December 8, 2025
With a great deal of pride and a distinct shade of purple, curators of the new University of Portland website post a welcome sign for all Pilots—past, present, and future:
The freshly redesigned up.edu is a destination worth exploring.
Boasting enhanced functionalities, the new site is the creation of UP marketing and external web services, which partnered with a third-party vendor to redefine and redesign the University of Portland brand. The website, set to roll out in three phases beginning now and continuing through the fall of 2026, reveals new brand elements and features that will enrich user interaction in four primary ways:
Mai Nhia Xiong- Chan, UP Vice President for Enrollment Management, Marketing, and Web Services, expressed gratitude to UP leadership, the Board of Regents, and hundreds of staff and faculty who spent several months collaborating with her teams to develop a student-centered website.
“The new up.edu is designed around student journeys—their questions, hopes, and goals—creating a more intuitive path for them to explore who we are, and how we can walk with them, as they discern their future,” said Xiong-Chan. “As a Catholic, Holy Cross university, our story is rooted in a tradition of faith, service, and the dignity of every person. Our website brings that spirit to life in a more welcoming way.”
Director of Digital Marketing and Web Services Katybeth Allen is piloting all three phases of the website redesign. The new product came from extensive internal and external research about user experience, says Assistant Vice President for Marketing Austyn Smith.
The team audited more than eight thousand old web pages, streamlining content to improve navigation and user engagement. Site visitors will discover fresh photos and videos, new AI-supported tools, and a new calendar to unify events for students and families.
“This new website will help us to tell the story of UP in new and compelling ways,” said President Robert D. Kelly. “It’s bold, fresh, contemporary, and optimized for today’s user. I congratulate our Marketing, External Web Services, and Enrollment teams on their fantastic work, and I thank the countless community members who have supported our efforts to make this redesigned website a reality.”
The new website and refreshed brand will complement the University’s upcoming 125th Anniversary celebration—with events planned to mark UP’s history on The Bluff from 1901 through the 2026-27 academic year.
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5000 N. Willamette Blvd.,
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