Portland State Magazine

Poison Waters — a Portland drag queen with a heart for activism and eye for glamor — has been performing at Portland State University since 1990. This year, PSU awarded her an honorary degree, cementing her as a campus legend for all time.

More than 70 percent of PSU graduates go on to work in the Portland metro area at leading companies like Nike, Providence Health, Intel and Portland General Electric. Their impact — individually and collectively — is felt across industries, and explains why local employers actively seek out PSU grads.

PSU is known nationally for its focus on community-based and service-oriented learning, but what’s less known are the services, resources and partnerships that bring much needed support to people in Portland and beyond. 

In a world that’s facing unprecedented climate-related challenges — more extreme weather, more intense wildfires and ever-looming environmental threats among them — students and staff in PSU's new School of Earth, Environment and Society are taking a collaborative approach to find solutions. 

PSU professor Roberta Suzette Hunte has spent her global career researching structural conflicts — the culture of workplaces, discrimination and inclusion. In her new theatrical piece “Push: Black Mamas Changing the Culture of Birth,” she pulls from a more personal place to explore Black maternal health experiences and inequities.

Leveraging its location in the state’s largest city, PSU has long embraced its mission to Let Knowledge Serve. A new bill is making its way through the state legislature that would formally designate PSU as Oregon’s urban research university — something that’s been true for decades in practice, if not yet officially.

From the ongoing shortage of affordable housing to the complexities of mental health and addiction, Portland’s homelessness crisis is a multifaceted dilemma that defies simple solutions. But at PSU, researchers, faculty and students have been making inroads to better understand the issues driving homelessness and discover solutions.

For a group of local business owners, PSU isn’t just where they got their start, but a key player in their success. Through mentorship, hands-on opportunities and real-world connections, the university helps students turn inspired ideas into tangible businesses, and continues to shape Portland as a hub for innovation.

During her second year at PSU, MJ Jackson ’24 received the devastating and unexpected news that her mother had died of a fentanyl overdose. Armed with a deep desire to raise awareness around the fentanyl crisis within Portland’s Black and brown community, she founded The Royal Rose Foundation. The nonprofit — and its impact — have been growing ever since. 

At PSU’s College of the Arts, a new undergraduate major lets students combine their creative practice with the power of community engagement and advocacy for social justice. Led by interdisciplinary educator Amanda Singer and celebrated jazz musician and professor Darrell Grant, the program is the first of its kind in the nation.

Through consistent effort and collaboration across campus, faculty and students are helping make PSU a destination of choice for Indigenous sciences — a place that attracts and supports more Native students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs and that bridges Indigenous and Western approaches to science.

PSU’s Summer Scholars Program gives a small group of incoming first years and transfer students the opportunity to come to campus a few weeks before fall term begins, giving them the chance to adjust to college life before the crush of students and the pressure of a full-time course load descends.

In PSU’s Brand Lab course, graphic design students partner with local companies and agencies to work on real-world projects and gain valuable experience in the field. This past winter, they tackled an ambitious project: a new brand for the Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2024 awards. 

Building on the connections and experiences they gained at PSU, many alumni are now working behind the scenes for local and national sports teams. Whether they’re shooting film courtside or managing social media channels, these talented individuals are utilizing their skills to make an impact in the wide world of sports.

In the summer of 2019, Kayla Sorenson ‘19 ‘21, spent every day working as a student intern at research sites just west of the airport and along the Willamette River. Now a Ph.D. candidate in civil and environmental engineering, she's advancing the field of earthquake risk mitigation.

In 1998, a group of PSU electrical engineering students formed the Portland State Aerospace Society and started building rockets. Today, the interdisciplinary group works on rockets, satellites and all the technology in-between — and provides opportunities, community and real-life career experience for students.

Coty Raven Morris knows personally the life-changing power of making music with others. In her role as PSU’s Hinckley Assistant Professor of Choir, Music Education and Social Justice, she teaches students to model empathy through music and reminds them that building community is more important than hitting the right notes.

If you’ve seen the mural or new streetlights around the Moda Center celebrating Portland’s new G League basketball team, Rip City Remix, then you’ve seen the work of Ayla Leisure, local artist, Portlander and PSU graduate (’15).

As the Native American Student & Community Center celebrates its 20th anniversary, we look back to discover how the center came to be - and what it’s meant for students and community members past, present and future.

When goalball came into Paralympian Eliana Mason’s life, she discovered a sport that helped her embrace her blindness rather than be embarrassed by it. Multiple medals later, this PSU alumna has proven she has the talent and the grit to excel in international competition with the best players in the game.

PSU’s Chicano/Latino Studies program grew out of student demand in the 1990s, and is a testament to years of advocacy from students, faculty and staff. Today, it’s meeting the needs of the university’s fast-growing Latinx population thanks to new leadership, an enhanced curriculum and a Chicano/Latino Studies bachelor’s degree.

In the days leading up to her first day as Portland State University’s new president, Ann Cudd was summiting Colorado’s Mount Princeton. Her grit and determination is as much a hallmark of her journey to leadership as her commitment to higher education access for all. We invite you to get to know PSU's 11th president.

PSU alum connects art, queer community in Mis Tacones. Entering Mis Tacones feels like entering a celebration of color, love and community. Adorned with piñatas, tchotchkes, art featuring Walter Mercado — a Puerto Rican astrologer and cultural icon — and two intensely colorful murals depicting Mayan goddess.

Outlet, the print shop co-owned by Kate Bingaman-Burt, associate director of PSU’s School of Art+Design, and Leland Vaughan ‘19, contains multitudes. It is a print shop, yes, but also Bingaman-Burt and Vaughan’s studio, a space for workshops and pop-up events, a zine library and a hub where artists can build community.

On May 13, The Pacific Islanders Club turned up the heat inside the Viking Pavilion! Performers twirling fire-lit knives bookended a night of cultural dances, music, and food celebrating the vibrancy of the Pacific Islands.

Lifelong Sunni Muslims, Rashid Muse and Abdi Ibrahim navigate the month of Ramadan in the midst of the Outdoor Track & Field season — balancing fasting, training and schoolwork. This year they invited other PSU athletes to join them in a Somali and Arabic feast after sunset.

On the surface, Ice Queen looks like one of Portland’s many niche businesses bringing something special to the community. But for California native and PSU alum Rebecca Smith, Ice Queen is even more than a business — it’s a taste of home.