Portland Business Journal: “This Is Not Your Grandfather’s University Club”

The University Club of Portland was recently featured in the Portland Business Journal in an article examining the Club’s evolving identity, renewed energy, and growing role within Portland’s arts and cultural community.

Titled “With an emphasis on the arts, this is not your grandfather’s University Club,” the piece explores how the Club has been quietly reshaping itself into a more modern, welcoming, and culturally engaged gathering place in the heart of downtown Portland.

The article focuses heavily on the Club’s growing Arts & Education initiative, led in part by members Kyle Parsons and Megan Breen, two younger members helping introduce a new generation to the institution. Parsons described the vision as creating a “third space” where people involved in the arts and education sectors can gather, connect, host discussions, and build community outside of their workplaces.

Board President Deidra Montgomery shared that the Club is evolving from a space centered primarily around business lunches into a more diversified social club that embraces arts, culture, and a wider range of member experiences.

The article also highlights the Club’s Arts & Education partnership program, which includes organizations such as Portland Opera, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Oregon Historical Society, OHSU, and PSU. Through the program, partner organizations receive membership access while helping bring lectures, performances, discussions, and cultural programming into the Club throughout the year.

A major theme throughout the story is the changing makeup of the membership itself. While the Club’s history and architecture remain deeply rooted in tradition, the article notes that the average age of new members is now in the early 40s, with younger professionals increasingly drawn to the Club for its sense of connection, programming, and atmosphere.

For Breen, who joined at age 23, the appeal was never about traditional club amenities.

“I didn’t want amenities, other than people and events,” she told the Business Journal. “I did a tour, and the minute I walked in the building, I was sold.”

The article points to Wednesday Social Hour, affinity groups, lectures, formal dinners, author talks, live performances, and member-driven communities as examples of the Club’s growing energy and evolving culture. Parsons noted that the sense of in-person connection feels especially valuable in a post-pandemic world, while Breen emphasized the importance of creating a space that bridges generations and feels genuinely welcoming to new members.

At its core, the story captures something many members already feel when they walk through the Club’s doors today: a historic institution actively finding new life through community, culture, conversation, and human connection.

Read the full Portland Business Journal article here.