Klamath Falls, Oregon – As the institution gets ready for its yearly commencement celebrations at both its Klamath Falls and Portland-Metro campuses, Oregon Tech is getting ready to celebrate a milestone for hundreds of students this June. Keynote speakers for this year’s festivities will be two current U.S. House of Representatives members, Cliff Bentz and Andrea Salinas.
Families, friends, and alumni will converge to the Klamath Falls campus on June 14 to celebrate the Class of 2025. Representing Oregon’s Second Congressional District, Congressman Cliff Bentz will speak to the audience, drawing from a life profoundly anchored in Oregon’s land and civic activity. Raised on ranches in Harney County, Bentz’s early years were molded by the rhythms of rural Oregon.
He earned a law degree from Lewis and Clark after attending Eastern Oregon State College for additional study. Over the years, Bentz has created a career mixing law, agriculture, and public service—practicing law in Ontario and holding many leadership positions including on local school boards and as a member of the Oregon Water Resources Commission.
Bentz’s political career started in earnest with his 2008 appointment to the Oregon House of Representatives. Before being elected to Congress in 2020, he spent more than ten years in the state legislature presiding over significant tax policy, energy, and transportation-related committees and workgroups. His comments to graduates of Oregon Tech are anticipated to show a lifetime of community involvement, tenacity, and dedication to public benefit.
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The next day, June 15, the event shifts to Oregon Tech’s Portland-Metro campus in Wilsonville, where Congresswoman Andrea Salinas will give the keynote speech. Representing Oregon’s Sixth District, Salinas offers a viewpoint formed by her background as the daughter of a Mexican immigrant and her experience as a first-generation college student. Salinas’s later involvement in Oregon was shaped by her early work as a congressional staffer and policy advisor in Washington, D.C., where she collaborated with labor unions, environmental groups, and organizations supporting reproductive rights.
Salinas was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2017 and soon rose to prominence as House Majority Whip and chair of the House Health Care Committee. She is Co-Chair of the nonpartisan Mental Health Caucus and serves on both the Agriculture and Science, Space, and Technology Committees now in Congress. Her speech will probably address topics of tenacity, public duty, and the need of opening opportunities for future generations.
Always a highlight for the university community, Oregon Tech’s graduation celebrations honor not only student accomplishments but also the many narratives driving Oregon’s future. The Oregon Tech website has more information on broadcast possibilities and ceremony logistics.
