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Historic weekend includes Black Cultural Center groundbreaking
First published in Around the O on October 8th, 2018. The second weekend of October will see several historic firsts on the University of Oregon campus, including a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new $2.5 million Black Cultural Center. The free public event will take place at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at the site of the new building at the corner of 15th Avenue and Villard Street. It will mark the end of the design phase of the project, which was a direct response to a demand made by the Black Student Task Force following a 2015 demonstration. Programming for the center will be funded through an allocation from the Presidential Fund for Excellence. The 2,700-square-foot facility also has been widely embraced by donors, who have provided $1.66 million in gifts to date, including a $1 million gift from Nancy and Dave Petrone. All told, the project has received 167 gifts from 134 donors. “We have focused on designing a facility that maximizes flexibility to accommodate a wide array of activities,” said Kevin Marbury, vice president for student life. “Designed to serve as a home base for academic and social activities for black students, it will also serve as a portal of black culture to all members of the community. We hope everyone will join us for the groundbreaking ceremony and take advantage of this great space for many years to come.” Designed by Architecture Building Culture in collaboration with The Maxine Studio, the center also will showcase artwork that celebrates black heritage. Also this weekend, the Black Student Task Force is partnering with the UO Black Male Alliance to present the Black Student Convocation from 4-6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in the Woodruff Gym in Gerlinger Hall. At the event, black faculty cluster hires will be honored and recognized, as well as students in the Umoja Pan-African Scholars academic residential community and other individuals and groups from the UO and the community. Oct. 12 will also be the launch of the 2017-18 UO African-American Workshop and Lecture Series. Angela Rye, a political strategist and commentator, will speak at 10 a.m. in Beall Hall in the Frohnmayer Music Building Her talk is also part of the Black Alumni Reunion. Rye is principal and CEO of Impact Strategies, a political advocacy firm in the nation's capital. She is a CNN political commentator and NPR political analyst. She has been featured as an influential lawyer and advocate by several publications and outlets from Marie Claire to Ebony and the Washington Post. A prominent strategist, Rye has offered on-air commentary for several media outlets, including BET, CNN, NBC, HBO, ABC, MSNBC and TV One. She has discussed issues ranging from political campaigns to complex legislation and administration policies that have long-term implications nationally and internationally. In addition, the first UO Black Alumni Reunion will take place Oct. 11-14. The weekend promises great alumni engagement through a series of events, including: Welcome reception. Campus tours. An alumni, student, faculty and staff networking event. Tailgating prior to the Oregon vs. Washington game. After game party Soul Sunday Brunch featuring John Gainer and the UO Gospel Ensemble Reunion Choir. Alumni are encouraged to return to the Eugene campus and see all that has changed.
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Conover to discuss the successes and future of UO research
First published in Around the O on October 5th, 2018. UO research and innovation will take center stage at 3 p.m. Oct. 15 when David Conover, UO vice president for research and innovation, delivers his annual talk, “State of Research 2018: Building for the Future,” in the Erb Memorial Union Crater Lake rooms. “This past fiscal year was a time of renewed growth and major impact for our research enterprise,” Conover said. “This is an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of our dedicated faculty and their outstanding commitment to research, scholarship and creative activity.” Open to all members of the university community and the public, the talk will mark some of the major accomplishments during 2017-18 and cast an eye to the future as the UO looks ahead to an anticipated 30 percent growth in research and innovation activity. UO research is on an upward trajectory in productivity, as evidenced by the news that investigators and scholars received 568 grants, contracts and competitive awards totaling $121.9 million during the fiscal year ending on June 30, a 5 percent increase from the previous year. Innovation has also been on the uptick, and the university has seen an increase in patent applications and agreements involving the exchange of proprietary materials such as data, software and research materials. Other encouraging signs are on the horizon for UO research and innovation, and Conover will highlight those in his talk. The 2019 fiscal year is off to a strong start in terms of major grants received, and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation will continue to broaden its services and its investment in infrastructure as it grows to meet the needs of an expanding pool of new faculty members. “The University of Oregon continues to evolve as a major research institution,” Conover said. “Regardless of whether you’re a staff member, faculty or a student, discovery and innovation will impact you in exciting and unforeseen ways in the days ahead.” —By Lewis Taylor, University Communications
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Campus street scene gets lively with new welcome-back party
First published in Around the O on October 3rd, 2018. Friday, Oct. 12, will be a busy day on the UO campus. The ASUO Street Faire, Black Alumni Reunion, Duck Preview and Board Summit will bring hundreds of future and forever Ducks to campus. UO athletics will be preparing for Matt Knight Madness that evening and the next day’s football matchup against rival University of Washington Huskies. It’s the perfect time for a party. To that end, the city of Eugene and the UO will host a community welcome event, EUGfun! Campus, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. that Friday. The family-friendly block party is free and features live music, arts and crafts activities, a beer garden, a PeaceHealth Rides mural tour and much more. “EUGfun! Campus will be an opportunity for university and city leaders as well as alumni, friends and community members to welcome back students to Eugene and celebrate the beginning of another exciting academic year,” said Matt Roberts, senior director of UO community relations. The block party marks a change in format for an annual tradition: Started in 2009, the Community Welcome saw city and university leaders visiting off-campus student residences on foot. The annual stroll helped foster university-community relationships and provided students information about respectful and safe off-campus living. The inspiration for the reconfigured event was a pep rally at an out-of-state university Roberts visited. The evening before a rival football game, streets were closed off, vendors and information tables were set up and a stage featured live entertainment. While pep rallies focus on athletics, the way the event brought community members and students out of their homes and residence halls to celebrate together gave Roberts an idea: Why not repurpose the structure for the Community Welcome event? Roberts brought the idea to colleagues at the city and UOPD, and both were immediately enthusiastic about the reimagined event. EUGfun! Campus will allow students and community members to meet and interact in a casual, festive environment, in large part due to a partnership with the city. “The city of Eugene is excited about this new opportunity to partner with the University of Oregon in connecting students and the campus experience with the broader Eugene community,” said Jason Dedrick, who works in the city manager’s office. “Our goal is to provide a welcoming space where students and community members can come together to learn about city services, how to get involved with their neighborhood associations and also just have fun.” To make room for the party, East 13th Avenue will be closed between Alder and Kincaid streets, and Kincaid Street will close between 12th and 14th avenues starting around 6 a.m. Friday. The Associated Students of the University of Oregon will extend its Street Faire hours on Friday to allow participants to enjoy both their vendors and the EUGfun! Campus activities. Businesses along East 13th Avenue will also open their doors, with some offering free samples and raffles for gift cards and other prizes. Musical acts Ratie and Friends and Soul Vibrator will take to the main stage starting at 4 p.m. Attendees can get creative with hands-on activities at the Art Hub or take a guided tour of the 20x21 mural project on a PeaceHealth Rides bike. Mayor Lucy Vinis and UO President Michael Schill will address the crowd around 5 p.m. with a welcome message, and city councilors will be available for drop-in conversations throughout the event. Afterward, participants are encouraged to make their way to Matt Knight Madness, a preview of the 2018-19 season for the Duck men’s and women’s basketball teams. The free event begins at 6 p.m. at Knight Arena and will feature a three-point shooting contest, a dunk contest and scrimmages by both the men’s and women’s teams. EUGfun! Campus is open to all UO students, faculty members and staff, as well as community members. No registration is necessary. To learn more, visit the Facebook event or contact Larissa Ennis, assistant director of community relations, at [email protected].
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Breaking Trail: PathwayOregon at 10
First published in Around the O on October 3rd, 2018. Brianna Hayes was at a restaurant with her dad when the letter arrived. The first-generation college student from Portland had been active at President Ulysses S. Grant High School, earned a solid GPA, and been accepted to the UO. But she had no idea how to afford college, and she was feeling down. Then her mom called. “You just got a piece of mail from something called PathwayOregon,” she said. “Your tuition and fees are paid for.” “I’m just sitting there screaming in the middle of the restaurant, and then I started crying,” says Hayes, a member of the class of 2018 who studied political science and philosophy. “My dad asked, ‘What is wrong with you? What’s going on?’” “I said, ‘I’m going to college. It’s going to work out.’” For the last 10 years, high school seniors from across Oregon have begun their college journeys like Hayes, with a PathwayOregon letter from the University of Oregon. The unconventional scholarship program is funded by UO donors, the Oregon state government, and millions of dollars allocated by the university through the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships. The program helps the UO leverage Federal Pell Grant funding, combining these resources to make the most of each. Years before the first PathwayOregon freshman arrived on campus, UO administrators posed the question: How can the state’s flagship university remove financial barriers to college for Oregonians with lower income and help them succeed once they’re here? The answer was a comprehensive approach that offers financial access, along with support that helps students succeed once they’re here—practical assistance to help students meet academic requirements, manage their finances, overcome common challenges, link their majors to future careers, and more. PathwayOregon—an innovative and unconventional scholarship program—was among the first of its kind at a public institution in the United States and was the first one in the state of Oregon. Although the funding varies for each PathwayOregon scholar, the promise is the same. The university guarantees that tuition and fees will be covered for four years as long as the students meet benchmarks on the path to success. The model allows for students to apply for other scholarships and grants, while simplifying what is often a complex financial puzzle. Freed to focus on their studies, and with guidance from the program’s academic advisors, students are more likely to graduate on time and with less debt. For many, this freedom makes it possible to study abroad, participate in internships or student-leadership activities, and explore ways to match their education and interests with a future career. A decade after it started, the program has cleared the path to the UO for more than 5,000 Oregonians—inspirational stories that began with a letter. For more information: around.uoregon.edu/pathwayoregon2018 —By Ed Dorsch, BA ’94 (English, sociology), MA ’99 (journalism), University Communications Oregon Quarterly
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UO celebrates growth in new students and Pathway participants
First published in Around the O on September 26, 2018. A record number of University of Oregon’s first-year students will benefit from the PathwayOregon scholarship program this fall as the Division of Student Services and Enrollment Management announces 8 percent overall growth in the institution’s incoming class. Preliminary figures indicate that the number of first-year students at the UO stands at 4,203, up from 3,901 incoming students last year. Final enrollment numbers will not be available until later in October. “This is just an amazing incoming class, among the largest, most diverse and academically gifted that the University of Oregon has ever seen,” said Roger Thompson, vice president of student services and enrollment management. “More importantly, this class speaks to the University of Oregon’s clear commitment to providing access to Oregonians in need. This is the largest PathwayOregon class ever and represents a doubling of the program’s enrollment since 2013.” More than 800 of the incoming first-year students are enrolled in PathwayOregon, the 10-year-old scholarship program that covers tuition and fees for qualified, Pell Grant-eligible resident freshmen. That is an increase of more than 14 percent over the previous year. PathwayOregon also provides wrap-around student support services and best-in-class advising that have helped boost graduation rates at the UO. To date, more 5,000 students have received a free education thanks to the program. In addition, this first-year class is the most diverse in terms of a race and ethnicity. Thompson notes that 36 percent of the fall 2018 entering class is domestic minorities, a UO record. As is the case with many universities across the country, UO’s new international student population has decreased. International enrollments accounts for about 4 percent of the incoming class, down from 6 percent. Some trends also mean the traditional “freshman” label may not apply to some of the UO’s new students, Thompson said. “We are noticing that an increasing number of our freshmen are electing to start in the summer, both on campus and in our London program we started a few years ago,” he said. “Further, many recent high school graduates have enough college credits to start at the UO as sophomores, so we are changing our language to reflect an ‘entering class’ as opposed to a freshmen class.” Other numbers show: Average high school GPA was 3.59, just shy of the record of 3.61. Average SAT scores held relatively steady at 1195 from a high of 1196. Resident Oregonians represent 51 percent of the new student population. Nonresidents are 45 percent of the new student population. Including transfer students, there are a total of 5,378 new students at the UO, an increase of 5 percent over last year. “These increases and successes in our entering class are only made possible by the hard work of hundreds of hardworking Ducks across campus,” Thompson said. “From everyone involved in recruitment to the faculty members who give their time to inspire prospective students to those who make our beautiful campus shine during campus visits, we thank you for all you do every day.”
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LatinX Heritage Month: A festival of culture, history and tradition
First published in Around the O on September 25th, 2018. From art exhibits to film screenings to operas to a celebration of life and death, this year’s UO LatinX Heritage Month honors the diverse LatinX community. With events spanning late September to early November, LatinX Heritage Month at the UO and across the United States examines and affirms the culture, history, traditions and current issues of diverse Americans whose origins or ancestors are from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, or Central and South America. Campus and community members can hear a gallery talk by artist Elsa Mora about her new exhibition, “Paper Weight: Works in Paper,” or see Diego Rivera’s “La ofrenda” and Rufino Tamayo’s “Perro aullando a la luna,” on loan for a year to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art from the collection of Art Bridges. The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies will sponsor events with film director Peter Bratt, including a teach-in on film and activism and a film screening and discussion. Bratt is an award-winning screenwriter and independent filmmaker and the co-writer and director of “Dolores,” a feature documentary about the life of activist Dolores Huerta. Also, the Wayne Morse Center and the UO chapter of Define American will show a screening of the award-winning documentary, “Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America,” followed by a discussion. Musical offerings include Cascadia Concert Opera’s “Tango of the White Gardenia,” an original chamber opera in English by Ethan Gans-Morse and libretto by Tiziana Della Rovere, and a performance by Grammy award-winning Estelí Gomez, sponsored by the Oregon Composers Forum. Both will take place in Beall Concert Hall. A two-day Día de los muertos celebration will happen the evenings of Nov. 1 and 2 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Día de los muertos is an annual celebration of life and death that takes place in Mexico, parts of Central and South America, and LatinX communities in the United States. Altars with offerings and traditional art, music, dance, food and poetry remember and welcome souls journeying to the world of the living for a brief visit. In addition to campus events, many happenings will take place in the community. UO Spanish professor Cecilia Enjuto Rangel, Centro Latino Americano director David Sáez and musician Rico Perez are featured in “Power in Puerto Rico,” an event at Temple Beth Israel. Fiesta Cultural features more than 30 events throughout Lane County celebrating the diversity of LatinX arts and culture. In an essay, “The Equalizing Force of History,” Yvette Alex-Assensoh, vice president for the Division of Equity and Inclusion, spoke of the significance of LatinX Heritage Month and the importance of remembering history during these challenging times. “History is a great equalizer,” she said. “It cuts through rhetoric and propaganda with the mere presence of the truth. During these times where the people in the highest levels of politics and law enforcement are increasingly and vindictively targeting the Latinx community, celebrations like Latinx Heritage Month take on that much more significance.” LatinX Heritage Month is officially called National Hispanic Heritage Month by the federal government and celebrated Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Hispanic Heritage month first began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson. It was expanded to cover a 30-day period by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Mid-September was chosen because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and 18, respectively. Día de la Raza, which is Oct. 12, also falls within this 30-day period. The University of Oregon honors the culturally preferred and more appropriate term of LatinX Heritage Month and expands events through early November. The term “Latinx” relates to people of Latin American origin or descent and is used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina. For more information on events, see the Division of Equity and Inclusion website. —By tova stabin, University Communications
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Oregon Economic Forum to explore ‘poverty amidst plenty’
First Published in Around the O on September 19, 2018. The economy is humming and unemployment is at record lows, yet many continue to feel left out of this historically long economic expansion — a contradiction that will be explored at this year’s Oregon Economic Forum. “Reaching for Economic Equity and Inclusion in the Second Gilded Age” is the theme of the forum’s 15th-annual breakfast, which takes place Wednesday, Oct. 17, in Portland. “By all accounts we are in a robust economy, yet the growth and gain hasn’t reached everyone,” said Tim Duy, University of Oregon professor and director of the Oregon Economic Forum. “We are experiencing the challenges of poverty amidst plenty.” The event will explore different facets of equity and inclusion issues spanning geographic to racial to gender divides and action that may alleviate the economic damage that stem from those divides. The keynote speaker is Heather Boushey, executive director and chief economist for Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She is the co-editor of a volume of essays on how to integrate inequality into economic thinking. Duy will provide the economic forecast with Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist for Key Private Bank. “At this stage of the economic cycle, equity markets typically climb a ‘wall of worry.’ This year investors have worried about the aging economic cycle, rising inflation, higher interest rates, the potential for a global trade war and other threats to the nine-year bull market,” McCain said. “The Oregon Economic Forum will provide perspective on whether investors should be worried or whether they can afford to relax.” Other speakers are Gregory Acs, vice president of the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute, and Nita Shah, executive director at Microenterprise Services of Oregon. Breakfast starts at 7 a.m. and the program is 7:45 to 11 a.m. at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront. Tickets are $80 per person and $520 for a table of eight. The event is presented by KeyBank and sponsored by the UO College of Arts and Sciences, Greater Portland, Portland Business Alliance, NW Natural, Port of Portland and The Oregonian/OregonLive. —By Heidi Hiaasen, University Communications
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PathwayOregon celebrates 10 years of transforming lives
First published in Around the O: “I'm Going to College” Sometimes, life takes a hairpin turn for the better. Reality seems too good to be real. But then it sinks in, and you have a new story to tell—the one about that time when everything changed for the better. For 2018 graduate Brianna Hayes, her story begins at a restaurant with her dad. The first-generation college student from Portland had been active at Grant High School, earned a solid GPA, and been accepted to the UO. But she had no idea how to afford college, and she was feeling down. Then her mom called. “You just got a piece of mail from something called PathwayOregon,” she told Brianna. “Your tuition and fees are paid for.” “I’m just sitting there screaming in the middle of the restaurant, and then I started crying,” says Brianna. “My dad asked ‘What is wrong with you? What’s going on?’ I said ‘I’m going to college. It’s going to work out.’ “It was great. The best moment of my life.” For the past 10 years, high school seniors from across Oregon have been getting the PathwayOregon promise—and a lifelong story to tell. It all begins with a letter from the University of Oregon. Congratulations, now get to work. Because your college degree (and everything that happens after you earn it) just went from virtually impossible to totally achievable. Click here for the full Around the O article: around. uoregon.edu/pathwayoregon2018
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Internship program moves students from classrooms to jobs
First published in Around the O on September 18th, 2018. Wrapping up an intensive summer, students in the Master’s Industrial Internship Program sat down with 25 companies to showcase their skills and knowledge in an effort to land an internship with one of them. The event kicked off Sept. 10 with a networking dinner where 57 chemistry and physics students got to connect with more than 60 industry professionals. Over the next two days, students took part in more than 425 interviews with 39 interviewing teams from companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies and national laboratories. As part of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, the Master’s Industrial Internship Program offers a fast-track to careers in the areas of photovoltaics and semiconductors, optical materials and devices, and polymer science. The program takes an average of 15 months to complete, and arguably the most intense periods are the interview days. “I feel the same way about the interviews as I do about roller coasters: terrified and exhilarated," said Kim Belmes, a student in the optics track. “There’s definitely some nervous excitement, like anything could happen,” said Kesley Price, who was in the program’s photovoltaic and semiconductor track, as she was gathering her thoughts between interviews. “It is a little bit of a comfort to have the first one under your belt.” Those were typical reactions among students as the first day of interviews got underway. Most had seven to eight interviews spread over the two days at the Erb Memorial Union. Industrial partners were looking to hire interns for nine-month, paid positions in myriad technical areas, including research and development, product development, applications engineering, manufacturing, process engineering and defense. Interns work on teams alongside established scientists to make meaningful contributions to current projects. Most will be hired on by their host companies, while some will use the experience they gain to land comparable jobs in the tech sector. The Master’s Industrial Internship Program, along with the Bioinformatics and Genomics Master’s Program, form the Knight Campus Internship Program, which officially launched last year by uniting the two successful efforts. The industrial internship program offers intensive hands-on curriculum, enabling students to excel in industrial and applied research settings while also giving them the soft skills required to thrive in a fast-paced environment typically driven by problem solving in teams. “Most are going from being an undergrad to getting a high-tech, high-paying job within six months, which is amazing,” said Lynde Ritzow, director of recruitment for the Master’s Industrial Internship Program. The first three months of the program take place on campus and include focused lab and coursework to help students transition from a college setting to working in industry. That includes professional development and providing lab simulations comparable to what they’ll face once they’re at their internships. “The challenge is to get students to go from being the independent problem-solvers they were as undergrads to problem-solving effectively in teams in an industrial environment,” Ritzow said. Faculty and staff work closely with industry partners to evolve the program’s curriculum and keep students up to date with current innovations in industry. Most students receive internship offers within a few weeks of their interviews and typically start within three months. The program encapsulates the mission of the Knight Campus with its focus on fast-tracking academic science into real applications. “Academically, it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” Jamie Johnson, a student in the photovoltaic and semiconductor track, said midway through her first day of interviews. “There’s very intensive coursework, lab work and teamwork, but it’s been really an amazing experience.” The following companies were represented at the 2018 Interview Event: Arclin; Cree; Electro Scientific Industries; Emerald Kalama Chemical LLC; FormFactor; HP; Isovolta; Juno Therapeutics; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Lonza; Los Alamos National Laboratory; McConnell Labs, Inc.; Microchip; Moxtek; Nanohmics; nLIGHT; Ouster; OnTo Technology; Quantum Innovations; Qorvo; Serán Biosciences; Thermo Fisher Scientific; Timbercon; Voxtel Inc.; WR Grace and Zemax LLC. —By Jim Murez, University Communications
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