Nastacia Voisin & Malika Andrews |
Just days after his inauguration, University President Fr. Mark Poorman literally broadcast the mission of the University and Holy Cross Congregation to the entire Portland metropolitan area and beyond on KOPB radio.
“If you are not educating the whole person,” Poorman said on the interview show “Think Out Loud” on Tuesday, “if you’re not educating for academic excellence, and you’re not educating for the moral quality of their life, spiritual depth, those kinds of things – that’s really what we set out to do – then I think the education is incomplete.”
The Oregonian also featured Poorman in a recent article focusing on his years as a pastoral resident at Notre Dame and UP. The media blitz expanded Poorman’s public profile well beyond The Bluff, where he was inaugurated Sept. 26.
Students, faculty, and guests packed the Chiles Center for the ceremony.
In his inaugural address, Poorman said raising money for scholarships would remain crucial. He also intends to pursue new learning technology, more campus buildings and the development of the River Campus. The theme of community and the University’s Catholic mission will be his foundation.
“This is what we are all about,” Poorman said, “now, and in the future: A great, intentional gathering of talent and potential and excitement and hope and community.”
As UP’s 20th president, Poorman promised to work hard, listen intently and be “ever aware of treasured work that each of you are doing to advance this wonderful university.”
But he also recognized that he’s inherited challenges as well as triumphs from former President Fr. William Beauchamp. UP faces the same changes disrupting other colleges, among them tuition costs, a growing student body and shifting learning values.
From 52 students to several thousand, from pencils to electron microscopes, from one building to a sprawling campus, Poorman said UP has evolved with time.
“Our growth,” Poorman said, “has not been without complications. We have become an increasingly complex organization.”
But he believes UP’s core principals, community and faith will continue to steer the University straight. Poorman called on communities that support UP – alumni, students, faculty, staff and the Congregation of The Holy Cross – to follow the steps of the University’s founders and believe in UP’s future.
“When a university can say ‘since 1901’ you can trust that it’s a resilient community that inspires devotion among its members,” he said.
Poorman’s care for the University community has touched many students on a personal level. Senior and former ASUP president Quinn Chadwick grew close to him over the years. He looks up to Poorman as a mentor and friend.
“The thing about Fr. Poorman is his true, sincere and heartfelt concern for this community and the students within,” Chadwick said. “Students are his passion, his love and what he feels to be his calling. The amount of caring and empathy he has for us, I have never seen it before. That is what makes him different.”
Juniors Todd Graham and Minh Bui got to know Poorman while living in Schoenfeldt Hall during their first two years at UP. He treated them to Sunday brunch and off-campus activities. Now that Graham and Bui are living off campus, they hope to return the favor and have Poorman over for dinner.
“We just feel like he has done quite a bit for us, making us feel at home,” Graham said. “He is one of the first people I met, and since that first day, he always checks in on me. He made the transition to college quite a bit easier for me.”
Bui feels it’s important to continue their close relationship with Poorman even if they moved off campus.
“There was a huge sense of community living with him in Schoenfeldt [Hall],” Bui said. “I felt like I was home there.”
Poorman pledged to labor on behalf of current and future students, to keep UP a unique “city on the hill” where students can receive an extraordinary education. And through all the changes he’ll oversee, the development and success of students will be a guiding principle.
“We have always believed in our students,” he said. “They are why we’re here.”
Nastacia Voisin is a reporter and copy editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at voisin15@up.edu or on Twitter @nastaciavoisin.
Malika Andrews is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews.
