The Daily Bruin

Would you like to showcase your culture? In the spring semester, the Intercultural Resource Center and residence life will be hosting a campus-wide multicultural celebration, and we want you to be a part of it!

A portion of the event will include students expressing themselves through cultural song, dance and fashion in a performance-like setting. If this interests you, make sure you grab what you need from home over winter break (such as specific clothing or significant items).

More information will be coming in January about how to get involved, so stay tuned. Questions? Reach out to area coordinator Victoria Cole at vcole@georgefox.edu.

Please be advised that the last Accounts Payable payment run before Christmas break is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 19. To ensure your supplier invoices are included in this run, please note the deadline of Monday, Dec. 15.

Payment criteria: All invoices submitted by the deadline, accompanied by a completed Purchase Order (PO), will be processed for payment if their standard payment terms fall on or before Dec. 31.

If you have any questions, please contact Accounts Payable or Patrick Culligan at pculligan@georgefox.edu.

Have questions, concerns or suggestions about BruinBuy? Please join us in the Millage Building for our BruinBuy roundtable today (Thursday) from 8:30 to 10 a.m. We are here to help, listen and collaborate with you on all of your procurement and accounts payable needs. This will be an open-dialogue format. Please come take advantage of this learning opportunity.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Patrick Culligan at pculligan@georgefox.edu or Frank Charles at fcharles@georgefox.edu.

Our last BruinBuy roundtable will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 17, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Keep an eye out for more BruinBuy roundtables in the new year!

Please note Hadlock’s hours over the holiday break:

• Saturday, Dec. 13: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 14: Closed
• Monday through Friday, Dec. 15-19: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Weekends: Closed
• Dec. 23 through Jan. 2: Closed

Regular hours resume Jan. 10.

The Bruin Community Pantry will be closed from Monday, Dec. 15, until Monday, Jan. 12. However, we will be open for a short period of time on Tuesday, Jan. 6, from 2 to 5 p.m.

The finance office will be closed from Dec. 24 to Jan. 5 for Christmas break. Deposits that need to have a December 2025 date must be brought to the finance office no later than 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 19. If it arrives later, it will go into a deposit for January 2026.

Please note: The finance office is now located at 1515 Portland Road (a.k.a. “Sleep Center”).

Please look around your desks and file cabinets to see if there are any lingering items that need to go to the bank. If you are taking extra time off during the Christmas/New Year holiday, please send your deposits over before you leave.

If you have any questions about deposits, please use our new email (deposits@georgefox.edu) or contact Heather Groenlund at 503-554-2173.

Thank you, and have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Friendly reminder: Bookstore rentals are due tomorrow (Friday). The Bruin Bookstore will be open Saturday, Dec. 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for winter commencement.

Spring 2026 course materials are available, so shop ahead online and select “in-store pickup.” Your texts will be ready when you return in January!

Boost your financial knowledge with Nationwide’s live and on-demand webinars, designed to offer guidance on your retirement plan and financial goals.

Live Events: Register for interactive sessions on topics like approaching retirement and Social Security.

On-Demand: Watch recordings anytime for topics like personal finance and navigating market volatility.

View the full schedule and start learning today!

Providence Health Plan members: Check out “Providence Health Coaching: A Nine-Month Journey Toward Sustainable Wellness.”

What is health coaching? It’s a collaborative partnership to help you develop personalized, sustainable lifestyle habits that align with your wellness goals and vision. And with Providence, you get the opportunity to work with National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coaches (NBC-HWC).

The program launches Jan 5 with a pre-launch Interest Form, available now for earliest access to the program.

This comprehensive program includes:

• An initial lifestyle assessment
• Weekly communications and habit check-ins
• Biweekly coaching sessions for the first three months
• Monthly coaching sessions for the remaining six months

In total, you’ll complete 12 live sessions with a certified health coach, experimenting with small, achievable goals that support your larger wellness vision.

Unwrapping a new phone this holiday season? Make sure you update your Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) settings to avoid getting locked out of your George Fox accounts.

How to Prepare Multi-Factor Authentication for a New Phone

If you have any issues setting this up, you will need to call the Service Desk at 503-554-2569 for assistance.

Please plan accordingly, as the Service Desk will be closed for the break:

• Closed: Dec. 24 through Jan. 4
• Regular Hours Resume: Jan. 5, 2026

Thank you to all who participated in marketing communications’ annual Deck the Halls Christmas Decorating Contest. We were so moved by the Christmas spirit throughout campus! This year brought in 18 participating departments.

Congratulations to our winners! The top three placers were:

• First place: Advancement (The “Rootin’ Tootin’ Best in the West” Award)
• Second place: Finance (The “Internationally Acclaimed Christmas” Award)
• Third place: Financial Aid (The “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Financial Aid Secrets” Award)

There were several honorable mentions across campus, including the Department of Education (The “Jim Henson Would Be Proud” Award), the Department of Social Work (The “Cozy Christmas” Award), the Maker Hub (The “Santa’s Workshop” Award), and many more.

And a huge shoutout to plant services for keeping all of campus merry and bright!

Be sure to swing by the various departments to get a look at all the work that went into making their spaces so festive.

Thank you!

Amanda Howard, Marketing, and the Christmas Committee

Today (Tuesday) from 5 to 9 p.m., the Chipotle in Newberg will be hosting a fundraiser to support George Fox’s physical therapy service trip to Uganda!

There are a couple of ways you can support us. If you tell the person at the register you are there for the George Fox DPT trip to Uganda, your order will contribute. Another way is to order for pick-up online using the code EXC4LTL.

If you use one of these avenues, then Chipotle will donate 25% of your sale to our trip! Please tell people you know that every order helps!

Contact Evan Robinson at evanr24@georgefox.edu with any questions.

The Office of Spiritual Life is looking for staff and faculty members to participate in the SpiL Mentoring Program this spring.

This program provides an opportunity for students to have meaningful conversations about faith and life while receiving encouragement and support from a George Fox staff or faculty member. Students in the program will be matched with a dedicated mentor, with whom they will have weekly meetings lasting approximately one hour, spanning a duration of eight weeks within the semester.

The program begins the week of Jan. 26 and ends the week of March 16.

To support you in your mentoring role, we will provide a booklet with weekly suggested spiritual formation practices for you to engage in with your mentee. Additionally, there will be a training session prior to the start of the program to ensure you feel prepared and equipped.

We are looking for staff and faculty who would like to serve as mentors. If you are interested, please fill out this application by Friday, Jan. 16. Your involvement will make a meaningful impact on our students’ lives!

If severe weather makes travel to or from campus unsafe this winter, the provost will make the decision to announce a shift to remote classes and work. In nearly all cases, classes will continue to be offered online and employees will work remotely.

In the case of a delayed in-person start, university offices will not open until an announced time in the day, most often 10 a.m. or noon. Students, faculty and staff are not required to report to campus prior to the announced start time, but are expected to attend class online or work remotely before the start time. If in-person classes are not held that day, students, faculty and staff are expected to attend class online or work remotely.

Those who cannot perform their duties at home should report to campus if they can arrive safely. If an employee cannot arrive safely or must remain home for any other reason, they may use a sick or vacation day to cover the absence. If no vacation time is available, the employee can make up hours during the same week or record the time off without pay.

The following is our process for announcing when there is a delayed in-person start or a shift to remote classes and work. The provost will make the decision by 6:30 a.m. for the Newberg campus and Portland Center for daytime classes or 2:15 p.m. for evening classes. Decisions on weekend classes and at the Redmond site will be made by the professor.

Stay notified: Here’s how to find out if a decision has been made when severe weather occurs:

• Visit the George Fox flashalert.net page. This is the first site updated. Enter your email address to create an account and receive notifications from FlashAlert Messenger.
• If you wish to receive a notification on your mobile device, download the FlashAlert smartphone app for iOS or Android. Either log in or create an account if you haven’t already.
• Listen to local radio and television stations or visit their websites (this info comes via FlashAlert).
• Call the George Fox University switchboard at 503-538-8383.

More information on this change in procedure can be found on our winter weather policy page.

Please note the accelerated payroll deadlines for December. Due to Christmas break, we will have fewer days to process the December payroll. Please have all check requests submitted and approved by the end of today (Monday, Dec. 8).

Employees with timesheets that span Nov. 16 to Dec. 15 should forecast their hours, lock and have their timesheets approved by today. Automated emails will be sent according to these accelerated deadlines.

Regular employee and student timesheets can be locked at the end of the month as usual. The student payday will be on Monday, Dec. 15, and the regular employee payday will be on Tuesday, Dec. 23.

Questions? Contact the payroll team at payroll@georgefox.edu.

Want to get involved and feel connected this spring? Join a vital part of our campus community by volunteering with the Bruin Community Pantry!

We are welcoming new volunteers for the upcoming semester. There are a variety of meaningful opportunities that you can choose from to match your interests. If you are interested in lending a hand and becoming part of our supportive pantry family, we invite you to take a look at the available roles:

• Food bank: Volunteer for shifts at the food bank!
• Food bank substitute: Sign up to substitute at the food bank when the regular volunteer is unable to make their shift.
• Food drive organizer: Work with Jere Witherspoon to find ways to implement food drives across campus (flexible hours).
• Fundraising: Work with Jere to find ways to raise money for the pantry (flexible hours).
• Social media: Work with Jere to create informative messaging for the community on Instagram and Facebook (flexible hours).
• Leftovers pick up and distribution: As needed, work with Jere when leftover food is available from Bon Appetit or Friendsview (flexible hours).
• Weekly cleaning: Flexible hours
• Restocking and facing products on shelves: Flexible hours

If you’re interested in volunteering with the Bruin Community Pantry, please fill out this form. More information can be found on the website.

You are welcome to contact Jere at jwitherspoon@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

The Maker’s Market and Bridge Cafe will be opening late on Monday, Dec. 8, at 8 a.m. The dining room will have normal hours until Friday, Dec. 12.

Please see Bon Appetit’s hours at georgefox.cafebonappetit.com or on our Instagram (@bonappetitgfu).

The holiday season represents one of the highest-risk periods of the year for cybersecurity, and new AI-generated attacks can be expected. With the increase in online shopping and package tracking, attackers are actively disguising malicious links as shipping notifications and invoices.

Your diligence remains our first and strongest line of defense. Taking a moment to verify a sender or an unusual request can prevent a major security incident for our community.

Email Safety Do’s: Verify and Protect

• Do hover your mouse over the sender’s name/address to see the full, actual email address. Watch for subtle misspellings (e.g. acme.co instead of acme.com).
• Do inspect links before clicking. Hover your mouse over the link to see the destination URL displayed, usually in the corner of your browser. If it looks suspicious, don’t click.
• Do verify any unexpected or urgent requests for confidential data, password changes or fund transfers by using a different method of communication (e.g., call the sender on a known phone number or message them on an internal chat system).
• Do treat any email requesting your password or sensitive personal/company information with maximum suspicion.
• Do report all suspicious emails immediately by using the “Report Phishing” button in the three-dot stack menu within the email, or contact servicedesk@georgefox.edu.
• Do check the time and tone of the email. Is it demanding, overly urgent or coming at a strange hour? This is a common tactic used by scammers.

Email Safety Don’ts: Avoid Risk and Reactivity

• Don’t click on links or download attachments from senders you do not recognize or from emails that seem “off,” even if they appear to come from a known colleague.
• Don’t reply to an email asking for sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers or internal account details.
• Don’t assume an email is legitimate just because it uses company logos or appears to come from an executive (CEO, CFO, etc.). This is known as “spoofing.”
• Don’t be pressured by threats or urgency (e.g. “Your account will be suspended in five minutes!”). Scammers use fear to make you act without thinking.
• Don’t forward suspicious emails without first checking with servicedesk@georgefox.edu. We need to be able to investigate and take action.

Thank you for your partnership in keeping our community secure. Your vigilance makes all the difference.

Talk with first-year engineering students today (Friday) from 5 to 6 p.m. as they display their oscillating air engine designs in the Maker Hub. Following the display, the students will compete with their air engines for maximum speed, coast, air efficiency, power and craftsmanship in the “Wobble-Off” from 6 to 8 p.m. All are welcome!

If you have questions, contact Jennifer McCollum at jmccollum@georgefox.edu.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the honors program will be hosting Fellowship Day and Friday @ Fox on campus today (Friday).

With over 300 visitors expected on campus, we are asking George Fox students and employees to consider parking in alternative parking lots to ensure parking for visitors in the Stevens, Hoover and Bauman lots. Alternate parking can be found in the 99W lot (Steve’s Auto), Morse lot by Plant Services, or street parking.

If you have questions, email mdowns@georgefox.edu or call Missy Downs at 503-554-2247.