Linfield University

Linfield University is pleased to release its newest list of graduates. Sixty-four students completed their degree programs following the fall 2025 semester. The newest graduates represents students from Linfield's two physical campuses located in McMinnville and Portland, Oregon, and its online e-Campus. Out of the graduating students, three earned a master's degree, five earned a Bachelor of Arts, 13 earned a Bachelor of Science and 43 graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The students earning a BSN from the Linfield School of Nursing participated in the Pinning Ceremony in December 2025. All students earning their degrees this semester will be honored at the 2026 Spring Commencement in May. Honors were determined following the submission of a student's final grades. 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. Congratulations to Linfield's newest graduates!

First-year Wildcat Hudson Holzhauer set a new Linfield indoor record in the 35-pound weight throw at the Beat the Freeze Up Invite hosted by Eastern Oregon University. The sophomore placed third with a heave of 52 feet, 9 inches (16.08 meters). Holzhauer, a transfer from Northern Arizona University, surpassed the standing record of 49-3 set by Matt Metcalf at the 2019 Lauren McCluskey Memorial Invitational in Moscow, Idaho. Read the full story at: https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2025/12/16/track-field-holzhauer-sets-new-school-mark-in-linfield-debut.aspx

Linfield University staff and students played a visible role at the 2025 NAFSA Region I Conference, held Oct. 19-22 at the Embassy Suites in Portland. The conference, hosted by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, brought together international education professionals from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and British Columbia to advance global learning and exchange. Megan Moonfall, associate director of Linfield's International Programs Office, served as conference planner and presented a session titled "Beyond Barriers: Athletics, Anxiety, and More!" Linfield students also made a strong showing at the event. Senior Zharyck Lopez and junior Taila Patterson co-presented a poster titled "From Office to Action," while Isabella Dixon '25 presented "Study Abroad: Thriving Abroad." See the full story at https://news.linfield.edu/linfield-nafsa-2025/

Linfield University presents Shakespeare's "Macbeth," opening this week on the Marshall Theatre stage in Ford Hall. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30-31 and Nov. 1, 6-8, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday, Nov. 9. Directed by Lindsey Mantoan, this fast-paced production blends medieval and modern design to explore ambition, prophecy, and power. With iconic lines like "Double, double, toil and trouble" and "Out, out, damn'd spot," "Macbeth" reveals how greed and violence can destroy communities and self. Fog, haze and flashing lights create an immersive experience. More information at https://news.linfield.edu/macbeth-2025-tickets/.

Linfield University congratulates the 65 students who earned Dean's List honors during the summer 2025 academic term. The Linfield University Dean's List identifies undergraduate students who earned a GPA at least equivalent to a cum laude (at least a 3.65 GPA) in a given semester or summer term. To be eligible, a student must have earned at least 12 credits in courses with differentiated grades (A-F) and have received no incomplete (I) or in progress (IP) designations. Eligibility is computed following the posting of grades at the end of each semester. See the full list at: https://news.linfield.edu/summer-2025-deans-list/

Linfield University student Jadey Holcomb '26 is earning national recognition for her creative writing. Her poem, "I Wish I Was a Riot Grrrl," was recently published in the third issue of Magpie Zine, a national literary magazine that highlights up-and-coming writers. The poem is available to read online at Magpie Zine: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/magpie-zine-issue-three#page/62.

Four members of The Linfield Review's editorial team won five awards in the 2025 Collegiate News Contest held by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Congratulations to: - Jake Downing '25, photography editor, who earned first and third place in the Best Sports Photo category for OSAA 5A basketball championships and Linfield football v. Lewis and Clark. - Amelia Solt '26, sports editor, who earned first place in the Best Sports Writing category for "NBA veteran CJ McCollum made his Linfield debut." - Mariah Johnston '25, managing editor, who earned third place in the Best Feature Writing category for "Nail Check: Overcoming Anxiety and Finding Connection." - Kenny McMillen '26, staff writer, who earned third place in the Best Columnist category for "Leaf Blowers Harming Students."

Senior defensive back Chance Sparks has been named the 2025 Vern Marshall Award winner for male student-athletes, the Linfield University athletic department announced Tuesday afternoon. Presented annually since 2002, the Vern Marshall Award honors Linfield's top male and female athletes who compete with exemplary tenacity. The award was created in memory of Vern Marshall Sr., a 1957 Linfield graduate who was a standout athlete and longtime college and professional referee. Read the full announcement on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

"Aubade Featuring a Worm," a poem by Linfield University student Madeline Chandler, was among those selected for publication in "The Tributary." A student-run literary journal organized by Lycoming College, "The Tributary" features a collection of undergraduate-created poetry and prose. Chandler is a creative writing and theatre arts double major from Spokane, Washington. "I'm planning to get my master's and doctoral degrees after finishing my degrees at Linfield, so there's a long road ahead of me, and getting published through 'The Tributary' felt like assurance that I'm on the right path," Chandler said. "Signing my first professional writing contract has had me on cloud nine for weeks." The Spring 2025 edition is the third "The Tributary" has released on a national scale. Chandler is one of twelve authors featured and one of only two from the western part of the United States. "The poem they published ('Aubade Featuring a Worm') is one I wrote while in a class here at Linfield, and I'd been editing it on and off for nine months when 'The Tributary' picked it up," Chandler siad. "The poem is so close to my heart, seeing it go further than my desk drawer has meant the world to me." Read "Aubade Featuring a Worm" at https://thetributaryjournal.com/2025/04/25/aubade-featuring-a-worm/ .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.