Linfield University

The Linfield University dance team earned national recognition with a fifth-place finish in the Division III Hip Hop category at the 2025 College Classic National Championship, held April 12-13 in Orlando, Florida. The two-day competition featured collegiate teams from across the country, with Linfield making its national debut at the event. The Wildcats earned a fifth place finish during the preliminary round on Saturday afternoon, with a score of 80.78. The team advanced to Sunday's finals, where they scored 82.66 and earned a top-five spot in a competitive field. "This was such an exciting opportunity for our team," said Head Coach Gina Regalado. "In the dance world, competition is where we get to show off our skills and hard work. Our program has grown in both numbers and talent over the last year. We're now attracting dancers with both the technique and passion to compete - and represent Linfield at a high level." Read the full announcement on Linfield News.

Linfield's Kira Hawaaboo broke her own school record by 211 points while successfully repeating as heptathlon champion Tuesday at the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships at Stoffer Family Stadium. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2025/4/15/track-field-hawaaboo-breaks-record-wins-2nd-nwc-heptathlon-title.aspx

"The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical" is a collaboration of Linfield's Theatre Program and Department of Music. There will be eight shows starting with the opening night at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25. All shows are in Marshall Theatre within Kenneth W. Ford Hall. Among the contributing cast and crew are students from across the university. Read the full announcement online.

The Linfield University Concert Choir made history on March 13, 2025. The ensemble shared the famed Carnegie Hall stage with choirs from Baylor University and Bridgewater State University. Together, the nearly 200-voice National Masterwork Chorus performed the world premiere of Andrea Ramsey's groundbreaking composition, "The Wilderness of You." Read the full story at https://news.linfield.edu/concert-choir-carnegie-hall/.

Two Linfield University chemistry students earned competitive scholarships last week from the Portland Local Section of the American Chemical Society, while the student club, the Linfield Society of Undergraduate Chemists (LSUC), earned national recognition. Kenni Proctor '26, a chemistry major from Tacoma, Washington, received the Anderson, Van Santen, Zeh Scholarship. The award includes $3,000 and an additional $1,000 to support travel to a national ACS conference in spring 2026. Proctor is the first Linfield student to receive the AVZ Scholarship since 2019. Allan Fernandez '27, a chemistry major from McMinnville, received the Dunne-Currie Scholarship, which includes a $3,500 cash award. He is the first Linfield student to earn this award since its inception in 2020. Both scholarships are open to students at colleges and universities in the Portland and Salem areas. "These honors show how Linfield students are rising to the top in chemistry, not just in Oregon but across the country," said Andrew Baggett, associate professor of chemistry. In addition to the scholarships, the LSUC - an official student chapter of the ACS - received the society's highest recognition. LSUC earned the "Outstanding Chapter" award for the 2023-24 academic year. The "Outstanding" honor of the Student Communities Award honors ACS student organizations for their campus programs and activities. Honors are based on a peer review by faculty members nationwide. During the 2023-24 academic year, the club's leadership included president Dan Khazaei '24 and vice president Abraham Solomon '24. Khazaei previously made headlines as Linfield's youngest-ever known graduate. Fernandez, representing the club, formally accepted the recognition at the March 2025 ACS national meeting in San Diego. Six Linfield students attended the national meeting to present their research to an international audience. Linfield University's Department of Chemistry is accredited by ACS. It offers a major and minor in chemistry, and provides coursework and research opportunities for chemistry students and for students enrolled in the interdisciplinary biochemistry and molecular biology major.

Nolan Ahmann '25, a finance major and accounting minor, has won a competitive scholarship for $2,000 from Financial Executives International (FEI).

Linfield University congratulates the 42 students who earned Dean's List honors during the summer 2024 academic term. The Dean's List identifies undergraduate students who earned a GPA at least equivalent to a cum laude (3.65) while taking at least graded 12 credits. It is computed following the posting of grades at the end of each semester. See the full list on Linfield News.

Linfield University is pleased to release its newest list of graduates. Nearly 90 students completed their degree programs following the fall 2024 semester. The newest graduates represents students from Linfield's two physical campuses located in McMinnville and Portland, Oregon. Out of the graduating students, three earned a master's degree, two earned a Bachelor of Arts and the remaining 82 graduated with a Bachelor of Science. The majority of those graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing. Congratulations to Linfield's newest graduates!

Linfield University congratulates the 585 students who earned Dean's List honors during the fall 2024 academic term. The Dean's List identifies undergraduate students who earned a GPA at least equivalent to a cum laude (3.65) while taking at least graded 12 credits. It is computed following the posting of grades at the end of each semester. See the full list on Linfield News.

Linfield University is pleased to release its newest list of graduates. Following the spring 2024 semester, the university awarded 510 degrees to 505 graduates, with five awarded double degrees. The commencement ceremony was held on the university's McMinnville campus on May 26. Honors are determined once a student's final grades have been submitted. For undergraduate students, these include summa cum laude (3.9-4.0 cumulative GPA), magna cum laude (3.8-3.89 cumulative GPA) and cum laude (3.65-3.79 cumulative GPA). Graduate students earn honors or high honors for earning a GPA of 3.8-3.89 and 3.9-4.0, respectively.

Linfield University student Emma Bare '25 earned international recognition from the Sigma Tau Delta international English honor society for a critical essay she submitted for publication. The English major from Camas, Washington, is the recipient of the Frederic Fadner Critical Essay Award. Her winning entry - "Interrogating Torture and Surveillance in J.M. Coetzee's 'Waiting for the Barbarians' in a Post-9/11 Space" - applies a post-structural lens to the portrayl of torture and surveillance in the novel. Read the full story at https://news.linfield.edu/linfield-student-english-essay-honors/.

The student-led Majestic Tree Week, which pitted eight Linfield University campus trees against one another in an NCAA-style bracket, has won global recognition from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Timed for peak fall foliage, the inaugural Majestic Tree Week was held in October 2023. Students in Professor William Fleeger 's Environmental Communication and Advocacy class mounted the multifaceted campaign, which included in-person events, digital design, social media and community outreach. See the full story at https://news.linfield.edu/circle-of-excellence-2024/.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) recently recognized all players who earned Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete recognition for the 2023-24 academic year. Each year, the NFCA recognizes collegiate softball athletes who maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA. Overall, 17 Wildcats were recognized for outstanding academic progress throughout the 2023-24 academic year. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/8/23/softball-nfca-honors-17-wildcats-as-all-america-scholar-athletes.aspx

Four Linfield University athletes were recognized for their academic and athletic accomplishment during the 2023-24 academic year. They are Chris Cayford (Beaverton, Ore.), Zack LaPlaca (Bend, Ore.), Riley Lynch (Seattle, Wash.) and Trevor Price (Bullhead City, Ariz.). According to the Collegiate Golf website: "To be eligible for Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar nomination, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically in NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA, or receiving their Associate's Degree and in their last year of athletic eligibility in the NJCAA. In addition, they must participate in 50% of their team's competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0 in NCAA Division I, under 78.0 in NCAA Division II, under 79.0 in NCAA Division III, under 78.0 in NAIA, and under 77.0 in NJCAA, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at their college or university." Linfield makes its 2024-25 season debut Sept. 22-24 when the Wildcats compete in the Orange & Black Invitational hosted by Lewis & Clark College at Tualatin Country Club.

The Linfield University-Good Samaritan School of Nursing honored several members of its most recent graduating class with awards for academic achievement and nursing excellence. Awardees were: - Megan Starr Morgan, Kamren Belden and Bella Miranda-Goeller for Senior Honors in Nursing - Ryan Connole, Courtney Bell and Sarah Roberts for the Professional Excellence in Nursing Award - Erin Gehrke for the Wilma Pope Alumni Award - Troy Gernhart, Courtney Bell and Nanea-Rose Ikeda for The Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses See the full announcement at: https://news.linfield.edu/graduating-student-nursing-awards-2024/

Two Linfield University journalism and media studies students will intern in Oregon newsrooms this summer as part of the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism. Mariah Johnston and Tori Schuller are members of the 2024 intern class, comprised of 20 students from universities across the state. Students selected for this paid internship spend 10 weeks reporting on community news in various media organizations. Especially of note, this is the first time that Linfield has had two students named to the same cohort. "We're thrilled that Tori and Mariah will continue this Linfield tradition and take their journalism talents into local Oregon communities. They're bound to find these experiences transformative," said Jennifer Rauch, chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. "The skills and experience they developed as editors of The Linfield Review [student media] will be crucial to their success." The last Linfield journalism student selected for the Snowden program was Alexandra Feller. The 2021 graduate and former Linfield Review editor wrote for the Klamath Falls Herald and News. The Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism honors the life and career of Charles Snowden, a longtime editor at the Oregon Journal and The Oregonian. Snowden, who retired in 1986 and passed away in 1997, had a great passion for good writing, history and the practice of ethical journalism. He is remembered not only as a top-notch editor but also as a mentor for many young journalists. The Snowden family established an endowment for the program at the University of Oregon. Learn more about the Snowden internship program: https://snowden.uoregon.edu "This opportunity for the interns and news partners comes at an extraordinary moment when local journalism has never been more important," the program coordinators wrote in the cohort announcement. "We value these news media partners for their ongoing support and thank the Snowden family for creating and sustaining this experience." Read more of the latest Linfield news at news.linfield.edu.

Mikayla Minton will be interning at the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office this summer thanks to a premier internship at Linfield University. The Deborah M. Olsen Public Service Internship is an endowed internship established to provide $2,500 for one Linfield student from the McMinnville campus per year to pursue an unpaid or very modestly paid summer internship with a government or non-profit organization either in the US or internationally. The internship aims to provide liberal arts majors with educational opportunities that expand their education and learning experience outside the classroom and to prepare them for graduate or professional school; advanced work in writing, the visual arts, or performing arts; or for nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships. Funds may be used for travel to and from the internship, living expenses, and/or appropriate research or other materials necessary to conduct the internship. Funds may not to be used for tuition for the internship.

Linfield University recently announced the winners of the inaugural Lacroute Prize for Poety and Prose, recognizing entrants for the best students writing this year. The competition was organized by Linfield's Creative Writing Program. Finalists were chosen from nearly 60 submissions by the creative writing faculty, then sent to poet and fiction writer Genevieve DeGuzman, recipient of the 2022 Oregon Literary Fellowship, for final deliberations. The winner of the Lacroute Prize in Poetry was "Stage Whisper" by Summer Eves. DeGuzman's thoughts on the winning poem: "The prodigious world in "Stage Whisper" unravels like a runaway train and evokes a larger-than-life sensibility that astonished me. The speaker's odyssey aspires to poetry's epic proportions, not only in length but in detail-details of tender quotidian moments and brutal memories, and an anti-hero speaker filled with anger, despair, and longing." Finalists in the poetry category include: "A Prayer for Melanin" by Kalysa Dombrigues, "Earth: A Confession" by Zee Nace, "Loneliness Is a Barking Dog" by Zee Nace, "We Lay Together In The Way Only Corpses Can" by Zee Nace and "Smoke Bombs" by Sarah Reynolds. The winner of the Lacroute Prize in Prose was "Tree, Raven, Hillside, Fire" by Elana Gatien. DeGuzman's thoughts on the winning essay: "I couldn't pull away from the vivid, incantatory prose and metaphors in "Tree, Raven, Hillside, Fire." The narrator summons lush detail from the natural world to capture the struggle of acceptance and grappling with one's gender identity. In the vacuum of the burn scar comes life. Runner-up for the prose category was "Under the Lekumi Tree" by Colin Bellairs. Finalists were "To Leave" by Summer Eves and "Pesha" by Zee Nace. All finalist and winning entries were published in the spring issue of Camas: A Journal of Art & Literature. Winners each received $500, thanks to the support from the Lacroute Initiative for Advancing the Liberal Arts. More information about Linfield's Creative Writing Program can be found online at https://www.linfield.edu/programs/creative-writing/index.html.

Sixteen student members of the Linfield University Latinx Adelante (LULA), a student organization that seeks to educate and share awareness about cultural diversity in South and Central America, attended the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI) Feb. 16-19, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. This national event seeks to promote education and leadership development and empower Latinos and others through civic engagement and research. The USHLI is a member of the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda. "This conference is a reminder that representation matters. It's an invaluable opportunity for Latinx students to learn from policy makers, community organizers, industry leaders, activists, educators and changemakers who look like them, who speak the language and who know the struggle," said Abby Thomas, director of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Linfield. "Students get to see themselves in positions of power and learn how they use this to empower others. The USHLI is a reminder of the incredible impact higher education can have on your family, your community and beyond." During the conference, students attended various workshops and forums on topics that included leadership development, career opportunities, power and influence, and upward mobility. Featured speakers and panelists were Melody Gonzales, executive director for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics; Sol A. Ortega, senior advisor for public engagement for the White House Office of Public Engagement; Celeste Carrasco, director of public affairs from AT&T, Inc.; Ambassador Reyna Torres Mendivil, the consul general of Mexico in Chicago; and Robert Santos, director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Leading up to the USHLI, students participated in professional development workshops organized by Linfield's Office of Career Development and hosted fundraising events to pay for the cost of the trip. More information on LULA is online at https://www.linfield.edu/life-at-linfield/inclusion/campus-engagement/lula.html.

Linfield University's Team Medalia tied for second place in this year's Intercollegiate Wine Business Invitational, a competition where students build a virtual wine business, including articulating the mission, vision and goals; sales and marketing strategies; competitive analysis; cost-of-goods calculations; operations; and even designing wine labels for their winery. The team, organized through Linfield's Evenstad Center for Wine Education, was composed of five seniors. Team roster: Lindsey Burns '23, Alex Burkeen '23, Emma Libby '23, Devin Thacker '23 and Megan Stanek '23. "I'm amazed at how quickly the team came together, and so proud of what the students accomplished," said Wine Studies Department Coordinator Toni Ketrenos. "Each of them has so many other activities and classes, but they put in the work to produce a winning entry with minimal guidance from Professor Christopher Dahlvig and me. I'm impressed with their effort!" Learn more about Linfield's wine studies program at linfield.edu/wine.

Mackenzie Kulick, a sophomore from The Woodlands, Texas, was recently recognized by the Broadcast Educators Association's Festival of Media Arts for her podcast "Factual Nonsense." As part of its Student Audio Competition, Kulick won third place in the "Specialty Program and Podcasts" category. The national competition features entries from universities of all sizes. Kulick is pursuing a major in marketing and double minor in media studies and wine studies at Linfield University. She is also a member of the Wildcat women's lacrosse team and the Linfield Presidential Impact Internship Program. She created the podcast as part of JAMS 112: Electronic Media Practices class. "Throughout this class I watched myself evolve behind the mic," she said. "My inspiration for Factual Nonsense stems from my daily life. It seems that every time I am having dinner with a friend, I spout off an odd fact that leaves people shocked and wanting more. Everyone wonders where I find all these facts, and to be honest, they are everywhere, people just have to look for them." Kulick entered an episode titled "Speak of the Devil," which educates listeners how the devil got its horns. "I feel this episode has the shock factor of an interesting fact and showcases my editing skills with all the included sound effects," she said. And though she created the podcast as a class project, Kulick plans to continue to produce episodes through the Linfield Pawdcast Network, a student-run organization. "I entered the class thinking that I will learn some cool skills, but nothing more," she said. "It's hard to believe where I started in my first episode and where I am now." With this award, Kulick joins a growing list of Linfield students who have been recognized nationally for their excellence in podcasting. In 2021, Kendall Harrison '21 and Nathaly Sanchez '21 received honorable mentions in the NPR Podcast Challenge, and Joe Stuart '20 won first place in the Specialty Program and Podcasts category and the Radio Sports Story/Feature category at the 2021 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts. Listen to Kulick's podcast "Factual Nonsense" and her award-winning episode at https://soundcloud.com/mackenzie-480283378/factual-nonsense-episode-3-speak-of-the-devil.

Division III student-athletes tackle a well-rounded college experience that emphasizes academic programs and earning a degree. Excelling in both academics and athletics isn't easy, but two Linfield University men's soccer players did just that as Logan Clizer and Cameron Gaines were named to the 2022 College Sports Communicators NCAA Division III Academic All-District Men's Soccer Team, announced Tuesday. Clizer and Gaines were among 19 student-athletes honored from the Northwest Conference. The 2022 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Men's Soccer Teams recognize student-athletes for their success on the field and in the classroom. The honorees will advance for consideration on the CSC Academic All-America ballot. Academic All-America honorees will be announced in December.

Linfield University is proud to announce that two current students and one recent graduate received grants from the U.S. Fulbright Student Program for the 2022-23 academic year. Both current students, who are set to graduate from Linfield later this month, were awarded Fulbright Open Study/Research Awards. Hanna Shields '22, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Star, Idaho, will travel to Germany for research at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease. Nick Zdroy '22, an applied physics major from Pendleton, was awarded a research grant in Finland. His grant will take him to Aalto University to study and research mechanical engineering and product development. In addition, Anne Christine Walkup, a 2021 alumnus from Eugene who double majored Spanish and journalism and media studies, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award (ETA) to Spain. The ETA program places Fulbright recipients in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to local English teachers.