum coordinator, at x8038 or piatz@up.edu for more information.
Congratulations to our retiring faculty! The University archives and museum announces a new blog post featuring these nine members of the University faculty. Visit 
Jay Leno, we know that name, but did you know he did an ASUP show in the Chiles Center on December 8, 1988? And remember how more recently, the Grimm television show filmed on campus, bringing Hollywood to UP with trailers, electrical cables, and disguised buildings and signs? Or when Will Geer, who play Grandpa on “The Waltons,” led campus drama workshops? The Dalai Lama has been here twice; though perhaps we protest too much? Check out this small slice of UP’s star-struck past in “Brushes with Fame,” the latest entry in the University Museum and Archives blog. Follow 
There is a famous story that Bro. Godfrey Vassallo, C.S.C. (“B.G.” to generations of admiring students and colleagues), led Physics Club students in digging out a basement for Engineering (Shiley) Hall on weekends in 1949. On weekdays, he was a physics professor at the front of the classroom. Holy Cross Brothers have long been the center-stage and background backbone for UP as teachers, administrators, farm workers, steam plant operators, book store managers, librarians, and archivists (to name just a few). All have contributed to the University’s mission while living out their religious vows. Under the patronage of St. Joseph, Holy Cross brothers are part of the Holy Cross Family (priest, brothers, sisters) envisioned by their founder, Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., and modeled after the Holy Family. The first floor display case of Buckley Center (across from the studies abroad office) highlights pictures and statistics from the University Museum featuring the Holy Cross Brothers, their UP affiliation, and their years of service. A portion of the display focuses on St. Andre Bessette, C.S.C., the first Holy Cross saint, a Brother of Holy Cross. This display will be in place through the month of February.
From the earliest days of the University to today, the art of campus planning requires the humility of revision. Plans have to develop and change to keep up with then-current-day campus needs. Some of these lost dreams are lovingly housed in the quiet repose of the University Archives. As bulldozers and cranes come to the center of campus this month, consider this vision/plan from February 14, 1935, a very different version of the 1935 University’s vision. Follow 
The bricks of the Praying Hands Memorial carry the names of UP alumni who lost their lives in war. Each year the University’s Air Force and Army ROTC cadets mark Veterans Day by posting a 24-hour honor guard at the Praying Hands/Broken Wall Memorial for these and the many alumni and alumnae who have served our country in the military. Perhaps the highest distinction earned by any individual in the University alumni family is the Medal of Honor given to David R. Kingsley, Columbia Prep (1933-1936).
The University Archives and Museum have produced a new 
As we welcome the Class of 2021 and new faculty to the UP campus, here is a brief review of campus and academic life from fifty years ago at the beginning of the 1967 school year. For text and images on the museum blog, follow 
The University museum will be open for special hours on Friday, June 23, from 1 – 4 p.m., and Saturday, June 24, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., during the 2017 Alumni Reunion. All University employees, alumni, and friends are welcome to visit the museum in the basement of Shipstad Hall, room 014. The museum contains photographs and memorabilia illustrating the University of Portland’s historical, religious, social, and educational history. In addition to the regular collection there are special exhibits and displays in the museum, Shipstad Hall, and the first floor of Buckley Center.
Thirty years ago a group of alumni and University volunteers created UP’s float entry for the 79th Rose Festival Parade. For some interesting facts about float construction and a photo gallery of the process, visit the Museum and Archives blog for our