ASPSU President Delivered Pre-Written Statements from PSU-AAUP P. 4
PSU and Oregon’s Universities to Face Continued Budgetary Restrictions P. 5
ARTS & CULTURE In Retrospect: The Art of Marie Watt P. 7
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ASPSU President Delivered PreWritten Statements from PSU-AAUP at Board of Trustees Meeting
The Current Union President says, “that’s not what’s happening,” calls it the “collaborative work of solidarity relations.”
Conversations obtained by PSU Vanguard suggest that a Portland State University American Association of University Professors (PSU-AAUP) leader had undo influence on Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU) leadership by providing pre-written statements to President Brady Roland before a Board of Trustees meeting held on Jan. 24, 2025.
This Board of Trustees meeting came at a time of heightened frustration between PSU administration and PSU-AAUP. On Dec. 13, 2024, 17 non-tenure track faculty members at Portland State University were sent termination notices. These layoffs were not reversed once the PSU-AAUP and University administration reached a contract agreement after approximately 262 hours of bargaining.
In support of the Union, slogans such as “cutting programs means cutting people” were chanted not only by PSU-AAUP members, but also by students attending PSU-AAUP organized events. One such contingent of students were members of ASPSU, including Roland.
Roland was scheduled to deliver updates about ASPSU to the Board of Trustees on Jan. 24. Before the meeting, Roland reached out to Jonathan Leavitt, PSU-AAUP’s Executive Director of Organizing, Membership and Strategic Communications.
“Because we did the practice picket, I was like, ‘What can I say? What can I do to support?’ And he [said] just mention that there’s this many faculty and [that] we’re all watching …,” said Roland.
Roland prepared a statement, sending it to Leavitt.
VERSION 1.0:
ASPSU standing with 1167 faculty and staff who are planning to go into impasse next week. Students are planning to show up in numbers with AAUP and our unions at PSU
“I was like okay, I’ll say this and I texted him what I was going to say. He was like ‘Cool but, this is what you should really say,’” said Roland.
Leavitt responded to Roland with a new statement, dubbing it “Version 2.0”. This statement was longer and was written from the perspective of student leadership.
VERSION 2.0:
ASPSU leadership stands with the 1,167 PSU-AAUP faculty and staff who are preparing to go into impasse next week (For those that aren’t Oregon public sector labor law aficionados that’s the 2nd to last step before a strike here at PSU). PSU faculty and staff
working conditions are student learning conditions. PSU students are sick and tired of being sick and tiered. Students feel the impact of the Cudd administration’s cuts, misplaced priorities and the Board’s conflicts of interest in our learning conditions and our bones. If the Cudd administration forces a strike, ASPSU leadership will rally students to walk the PSU-AAUP’s strike lines to fight for conditions students, faculty, and staff deserve. PSU-AAUP members know that your every step of yours on the strike line is our step, we’re with you now and always.
Editor’s note: Spelling and grammar errors that were present in both original texts have been kept for transparency.
Roland delivered this message at the Jan. 24, 2025 Board meeting. Her statement provided by Leavitt begins at the timemark 1:25:38.
FINAL VERBAL STATEMENT:
ASPSU leadership will stand with the 1,167 PSU-AAUP faculty and staff who are prepared to go into impasse next week. For those who aren’t Oregon public sector labor law aficionados that’s the second to last step before a strike at PSU. PSU faculty and staff working conditions are student learning conditions, and every student recognizes that. PSU students are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Students should feel the impact of the Cudd administration’s cuts, misplaced priorities and the Board’s conflict of interest in our learning conditions. If the administration forces a strike, ASPSU leadership will reach out and rally as many students as possible to walk the PSU-AAUP strike binds to fight for our conditions for students, faculty, and staff, and what we deserve. ASPSU and AAUP members know that every step on the strike line is our step, and we’re with you now and always.
During PSU-AAUP’s bargaining session last year, the President of PSU-AAUP was Emily Ford. The PSU-AAUP 2025 to 2027 President is Bill Knight, an Associate Professor of English, who is Ford’s successor.
“I would be shocked if Brady would simply want anyone to script her comments,” said Knight when asked about PSUAAUP’s relationship with ASPSU. “I think there’s good room for us to collaborate together with student government and AAUP where there’s shared interests … that could include work on messaging, but no one needs to script each other’s message, right?”
According to Knight, PSU-AAUP has no known organiza-
tional practice of scripting student’s statements and respects the organizational autonomy of student government at PSU. “I don’t know about the conversation but it seems likely to me that what’s being reached for is something like solidarity, and I really have no sense that there is a practice of PSU-AAUP scripting student’s speeches or words,” said Knight. “That’s not our interest at all.”
Knight speculated that the fast paced developments present in PSU-AAUP’s solidarity relations is what was happening in reality.
“My sense is what’s happening, [is] likely the kind of collaborative work of solidarity relations, which can be like, ‘Okay we need something now, so let’s get the message straight … Let’s finish it up tomorrow at the Board meeting,’ … There could be a real crush of kind of practical necessity that leads to very, very close work on a particular message,” said Knight.
Roland’s pro-AAUP speech was given in the midst of a flurry of campaigning on behalf of PSU-AAUP from ASPSU. In since archived Instagram posts, ASPSU and PSU-AAUP collaborated on messaging regarding the union’s bargaining.
“We are now only weeks away from a faculty strike. But PSUAAUP cannot stand on the strike line alone. They need student support through every stage of this battle,” one such post read on a graphic displaying a typewriter. “SWIPE FOR WAYS TO SUPPORT AAUP!”
The post then goes on to provide QR codes for students to sign a strike support pledge and donate to the strike fundraiser.
“I want students to know [that] I’m sorry that I spent way too much of my time and ASPSU as an organization’s time working with AAUP over the past year while they were in bargaining,” said Roland. “There were so many student centered issues we could have focused on, could have prioritized, could have put at the forefront of our advocacy, and yet we still decided to advocate for faculty over students last year.”
PSU-AAUP and ASPSU’s relationship is still one based in solidarity for common causes, according to both Knight and Roland.
“In terms of the relation that I have with Brady, it’s a solidarity relation … I’m not involved with trying to determine Brady’s position on anything or guide her to any particular course of action,” said Knight.
Despite Roland’s contrition for her efforts advocating for PSUAAUP during bargaining, she remained open to continuing to work with PSU-AAUP.
“I still want to work with faculty and unions in the future,” said Roland. “But I can’t spend all my time working for people who didn’t even elect me.”
NOAH CARANDANIS, OLIVIA YOUNG AND SAGE LAMOTT
NASH BENNETT
PSU and Oregon’s Universities to Face Continued Budgetary Restrictions
State funding cuts are set to impact Oregon’s publicly funded institutions.
SAGE LAMOTT
Portland State University continues to face budgetary challenges in addition to continued state funding decreases.
In September of 2025, the PSU Board of Trustees approved a plan to address the now projected $35 million dollar budget deficit. The approved Bridge to the Future 2.0 plan states restructuring efforts in addition to budgeting strategy.
“The provided provisional timeline establishes a clear schedule for implementing the university’s financial sustainability plan. It outlines a sequence of actionable steps designed to translate strategic goals and financial targets into reality, demonstrating a commitment to transparency and accountability,” reads the website.
With the Trump administration’s introduction of federal education funding cuts, universities across the country are facing financial challenges. The federal budget cuts serve as steps towards Trump’s goal of ultimately shutting down the Department of Education, placing decision making power, in addition to budget allocation regarding education, in the hands of state government.
Andria Johnson, PSU Vice President of Finance and Administration, shared insight regarding the potential effects
of altered federal funding.
“We’re beginning to see the impacts of changes, in particular at the state level,” said Johnson. “The state does provide a significant portion of our budget, and the federal government has signaled to them that they are reducing the amount that the state gets for certain things.”
Johnson recalled the ongoing deficit for the University, which began in 2021. By the end of that fiscal year however, the deficit had been masked by emergency higher education relief funds. With emergency funds closing out by 2023, the administration was left to draw on the University’s reserves.
“But you can’t live on your savings account forever, right?” said Johnson.
Enrollment in Universities across the country has declined in recent years in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to changing perceptions regarding higher education.
Oregon’s publicly funded universities are facing similar concerns, Johnson confirms.
“I would say that there are a lot of institutions that are going through exactly what we’re going through right now, especially with declining enrollment,” said Johnson.
Faculty reductions have been a key aspect of budgetary changes. Johnson details the extent of the budget direction towards faculty, noting 82% of the overall budget is allocated toward personnel, with the other 18% being allocated towards utilities, insurance and previous debt payment.
“These are things that don’t scale when our enrollment changes or our revenue changes, you still have to pay the mortgage,” said Johnson.
Looking towards next steps for the University, Johnson said, “We really are looking to our peers, looking internally, and figuring out what’s the best course of action for Portland State University.”
Noting the importance of student contribution, Johnson spoke of a tuition advisory review committee explaining, “Students have the opportunity to be in a room with administrators and a couple of faculty members, and they learn about the budget, they’re learning about the choices that we have to make as a university.”
“We want to be making sure that we’re reallocating resources to programs that students are going to want to be involved in, and can grow in,” added Johnson.
What’s the Plan If the National Guard Comes To Campus?
Signed, a concerned student
Well, this is an article I never thought I’d have to write. As of the time of writing, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has just placed a stay on one lower court order blocking the Oregon National Guard from deploying to Portland, while leaving in place another order prohibiting the deployment of any state National Guard troops to the city, according to ABC News. Basically, the president isn’t allowed to send soldiers to Portland — yet. Of course, the White House will almost certainly appeal the order all the way to the Supreme Court, at which point
the 6–3 conservative majority will likely find some reason to give Trump what he wants. The justifications the president has given for the deployment are pretextual at best, anyway — Portland is not, in fact, “burning to the ground”, and the protests outside the ICE facility downtown were “low energy” and dwindling before Trump ordered troops to the city, according to a New York Times report.
This all raises the obvious follow-up question: what does Trump plan to do with the National Guard once they’re here?
This extends beyond the immediate crisis — once the federal government has the ability to order troops into American cities, it’s not like it’s going to voluntarily give up that authority (especially this administration). White House officials have even been seriously discussing invoking the Insurrection Act — an 1807 law that gives the president the power to deploy activeduty troops to conduct civilian law-enforcement actions — in order to circumvent legal challenges to the president’s order to send troops to Portland, according to NBC News.
On Sept. 28, Portland State University President Ann Cudd wrote in an email to the campus community that she was “dismayed at reports that the federal government has authorized troops to be deployed on the streets of Portland,” and that her administration was “closely tracking the situation” and coordinating with the Governor’s office and the city of Portland. As a sanctuary campus, Oregon law and PSU policy prohibit campus police from enforcing federal immigration law, and PSU “will not voluntarily participate in or facilitate immigration enforcement actions” — though the university “cannot hinder or prevent federal enforcement activities,” and can be compelled to provide information to federal authorities if given a court order to do so.
PSU’s commitment to remaining a sanctuary campus under the Trump administration is admirable, but those policies relate specifically to immigration law — it’s less clear how the administration would respond to, say, the National Guard showing up on campus in order to break up a protest, or conduct other law-enforcement actions.
It’s not impossible to imagine. On May 4, 1970, at Ohio’s Kent State University, that state’s National Guard fired into a crowd of students at a demonstration, killing four students and wounding nine. Portland’s ICE office, on South Macadam Ave., isn’t too
far from Portland State’s southwest campus, and PSU’s history of protest leaves little doubt that there will be protests of some kind if federal troops come rolling into the city.
The last major protest on PSU’s campus ended with several arrests, as the Portland Police Bureau cleared the library building of its pro-Palestinian occupiers. If the National Guard is given the authority to enforce civilian law — as it looks like it might — how will that play out?
It’s difficult not to sound a bit like Chicken Little when talking about something like this, screaming about the sky falling down and tanks driving down Southwest Broadway. Local leaders and elected officials have denounced the order to send troops to Portland, federal courts have blocked the deployment (for now), and in any case, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits “the willful use of any part of the Army or Air Force to execute the law unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or an Act of Congress” — like the Insurrection Act, last invoked by President George H.W. Bush to quell the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
If push comes to shove and the National Guard shows up on campus one of these days, I’d like to ask Ann Cudd: will PSU cooperate? What safeguards are in place to prevent a Kent Statelike situation from occurring on our campus? Basically, my question is this: if and when words are no longer enough, how does Portland State plan to ensure the safety and security of its students, faculty and community members?
Congress and the courts have so far retained their authority to reel the president in on this issue, but there’s no telling what a determined and persistent Trump administration might do over the next three and a half years, or even over the next few days, weeks and months. Cutesy Willamette Week articles aside, the National Guard has no place in this city, and it has no place on our campus.
For a president who has targeted institutions of higher education, antiwar protesters, and, for years and years, the city of Portland itself, PSU sure looks like a prime target for the federal government. As a journalist, student at PSU, and citizen of Portland, I’m concerned about the current course of events in our city, and I’d appreciate some more clarity from the university administration regarding further threats from the Trump administration — before the National Guard comes marching down the Park Blocks.
NICK GATLIN
Protestors gathered outside the ICE facility in Southwest Portland.
Protestors gathered outside the ICE facility in Southwest Portland.
NASH BENNETT
NASH BENNETT
In Retrospect; The Art of Marie Watt
The Exhibit of Marie Watt has made its way to PSU with over 50 pieces on display
Walking into Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s (JSMA) newest exhibit feels like stepping into a thick blanket overflowing with stories, memories, and the voices of those who came before us.
Marie Watt is a multimedia artist, storyteller and a visual poet raised in Portland, Ore. Watt is a member of the Seneca Nation — which is one of the five Indigenous nations that form the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Her roots tie into where a lot of her pieces come from, and she tends to draw inspiration from Greco-Roman myth, pop music and pop art, Indigenous oral narratives and Star Wars.
Watt tells stories that were passed down from her Seneca ancestors about topics such as how the world came to be, what our obligations are to the planet, past and future generations, etc. She finds creative ways to incorporate these themes into everyday objects and uses items such as blankets, ladders and quilts to relay a particular story and theme.
Alexis Garcia, the Program and Outreach coordinator at JSMA, explains the meaning behind various pieces and the interesting stories that go with them.
“The piece Forest Shifts Light (Sequoia, Crest, Canopy), 2025 was commissioned for this exhibit, it’s from 2025 and is brand new. [...] The bells are colloquially referred to as jingle clouds, [...] these are made from tin jingles which are sacred objects that you typically see sewn into regalia.” said Garcia.
Forest Shifts Light (Sequoia, Crest, Canopy), 2025 is a large-scale piece made
from Jingles, cotton twill tape, variable mesh and steel.
“In the 20th century, indigenous language, culture and ceremony were outlawed and the US and Canadian government were in the process of forcibly assimilating and putting them into boarding schools and trying to snuff out indigenous culture. The jingle dance managed to spread and be preserved despite that and was used as a protest.” said Garcia.
“I think that was also very appealing to the artists, seeing it as not only a healing dance but as a way to reclaim and own their own culture and not feel suppressed in any way.”
Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt is a retrospective show that includes prints from 1996. From 2022 onwards, Watt explored larger scale pieces such as Horizon (Chorus II), 2022, the large neon piece and more.
“My favorite piece is called Companion Species (Cosmo) — it’s a wolf on a blue pendleton blanket. It’s my favorite because I have a background in classical art, so I like the Roman reference to the Roman myth — Romulus and Remus. There were these two twin boys who were abandoned to die, when this she-wolf came and took care of these infants. She nourished them until they were able to be found and raised by a human shepherd,” said Garcia. “I like that [Watt] references art history and puts it in dialogue with the themes and things that are meaningful to her — it’s this kind of interesting kinship.”
Brandon Bostic, a junior and Film major who works at Portland State’s JSMA
shared insider information about the bottom floor of the exhibit.
“Something really interesting about the art work down here is the common theme of wolves and blankets that can be seen throughout the pieces in the museum. I think the blankets are a really powerful imagery because everybody has a personal relationship to blankets in some way,” said Bostic.
One of Watt’s blanket pieces that depicts a wolf is called Companion Species Calling Companion Species, 2018. This piece is 32×32 inches and is designed on a reclaimed wool blanket, with embroidery floss. It’s a powerful piece of a wolf calling out various words such as “Mother”. “We Don’t Need to Escalate”, “We’ve Got to Find a Way”, and more.
“Marie Watt would collect these blankets from people [and get] their individual stories about the blankets. I was told to tell people that the blankets are held up by magic which is fun. [...] It’s about building a community, and so the blankets hold individual value,” said Bostic. Watt frequently features wolves in her pieces to explore different complex themes of kinship and resource handling across species, often referencing Haudenosaunee teachings.
“Very often throughout the exhibit, there’s features of she-wolves, which are linked to stories about ancient wolves raising young children to adulthood. In part [...] it’s leaving messages about how we are linked to nature, and how we should care for it as it cares for us,” said Bostic.
LIAM SCHMITT
Practice makes perfect. 16 hours a day of practicing improvisational jazz saxophone alone on a bridge makes one of the best albums of all time. In 1959, Sonny Rollins was seen as one of the greatest and most influential jazz musicians of all time. But in his mind, he wasn’t playing as well as he wanted. That summer, he decided to step away.
For the next few years, the only place you could hear Sonny Rollins perform would be on the Williamsburg Bridge in New York. He had completely disappeared from the stage, focusing solely on improving his craft. In 1962, Sonny Rollins released his first album since his hiatus. Titled “The Bridge,” this six-song album was an ode to the countless hours he spent on the Williamsburg Bridge. The album was innovative, combining traditional jazz with new ideas and omitting the typical support of a piano, opting instead for a quartet featuring a guitar, bass, and drums. The improvisational saxophone on the album was unlike anything heard before, a testament to the time he spent alone on the bridge.
The influence of Sonny Rollins’ “The Bridge” is still felt to this day, with a large, albeit unsuccessful, push in 2017 to rename the Williamsburg Bridge the “Sonny Rollins Williamsburg Bridge.”
History aside, this is the perfect album for the fall term. While the leaves start to change and the rain begins, the upbeat tracks “Without a Song,” “John S,” and “The Bridge” are perfect for a nice walk through the city. If you’re looking for songs to sip a nice warm coffee to while reading the latest issue of the Vanguard, or to listen to while studying in your favorite corner of Smith, “God Bless the Child” and my personal favorite, “Where Are You,” have the perfect calm, relaxing vibe you’re looking for.
“The Bridge” is an album I worshiped growing up, as I would sit in my room for countless hours with my saxophone, trying to imitate the improvisational genius of Sonny Rollins. It’s an album I still worship to this day, as it inspires me to torment my University Pointe neighbors with my saxophone late at night. At only 41 minutes long, it’s a short listen that you will certainly not regret.
