PilotTalks

PilotTalks (Apr. 3)

March 16, 2025

Join President Kelly for the return of PilotTalks, our thought-provoking evening of storytelling featuring short talks from dynamic thinkers in the UP community, all on the theme of hope, renewal, and transformation. This year’s programming has an entrepreneurial bent, as our three speakers will share inspiring stories of launching new programs, new foundations, and new businesses with the goal of making a difference. (Read More)

Don’t Miss PilotTalks on April 18!

April 15, 2024

Join us for a lively night of engaging storytelling from our own UP community in the Buckley Center Auditorium. Fr. Peter Walsh, professor Karen Eifler, and UP regent Janice Burger will share thought-provoking stories of hope, renewal, and transformation. Afterward, President Kelly will lead them in a panel discussion to unpack some of the night’s themes. Come early for the wine and cheese social in Dundon-Berchtold Lounge—the food and festivities are free, but we encourage donations of non-perishable food items to help replenish the StockUP food bank. (Read More).

PilotTalks Nominations (Due by May 19)

March 17, 2023

Got a story to tell? Nominate yourself or a colleague to be a storyteller for PilotTalks, UP’s short-talk lecture series created for Family Weekends and Reunion featuring faculty and staff and their stories of hope, renewal, and transformation. Visit the PilotTalks page to hear the stories of hope from our first season. All current faculty […]

Jeff Kerssen-Griep, Communication and Media, presented “Teaching with Transformative International Conflict Partners” on the panel, “Healing Divides and Elevating Connections within Conflict & Peacebuilding.” National Communication Association Convention. November, 2025.

Christi Richardson-Zboralski, Director of Marketing – Graduate Programs, published a short story under pen name, Christi R. Suzanne, entitled “Outlaw’s Dust.” In Lisa Diane Kastner (Ed.) 27 Stories: An LA Wildfire Anthology. Running Wild Press. January 7, 2026. All proceeds from this anthology go toward Habitat for Humanity LA. Find it on the Broadway Books website or on Bookshop.org.

Fr. Pat Hannon, CSC, published From Glory to Glory: A Pilgrim’s Notes From the Badlands of Grace. Occasioned by the author’s walking, with siblings, the famous Camino de Santiago in the fall of 2024, the book traces all manner of other pilgrimages—to and from home, family, love, self, and God. One Subject Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota. November, 2025.

Jessica Murphy Moo, editor of Portland Magazine and director of storytelling, wrote the lyrics to two songs in “We Go On, Oswego,” a song cycle honoring female refugees who lived at Camp Ontario in upstate New York. From 1944-1946, Camp Ontario provided emergency shelter to refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe. “We Go On, Oswego” was performed at Nazareth College, in collaboration with Finger Lakes Opera, on December 4, 2025. It was commissioned by Katie Hannigan, PhD. The song “There Is No Underground,” was written in collaboration with composer Maria Thompson Corley, and the song “My Table,” was written in collaboration with composer Kurt Erickson.

Simon Aihiokhai, Theology, published “A Spirituality of Desert Discipleship for Our Times. Reflections on the Readings of the Third Sunday of Advent.” VoiceAfrique.org. December 13, 2025.

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