State of Campus Address

Hi everyone. Thank you all for being here today! Robin Sharma, a famous Canadian, once said,

“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.” Mental health and issues on

diversity and inclusion arose throughout the previous school year. These issues hit our campus hard. A

campus and place that many call home.

Internally, ASUP also had its issues. An organization that roots itself on the principles of

representation and action, seemed to be lost in bickering and ego. The big decision that was made last

year by ASUP, was the passing of the new constitution. This constitution eliminated dorm senators and

added two new positions to the Executive Board, called the Speaker of the Senate and the Director of

Communications. This constitution looked to pave the way for a better and more cohesive organization.

As the Executive Board and I reflect on this past semester, many themes come to mind.

Trust. You have to trust the process. You have to have full faith and trust in one another for the

system to be successful. We have earned trust throughout this semester because of our

determination to steer the ship in the right direction.

Transparency. An organization that has the ability to be transparent gives assurance to its

members. ASUP has been an increasingly more transparent organization through outlets such as

the Beacon and social media. When we make mistakes or when we fail, we quickly step forward

and own up to them. We are able to be held accountable for all our actions.

Rebuild. ASUP recently went through the biggest rebuilding process in the history of the

organization. Each and every day we continue to rebuild. Think of those LEGOS you once played

with as a child. We continue to look for the right pieces that fit, and implement them into the

overall design of the structure, to make it great.

All these themes circle back to one big picture; the word, revitalize. Revitalize is defined as, making

(someone or something) active, healthy or energetic again. This semester has been all about revitalizing

this campus and this organization.

This year the university has undergone and seen tangible changes. A new residence hall broke

ground last spring and was finished this fall, named Lund Family Hall. This beautiful and elegant, castle

like building, is host to the 265 residents that call themselves, the Wolf Pack. At the dedication

ceremony of the residence hall, Mr. and Mrs. Lund gave an incredible speech, emphasizing the

importance of family, faith and formation, values that align with the Universities. Forced triples may

now be a thing of the past thanks to the addition of Lund Family Hall. This new dorm has helped

increase housing capacity, allowing our students to feel more comfortable within their residence halls.

In addition to Lund Hall, we have also welcomed in some new faces to the Bluff. Matt Rygg, the

Associate VP for Student Development, and Xan Arch, the new Dean of the library, joined the University

this past semester. They have both made significant strides in trying to involve themselves more with

students. 36 new staff members have also made their way to the Bluff. We also have welcomed the

new freshman class, totaling 965 new Pilots.

Strides have been made in the right direction to ensure students are aware of the resources they

have on this campus. The Health and Wellness Center, formally known as the Health Center, is

continually adding resources for students who are battling depression, anxiety, and stress. A fourth full-

time clinical psychologist was added to the staff. The institutional student leave policy has been updated

to meet the needs of students who take time off from school for mental health reasons. UP has also

joined the JED campus program to create a four-year strategic mental health plan to improve campus

policies and services. These implementations will pave the way for the future of our University.

We are in fact, a culturally diverse campus. 42 different countries are represented by our student

population. Administration has heard from us the need to diversify the faculty and staff. This past year,

16 percent of current faculty and staff identified as non-white, an increase from 12 percent that was

recorded in 2014. However, this isn’t an immediate solution, but rather a step in the right direction.

Diversity is an issue that not only plagues our university, but the nation as a whole. This issue will not be

resolved over night, but the student body should be encouraged that the university is looking at all

possible ways and angles to address this issue.

Green Dot, a program that was absent last year, has been revitalized and brought back to the

University. Tiger Simpson, the new Wellness Education and Prevention Specialist, has led the charge to

reincorporate bystander education to the campus. One of Mr. Simpson’s notorious accomplishments

this year in his new position, was his leadership in organizing a screening for the movie ‘The Hunting

Grounds’ followed by a panel to discuss the impact of sexual assaults on this campus. With Green Dot

back on this campus, our students have a resource that was deeply missed last semester.

Sports have a special way of bringing the community together. The revitalization in the Athletics

Department has been felt all semester long. The women’s cross country team secured the West Coast

Conference Championship and ran in nationals for the first time in the program’s history. The men’s

cross country team secured second place in regionals and also raced in nationals. Our women’s

volleyball team is enjoying one of the best seasons in the programs history, highlighted by two wins

against ranked opponents; #6 BYU and #8 San Diego. The women’s soccer team captured the

championship for the 2016 Nike Invitational and the women’s rowing team swept the Portland Fall

Classic. A new era has begun in men’s basketball as new head coach Terry Porter has brought in high-

caliber experience to the program. Finally, our men’s soccer team, a year removed from winning only

one WCC regular season game, lifted the WCC trophy on our home turf, earning them an automatic bid

in the NCAA tournament. It has been a spectacular fall season for all these programs.

Now that we have reflected on what has happened around our campus this semester, it’s time

to look internally. When Vice-President Apenyo and I ran for our roles in March, we ran on the platform

“Plenty to eat and parking you can’t beat!” This platform consisted of bringing food carts to campus and

fixing the parking issue that so many students, staff and faculty faced on a daily basis.

In our platform, we talked about implementing a shuttle system that utilizes River Campus. Our

proposal was to allow members of the University of Portland to park their cars down at River Campus. A

shuttle would take anyone choosing to park down there, back to the main campus. Over the summer,

Vice President Apenyo and I worked with Jim Ravelli, the VP for University Operations, to try and

implement this system. The shuttle system was approved in mid-September and on October 3 rd 2016,

the shuttle was in full effect. To this day, students, faculty and staff may park their cars, free of charge,

down at River campus, and enjoy the luxury of a shuttle transporting them back to the main campus.

Throughout the summer, food carts were on the minds of both myself and Vice President

Apenyo. We worked tirelessly each week of the summer, contacting different food cart vendors, to see

who would be interested in coming to our campus. We worked with Kirk Mustain, Fr. Donato, Matt

Rygg, Jeromy Koffler, and other members of Administration throughout this whole process. During the

summer and into the early part of this fall, with the help of John Akers, we were able to draft an official

contract, that allowed the food carts to come to campus. In late September, we were granted

permission to bring food carts to campus. As I finalized the contract, I included a clause that grants ASUP

8% of total gross revenue that food carts earn, each time they come to our campus. On October 12 th,

two food carts came to our campus for lunch. On November 16th, we also provided students with two

food cart options, and this time brought in special international focused menus, to highlight

International week. ASUP has earned over $200 because of the food carts, which gives us more funds to

allocate to clubs when they request money. As food carts continue to make their way onto the Bluff,

ASUP will continue to benefit from their presence, and additionally will give us a financial boost during

budgeting season.

Vice President Apenyo and I were able to revitalize our roles with the completion of our

platform. In the past, President’s and Vice Presidents ran on platforms like lowering tuition or adding a

second ply to the toilet paper on campus. Students felt like the platforms were not being met to their

satisfaction. In the construction of our platform, we made it so that the entire University can hold us

accountable. Visible change was the theme of our platform, something where students can visibly see

the change on the campus and benefit from those changes.

I would like to recognize each of the Executive Board members for all of their hard work this

semester. These five officers are some of the most driven, kind hearted, and knowledgeable leaders on

this campus. Each of these officers have revitalized their individual roles.

ASUP’s services, which consist of Pilots Audio and Lighting, Pilot Express, ADvantage, and

Espresso UP have been steered in the right direction, thanks to Vice President Apenyo. His hard work

and perseverance to make sure these services are running to the best of their abilities, is something that

the student body can truly appreciate. With the changes made in the Constitution, Vice President

Apenyo also is in charge of running our elections. He ran two separate elections this semester and

although both received low voter turnout, he has run both elections extremely efficiently and smoothly.

He has been an influential part of this years executive board and we are extremely thankful and blessed

to have him him on our team.

The Speaker of the Senate position is one that ASUP desperately needed. In 2014, during his

acceptance speech for the MVP award, Kevin Durant told his mother, “You da the real MVP.” Well….

John Akers… You are the real MVP. This position is the bridge between the senate and the executive

board. The way John Akers has run Senate is nothing short of phenomenal. His professionalism and his

passion for his job truly shows each and every day. Senate has run so effectively this semester, under his

leadership, and has been a complete turnaround from previous years. John continually checks in with

senators and provides them with the tools to be successful. All semester long, John has stepped up and

looked to help out through projects like Murdock, issues on sustainability, and Resolution 16-01. These

are just a couple of examples of John’s determination to create change on this campus. John has set the

bar very high, as to what is expected from future students who take on his role.

StepUP to lead was an event where Director Hudson took over the show. Her leadership and

knowledge were on full display, as clubs came to learn about the budgeting process. Director Hudson

came into her role with positivity and energy, which have been influential in revitalizing the role as the

Director of Finance. Director Hudson hired Sam Smith for the position of controller, a position that

works alongside Director Hudson to help create the budget and do other finances for ASUP. This, along

with her efforts to create a mini-opportunity grant system, are just some of the ways she has created

change in her role this semester. She continues to bring that same superstar energy each day and has

really helped clubs become more and more informed on how budgeting works. The budgeting process

has run extremely smoothly this year due to her hard work and efforts.

In the past, communication has always been a point of struggle for ASUP. Not this year. The

Director of Communications role was added this year to focus more on outreach and keeping the

student body informed about what is going on within ASUP. We are very blessed to have Director Tucker

on our team. Her positivity is infectious, and her willingness to help has greatly influenced how well

ASUP has been able to communicate with the student body. Whether it be making Facebook events or

making graphic designs, Director Tucker brings an array of skills to try and promote ASUP. When our

ADvantage Director resigned, Director Tucker stepped up and took over ADvantage. Her willingness to

step up and take over a messy situation has helped revitalize the ASUP service. Director Tucker also

recently hired Remi Ziems to be our new Director for ADvantage. We are excited to have Remi join the

team. Thank you again, Stephanie for all you’ve done this semester.

Onto CPB. CPB has thrived under Director Nelson’s leadership. Director Nelson exuberates

professionalism and passion and is always looking to find ways to bring the community together. Her

energy, humor, intelligence, and creativity have revitalized an organization, that continues to grow each

year. Event planning can be tough and stressful, as I now know from first hand experiences on what it

takes to put on events, but Director Nelson continues to show her mastery skills of event planning. This

years Fall Dance was the highest attended Fall Dance in the history of CPB. Riverboat, another popular

event, saw a record attendance this year as well. The headliner for Rock the Bluff has already been

signed, which is the fastest, the organization has signed on an artist for this event. CPB has essentially

been flawless the whole year.

Last but not least… ASUP would not be where it is today without the Director of Student

Activities. Jeromy Koffler has exemplified passion and hard work for his job for 13 years. VoteUP was the

initiative that Director Koffler created to make sure the students here on campus were informed about

this year’s election. He showed great passion in helping our students become more informed through

panel events and watch parties hosted in the Pilot House. John F. Kennedy once said, “We must find

time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” On behalf of the executive board,

the whole senate, and the entire student body, thank you for everything you do for us.

In the past, accountability has been a large issue with executive boards. This year, that issue has

not been a problem. Each of these Executive Board members have worked extremely diligently this

whole semester and they continue to bring the same energy and determination that they had at the

beginning of the semester. John C. Maxwell said it best, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

In previous years, a big motivation for being a senator is to put it on your resume and say you

held a leadership position. From my experience, in the past, I witnessed a lack of passion, determination,

and hard work in these roles. However, this year has been a complete 180’ turnaround. Each senator

that is sitting here today has shown tremendous passion and enthusiasm for their roles. Resolution-

16:01 passed with a unanimous vote, a big representation of how this senate is united and in sync.

Senators have utilized their office hours to make sure their constituencies are well represented, have

attended events and promoted them, and are always looking to be involved in making changes that will

benefit the students here at the university. On behalf of the Executive Board and the entire student

body: thank you. Each senator sitting her today has played a substantial role in the revitalization of our

organization. Your continued hard work, motivation, determination, and passion to make change on this

campus is incredible. You should all feel extremely proud of all of the hard work you have put in this

semester.

The monumental passing of Resolution 16-01 will further revitalize our organization. Your hard

work and determination made this happen. The increase will allow for the addition of the new ASUP

Service, absorbed from CPB, called ASUP Films, supporting our senators by making their positions paid,

starting in Fall of 2017, the introduction of the opportunity grant system, and more opportunities for

growth. We can now fund more clubs and allow CPB to have more funding to create more events that

bring the community together.

We’ve accomplished so much this semester, but we can’t rest on our laurels. Moving forward,

we will continue to look for ways to improve ASUP and to strengthen senate. Voter turnout has been a

recent problem with ASUP, and in this next semester, we will look closely at ways in which we can

address this issue.

Diversity is something that is high on our list of priorities. The 2016-2017 Diversity and Initiative

Plan will soon take effect. This is an action plan that looks to address diversity in three separate and

unique ways. The tree steps of this action plan include a scholarship, a visible representation of diversity

on our campus, and the addition of a new diversity course, that will be incorporated into the academic

curriculum.

We will continue to show our support and offer assistance to any student who is facing mental

health issues. No student on this campus should ever feel like they are alone. We are a strong

community here at the University of Portland and we are Pilots for life, meaning that we will always be

there for one another.

Active Minds has been a huge leader on this campus, in regards to mental health. In this next

semester, ASUP hopes to make similar impacts to combat mental health and make our students feel

safer. One of ASUP’s goal’s this next semester is to examine how students are feeling at the University of

Portland. We value all feedback and whatever we can do to help, we want students to know we are here

for them. We will look to create special events this next semester, that combat both mental health and

stress.

The state of this campus is in a revitalizing mode. We are heading in the right direction with new

faces and new infrastructure joining the bluff. I will leave you all with a piece of advice; continue to work

hard. Four years seems like an eternity, but it flies by. What do you want to be remembered for at the

University of Portland? Continue to make an impact and leave your legacy here at the university. The

great Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

You are all in a position where you are the voices of the students. Step up and have the courage to

pursue the change you want to see on this campus.

Thank you, everyone.